Introduced in Windows 10, Memory Compression is a feature that gives your RAM more room so it doesn't fill up as quickly. Windows turns Memory Compression on by default, and you can turn it off if you want to.
But what exactly is Memory Compression, and should you disable it in the first place? Let's take a closer look at the feature in the article below.
Memory Compression in Windows: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?
Memory Compression in Windows is a feature that automatically shrinks data before it is written to RAM. This lets your computer keep more files in physical memory than it normally could, which reduces the need for the Windows page file. Paging can slow a computer down significantly when RAM usage is high, which makes Memory Compression a very useful feature to have.
Compression has many benefits, but these are the main advantages you should know about:
- Your computer relies less on secondary storage, which is slower to access than RAM. This results in better memory performance, multitasking and stability, especially on systems with limited physical memory.
- Because your computer keeps more data in physical memory, many of your apps will run faster and more smoothly.
- Disk usage drops, which means your computer's memory demands won't put pressure on your storage drive.
- With less disk activity, your computer's power consumption goes down too.
- It can help you put off a RAM upgrade, since the average person can do just fine with 8GB of RAM.
You can check how much memory your computer is compressing in Task Manager. To do that, right-click Start and select Task Manager. In Task Manager, go to the Performance tab and click Memory on the left.
You'll see how much memory Windows has compressed under In Use (Compressed); the number in parentheses shows the amount of compressed memory.
How to Enable Memory Compression
To enable Memory Compression on your PC, press the Win key and type powershell into the search bar. When the PowerShell app appears in the results, click Run as Administrator.
Once PowerShell launches, enter the command below:
Enable-MMAgent -mcWhen you press Enter, PowerShell runs the command and turns on Memory Compression.
How to Disable Memory Compression
Memory compression is important, but there may be times when you want to turn it off. For example, you might have plenty of RAM, so you have no need to compress memory, or the feature might conflict with an app or driver you need. You may even want to turn it off simply out of personal preference.
Tip: If your computer is compressing a lot of data or relying too heavily on paging, and you think it's hurting performance, adding more RAM is the best solution.
Whatever your reason for disabling Memory Compression, you can do it by opening PowerShell with admin rights and typing the command below:
Disable-MMAgent -mcWhen you press Enter and the command runs, Memory Compression will be turned off.
How to Check Whether Memory Compression Is On or Off
Because you don't get a confirmation message telling you whether Memory Compression is enabled, you can quickly check in PowerShell. To do that, open PowerShell with admin rights, enter the command below, then press the Enter key:
Get-MMAgentIf Memory Compression is turned off, the command's output will show True next to MemoryCompression.
If it says False, Memory Compression is turned off.
