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Your computer uses RAM to handle the apps and tasks it’s actively working on. And when you don’t have enough RAM, your computer slows down. We’ll show you how to check your RAM, find out how much RAM you have, and figure out how much you really need. Then, use a specialized optimization tool to clean up your computer for more memory and faster performance.
Before we learn how much RAM your Windows computer or laptop has, it’s important to understand what RAM (random access memory) is, how it works, and the difference between RAM and hard disk or SSD storage on a PC. So check out those links for more information.
If you have a Mac, skip ahead to find out how to check RAM on a Mac computer.
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Before you know if you have a RAM problem, or if you simply think you don’t have enough RAM, you need to know how to check your total RAM capacity to find out how much RAM your system currently has.
Here’s how to check how much RAM you have on Windows 10:
Open the Windows Start menu, start typing About your PC, and click the option to open it when it appears.
In the Device Specifications section, your total RAM capacity is displayed next to Installed RAM.
If you’re on Windows 7, you can use Task Manager to check how much RAM you have. Here’s how:
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to launch Task Manager. Or, right-click the Taskbar and select Task Manager.
Select the Performance tab to see current RAM usage displayed in the Memory box, and total RAM capacity listed under Physical Memory.
Once you know how to check how much total RAM your computer has, it’s important to know how to find out how much RAM your computer is currently using. Here’s how to check RAM speed, RAM availability, and other memory usage statistics:
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to launch Task Manager. Or, right-click the Taskbar and select Task Manager.
Select the Performance tab and click Memory in the left panel. The Memory window lets you see your current RAM usage, check RAM speed, and view other memory hardware specifications.
Open the Processes tab to see which tasks are consuming the most RAM. To reduce current RAM usage, you can force-quit any task currently in operation by right-clicking the individual process and selecting End Task.
Tip: If you’re low on memory (for example, if you have 4 GB or less), you can free up RAM by following these tips to speed up your PC.
You can also hibernate apps by using Sleep Mode, a feature of Avast Cleanup that automatically puts resource draining-programs to sleep when you don’t need them. Get Avast Cleanup and see how much faster and more smoothly your PC runs.
If your Mac is struggling to carry out active processes and run certain apps, you might be running out of memory. First, you need to check your total RAM capacity. Here’s how to check how much RAM is installed in your Mac:
Open the Apple menu and select About This Mac.
Next to Memory, you’ll see the amount of RAM your Mac has and its specifications.
Here’s how to see how much RAM your Mac desktop or Macbook laptop is currently using:
In the MacOS menu bar click Go > Utilities.
Double-click Activity Monitor and select the Memory tab.
You can see all running (active) processes in the Memory tab as well as how much memory is currently being used.
If you’re running low on RAM, check out our guide to speeding up a Mac for some easy-to-follow recommendations, like closing all the apps you’re not currently using.
For more comprehensive improvements, get a dedicated Mac cleaning utility. Avast Cleanup for Mac will free up space for more active memory and better overall performance. Plus, it’ll help you safely and easily delete junk data, duplicate files, and blurry photos that you don’t need.
Is your computer constantly slow and running low on memory? Are simple processes like opening web pages or running apps taking ages to execute, despite following Windows and Mac optimization tips? If the answer is yes, it’s time for an upgrade.
Thankfully, RAM is more affordable these days and easy to install, so upgrading your computer’s memory isn’t a huge problem. After upgrading your PC RAM, or expanding your Mac’s memory capacity, you’ll be amazed how much faster your computer runs.
To make sure you’ve got enough RAM for high intensity tasks like multimedia editing or gaming, check out our tips for how to optimize your Windows system for gaming, which is especially important if you’re building a PC gaming rig.
If your computer is crashing or freezing seemingly at random, you should check out your memory and make sure the problem isn’t due to hardware failure. Windows 7 and Windows 10 have easy-to-use, built-in memory diagnostic tools for you to use. Here’s how to check your memory for errors in Windows:
Click the Windows Start menu and start typing Windows Memory Diagnostics. When the Windows Memory Diagnostics option appears, click it to open it.
In the diagnostic window that shows, click Restart now and check for problems. Your PC will reboot in a diagnostic environment.
Wait while you Windows checks your PC’s RAM for errors. If the diagnostic tool finds a problem, you should replace your RAM immediately.
Both laptops and desktop computers can run out of memory quickly. When that happens, the operating system (Windows or macOS) flushes data from RAM back onto the hard disk in a process called paging. Sending data from RAM to the hard drive results in huge delays and performance losses. A specialized cleaning tool can solve that problem in an instant.
Avast Cleanup includes a dedicated Sleep Mode feature that lets you instantly reclaim RAM by hibernating demanding processes that you don’t currently need. And thanks to regular, automatic cleaning, you can easily get rid of junk files and other unnecessary items that are hogging memory and slowing you down. Try Avast Cleanup for free today.