Users have reported a significant reduction in RAM usage following the installation of the Windows 11 26H2 functional update. Practical testing indicates that the system now consumes approximately 7 GB of RAM in idle mode, compared to the previous 10 GB requirement. This represents a decrease of about 3 GB in memory load, though Microsoft has not yet detailed the specific technical changes in its official documentation.
Tests conducted on a laptop equipped with 16 GB of RAM showed that after a reboot, the system utilized 7 GB of memory, which accounts for about 45 percent of the available 15.7 GB. Previously, the same device would consume over 10 GB of RAM before any user applications were launched. The current configuration still includes background processes such as Lenovo Smart Connect, Plex, Quick Share, PowerToys, WhatsApp, and Teams.
The optimization is particularly impactful for devices with 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM, where additional free memory improves overall system performance. In addition to memory management improvements, the 26H2 update introduces a low-latency mode. This feature temporarily increases the processor frequency to accelerate application startup times.
