Memory leaks: What is it and How to Fix it in Windows 10

There are several occasions where even though you have a decent specd PC or laptop, the device becomes slower and most of the apps take ages to run or load....

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar

Last updated on July 28, 2022

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar

Author

My work has been published on Android Authority, Android Police, Android Central, BGR, Gadgets360, GSMArena, and more. A Six Sigma and Google Certified Digital Marketer who likes to play guitar, travel, and sip coffee. Entrepreneur and Blogger.

Memory leaks: What is it and How to Fix it in Windows 10

Even though Windows 10 is the most advanced Microsoft operating system at present, it still suffers from the Memory Leak issue. Multiple user reports can be found across platforms reporting similar issues. During memory leak, a certain part of the RAM is marked as “in use”, which apparently it is not. This leads to higher RAM usage thus making fewer RAM storage available for other apps. This issue can happen to any apps including Windows services, system-installed apps, background processes, hardware drivers, and third-party apps.

Let us take a look at the potential workarounds that you can follow to fix this memory leak issue on Windows 10 laptop or PC.

Find the Culprit

Well, it may sound like a treasure hunt, but it is the first thing that you should do if you are also experiencing a similar memory leak issue on Windows 10.

Simply open the task manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Del.
Head over to the Processes tab.
Notice the Memory column.

From here you will have to look for the process that is eating up more RAM than usual. But this has to be done by yourself. A tip would be if any process if using around 45-50% of the RAM, it becomes a contender for being the culprit for a memory leak. Though this might not be true every time, so make note of this. Once you have jotted down the culprit, here are few things that you can do.

If it is a third-party app, then the best that you can do is reinstall the app and see if that helps.
If it is not a third-party app, make sure to search for the particular process and understand what it does before ending the task. Simply right-click on the task and click Search Online.

Use the Memory Diagnostic Tool

Using the in-built Memory Diagnostic Tool will also help you curb this memory leak issue on your Windows 10 PC. It is an in-built software that performs a scan of the computer’s physical memory and also identifies possible errors. Follow the steps to use this tool:

Make sure to save all your important works and files before running this tool.
Press Windows + R button on your keyboard.
Type in mdsched.exe.
Restart the PC.
Once your PC is restarted, it will start in the Windows Memory Diagnostics environment.
By default, the scan will commence in the Standard mode.
Press F10 to start the scan.

Check for Driver Updates

Sometimes, outdated drivers can also cause Memory Leaks on Windows 10. Notably, with new updates, the company’s tend to fix such issues or bugs.

Press Windows + R button on your keyboard.
Type in devmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
Once the Device Manager opens, check for all the software updates.
If available, update all the apps.

Disable Programs Running on Startup

It is a good practice to disable the programs running on startup. This would help you to reduce the Memory Leak issue. For this:

Head over to Task Manager.
Then go to Startup.
Choose the software that you want to disable to startup by default when the system boots up.

ClearPage File at Shutdown

Well, this process might sound complicated, but it is not. Just follow the steps mentioned below to clear the page file at every shutdown. This will help you clear the Memory Leak issue on Windows 10.

Type regedit on Search.
This will open Registry Editor.
Now, enter the below patch
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory Management
You need to change the value of ClearPageFileAtShutDown to ‘1‘.
Save the changes and restart your PC.
That’s it

Perform a Clean Boot of Windows 10

If none of the methods worked for you, then it is better to reinstall the Windows 10 OS. Notably, a clean boot would do great to fix the memory leak issue. Make sure that you have a copy of all the data on the drive where you will be installing Windows 10 fro scratch.

Wrap Up!

So, there you have it from my side in this post. I hope you guys liked this post and were able to fix the memory leak issue on your Windows 10 PC or laptop. Note that not all the methods mentioned here might work for everyone, so try performing all the workarounds. As a last resort, it is preferable to install a clean copy of Windows 10. Let us know in the comments below if you have any other potential workaround that you would like us to include in this post, that worked for you fixing the memory leak issue on Windows 10.

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Memory leaks: What is it and How to Fix it in Windows 10