What Is Memory Compression in Windows and How Do You Enable or Disable It?
Memory compression is a feature in Windows that compresses application data in memory to free up RAM and improve system performance. This feature was introduced in Windows 10 and has been available since the release of Windows 10 version 1709.
How Memory Compression works
Memory compression works by compressing memory pages that are not actively used by the application. This saves space in RAM and allows more memory to be used for other applications or processes. When an application requires the data that has been compressed, the memory manager decompresses the data and places it back in memory. This means that the data is still accessible to the application but takes up less space in RAM.
To enable or disable memory compression in Windows, follow the steps below.
How to Enable Memory Compression in Windows
1.Open the Start menu and type “Powershell”.
2.Right-click on Windows PowerShell and select “Run as administrator”.
3.In the PowerShell window, type “Enable-MMAgent -MemoryCompression” (without the quotes) and press Enter.
4.If memory compression was already enabled, you will receive a message stating that it is already enabled. If it was not enabled, the command will activate memory compression.
How to Disable Memory Compression in Windows
1.Open the Start menu and type “Powershell”.
2.Right-click on Windows PowerShell and select “Run as administrator”.
3.In the PowerShell window, type “Disable-MMAgent -MemoryCompression” (without the quotes) and press Enter.
4.If memory compression was already disabled, you will receive a message stating that it is already disabled. If it was enabled, the command will disable memory compression.
Benefits of Memory Compression
Memory compression is a useful feature in Windows that can improve system performance and reduce memory usage. This is particularly useful for computers with limited RAM, as it allows more memory to be used for other applications or processes. This, in turn, can improve overall system performance and reduce lag and stuttering in applications. Additionally, memory compression can help to reduce the frequency of page file usage, as it reduces the amount of data that needs to be swapped in and out of memory.