Solved: Windows 10 High Memory Usage after update

If you’ve recently installed a Windows update and suddenly noticed your system becoming slow, laggy, or unresponsive, you’re not alone. Many users report high RAM usage after updating Windows 10, even on systems that previously worked perfectly fine. There are several possible reasons that cause high memory usage after a Windows update, such as Processes like svchost.exe, Wuauserv, and the Update Orchestrator Service, which may consume high resources. Driver incompatibility such as New updates may not set up correctly with existing drivers, leading to memory spikes or corrupted Windows Update components or cache, which can make the update process loop in the background and consume excessive RAM. Well, High memory usage after a Windows update is a very common issue, especially on older or low-RAM machines. In this article, you’ll learn how to troubleshoot and reduce RAM usage on Windows 10.

Common Reasons for High Memory After Updates

It may be due to post-update background tasks like file indexing, driver optimization, or the “SysMain” service preloading apps. It can also occur due to driver incompatibilities, memory leaks, or temporary Windows Update caching. 

• Background Optimization: After an update, Windows runs maintenance tasks, such as re-indexing files and updating system components, which consume significant RAM.
• SysMain Service (formerly Superfetch): This service preloads frequently used applications into memory to speed up launch times. It often acts aggressively after updates, leading to high usage.
• Driver Incompatibility: New updates may conflict with older drivers, causing memory leaks where RAM is not properly released by the system.
• Windows Update Delivery Optimization: This feature can cause high network and memory usage, as your PC may be sharing update files with other computers. 

Check What’s Using the Most Memory

Before changing settings, it’s important to identify the real cause.

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Click More details (if you see the simple view).
3. Go to the Processes tab.
4. Click on the Memory column to sort by RAM usage.

Look for:

• Any app or browser using an unusually high amount of memory
• System processes such as:
  • Service Host: Local System
  • Antimalware Service Executable
  • SysMain (formerly Superfetch)
  • Runtime Broker

Note down the names of the top memory users you’ll work on in the next steps.

Restart Your PC and Wait 10–15 Minutes

It sounds basic, but after a big update, a clean restart can fix many temporary issues.

1. Save your work.
2. Click Start > Power > Restart (don’t just shut down and power on; use Restart).
3. After reboot, log in and wait 10–15 minutes without opening apps.
4. Open Task Manager again and check memory usage.

If the memory usage gradually drops to a normal range (30–60% for most systems when idle), then background post-update tasks might have completed.

If RAM is still 80–100% with no apps open, continue to the next steps.

Disable SysMain (Superfetch)

Some Windows services are known to cause high memory usage on certain systems. For example, SysMain is supposed to speed up app loading by preloading frequently used data into RAM. However, sometimes, after updates, it can become aggressive and consume excessive RAM.

• Press Windows + R, type services.msc and ok.
• Scroll down and look for a service named SysMain.
• Double-click on it to open the properties window.
• Here, change the startup type to disabled and stop the service.
• Do the same with the Windows update service and BITS.
• Now check, there is no more high memory usage.

Adjust Windows for best performance

Animations and visual effects consume RAM and CPU. Reducing them frees up memory.

• Right-click on the “Computer” icon and select “Properties.”
• Select “Advanced System settings.”
• Go to the “System properties.”
• Select “Settings”
• Choose “Adjust for best performance” and “Apply.”
• Click “OK” and restart your computer.

Adjust Virtual Memory (Paging File) Settings

If you have low physical RAM (4 GB or less), your system may struggle more after updates. Virtual memory (paging file) helps by using part of your disk as extra memory.

1. Right-click This PC on the desktop or in File Explorer and choose Properties.
2. Click Advanced system settings on the left.
3. Under the Advanced tab, in Performance, click Settings.
4. Go to the Advanced tab again.
5. Under Virtual memory, click Change.
6. Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives (if checked).
7. Select your system drive (usually C:).
8. Choose System managed size, then click Set.
9. Click OK on all dialogs and restart your PC.

Letting Windows manage the paging file usually provides the best balance, especially after updates.

Scan for Malware and Adware

High memory usage after an update can also expose malware that was already there.

Run a Full Scan with Windows Security

1. Click Start, type Windows Security, and open it.
2. Go to Virus & threat protection.
3. Click Scan options.
4. Choose Full scan and click Scan now.

This can take some time, but it’s worth doing.

In addition to Windows Security, you can use a free on-demand scanner like Malwarebytes (free version) to check for:

• Adware
• Browser hijackers
• Potentially unwanted programs (PUPs)

If any threats are detected, quarantine or remove them, then restart the PC and re-check memory usage.

Check Corrupted System files

If, during the Windows 10 update Process, any system file gets damaged or missing, this may also cause various errors, including 100% memory usage and high disk or CPU usage on Windows computers. Windows has an SFC Utility (System File Checker Tool) that helps scan for and restore missing or damaged system files.

To run the System File Checker tool

• Open the command prompt as administrator
• Type sfc /scannow and hit the Enter key to execute the command.
• This will scan for missing, corrupted system files
• If found, the SFC utility will restore them from a cache folder located on %WinDir%\System32\dllcache.
• You only have to wait for 100% complete the scanning process
• Then, after restarting Windows and checking, did you find it helpful?

Check for driver updates

For several users, outdated or faulty drivers are the main cause of this potential memory leak in Windows 10. While an outdated driver doesn’t necessarily affect any program and therefore cause a memory leak, it can still use more memory than it should.

• Press Windows + R, type devmgmt.msc, and press OK to open Device Manager.
• This will display the All Installed Drivers list
• here. Look for any device with a yellow tingle mark
• If you find it, right-click and select uninstall.
• Restart Windows, again open the Device Manager window to install the basic driver for that device
• If not, you can click the action and search for new hardware.

If you didn’t find any yellow exclamation mark driver, then we recommend updating the driver, especially for the Display driver (Graphic Driver), Audio Driver, and Network adapter driver. Then after Restart windows, I Hope Next time Windows work smoothly without any huge memory usage.

Consider a RAM Upgrade (If You Can)

If your system has very low RAM, even a healthy Windows installation may feel heavy after recent updates.

As a general guide:

• 4 GB RAM – Minimum for very basic tasks; can feel slow after big updates.
• 8 GB RAM – Recommended minimum for smooth daily use, browsing, office apps.
• 16 GB+ RAM – Better for multitasking, heavy browser use, and gaming.

If you frequently hit 80–100% memory usage with just a browser and a few apps open, upgrading RAM can be one of the most effective long-term solutions.

Best Practices to Prevent High Memory Usage in the Future

Once you’ve stabilized your system, follow these tips to keep Windows 10 running smoothly:

1. Restart your PC regularly – Don’t keep it on for weeks without a reboot.
2. Limit startup apps – Only allow essential programs to run at startup.
3. Avoid too many browser tabs – Browsers like Chrome and Edge can easily consume several GB of RAM.
4. Install only trusted software – Avoid bundled installers and toolbars.
5. Clean up unused apps – Uninstall programs you no longer use.
6. Keep drivers up to date – Especially graphics and chipset drivers.
7. Run periodic malware scans – Use Windows Security plus an occasional on-demand scanner.

These habits will not only reduce memory usage but also keep your system more secure and responsive.

Frequently Asked Questions