How to Free Up RAM on Windows 11/10: Disable These 5 Hidden Services Eating Your Memory

September 15, 2026 | Umair Alam | 8 min read

Is your PC lagging randomly? You open Task Manager and memory usage sits above 90%, yet you can’t find what’s eating it. The culprit isn’t the apps you’re running — it’s background services Windows enables by default that quietly consume RAM in large chunks. In this guide, you’ll learn the 5 hidden services responsible and exactly how to disable each one to free up 1-2GB of RAM and make Windows faster.

TL;DR: Disable SysMain, Connected User Experiences and Telemetry, Delivery Optimization (allow download from other devices), Windows Search Indexer, and (via PowerShell) Memory Compression. On 4GB/8GB laptops these free 1-2GB of RAM with real speed gains; on 16GB+ rigs the effect is minor.

Watch the full walkthrough below, or keep reading for the step-by-step breakdown.

What You’ll Learn

  • Why Windows RAM usage stays at 90%+ even when you’re doing nothing heavy
  • The 5 background services eating memory in the background
  • Step-by-step commands to stop and disable each one permanently
  • How to check if Memory Compression is active on your system
  • How much RAM you can realistically free up (and when it’s worth it)

Tools & Requirements

Tool Purpose Cost
Task Manager Verify current RAM usage before/after Free (built-in)
Services window Stop/disable SysMain, Telemetry, Windows Search Free (built-in)
Windows Settings Turn off Delivery Optimization Free (built-in)
PowerShell (Admin) Disable Memory Compression Free (built-in)

The Direct Answer: What’s Eating Your RAM?

Windows runs five background services that hold your memory hostage, and none of them are on your visible task list:

  1. SysMain (formerly Superfetch) — preloads apps you use frequently into RAM (1-2GB).
  2. Connected User Experiences and Telemetry — collects and uploads usage data to Microsoft (400-800MB).
  3. Delivery Optimization — turns your PC into a distribution node that uploads Windows updates to other systems.
  4. Windows Search Indexer — indexes all documents and file contents, useful only for heavy search users.
  5. Memory Compression — compresses inactive RAM pages and burns CPU cycles on low-RAM machines.

The fix for each is quick — a combination of the Services window, Windows Settings, and one PowerShell command. None of these changes break your system or your data; they just stop Windows from using your RAM without asking.

Note: if your system has 16GB or more RAM, disabling these services will have almost no visible impact. If you’re on 4GB, 6GB, or 8GB, you’ll feel the difference immediately.

Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Step 1: Verify Your RAM Usage in Task Manager

Before changing anything, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, go to the Performance tab, and note your current memory usage percentage. This is your baseline to compare against after disabling the services.

Step 2: Disable SysMain (Frees 1-2GB)

SysMain pre-loads frequently used apps into RAM so they open faster. That made sense on old mechanical hard drives (HDDs), where loading an app from disk was slow. On modern NVMe SSDs, opening apps is already near-instant — so SysMain just wastes memory.

To disable it:

  1. Press Win and type services, or press Win + R, type services.msc, and hit Enter.
  2. Click the Name column header to sort alphabetically, then press S on your keyboard.
  3. Locate SysMain, double-click it.
  4. Click Stop, then change Startup type to Disabled.
  5. Click Apply, then OK.

Step 3: Disable the Data Collector (Frees 400-800MB)

The service’s actual name is Connected User Experiences and Telemetry, and its job is collecting Windows usage data — which apps you open, which settings you change, how long you spend in each window — and uploading it to Microsoft servers.

  1. In the Services window, press C to jump to the C section.
  2. Find Connected User Experiences and Telemetry, double-click it.
  3. Click Stop, set Startup type to Disabled, then Apply and OK.

Important: Windows can restart this service on its own unless you also turn off optional diagnostic data:

  1. Open Windows Settings (Win + I).
  2. Go to Privacy & Security → Diagnostics & feedback.
  3. Turn off Send optional diagnostic data.

Step 4: Turn Off Delivery Optimization (Stops P2P Uploads)

When Microsoft releases a Windows update, it doesn’t send the full file to every PC from its own servers. Instead, it distributes the load across user PCs — meaning your bandwidth, electricity, and system resources get used to upload update chunks to other computers.

  1. Open Windows Settings (Win + I).
  2. Go to Windows Update → Advanced options.
  3. Click Delivery Optimization.
  4. Toggle off Allow downloads from other devices.

Once off, Windows Update downloads only from Microsoft’s servers, and your PC stops acting as a distribution node.

Step 5: Disable Windows Search Indexer (Optional)

Windows Search is genuinely useful — but only if you search through hundreds of documents a day and search inside their contents. If you occasionally open a document without a heavy search workflow, the indexer is just holding RAM hostage.

  1. In the Services window, press W.
  2. Find Windows Search, double-click it.
  3. Stop it, set Startup type to Disabled, then Apply and OK.

Trade-off: Windows search will no longer return content-level results until re-enabled. Basic file search still works; it’s just slower for document content.

Step 6: Disable Memory Compression (PowerShell)

Memory Compression isn’t in Services or Settings — you reach it via PowerShell. When Windows compresses inactive RAM pages, the CPU does the compressing, so on low-RAM systems your CPU cycles burn and your RAM stays artificially full.

  1. Press Win, search for PowerShell, right-click it, and select Run as administrator.
  2. Check current status:
Get-MMAgent
  1. Look for the MemoryCompression row. On many systems it already reads False — if yours does, you’re done here. If it says True:
Disable-MMAgent -MemoryCompression
  1. You’ll be prompted to restart. After rebooting, run Get-MMAgent again to confirm MemoryCompression now reads False.

Before and After

Criteria Before (default) After (tuned)
SysMain Preloads apps into RAM Apps load on demand
Telemetry 400-800MB for data collection 0 (collection off)
Delivery Optimization PC shares update bandwidth PC downloads only from Microsoft
Windows Search Indexer runs 24/7 Off (manual/on-demand)
Memory Compression CPU compresses RAM pages Off on low-RAM systems
Free RAM gained — ~1-2GB

Who Should Use This

User type Why it helps
4-8GB RAM laptops Biggest gain — every megabyte counts
Gamers on mid-range PCs Fewer stutters from background tuning
Privacy-conscious users Telemetry and P2P sharing both disabled
Older Windows 10 installs Services left from upgrade-accumulated bloat
Heavy document searchers Skip Step 5 — the indexer genuinely helps you

Tips for Best Results

  1. Reboot after all changes — several services need a restart before they actually stop allocating memory.
  2. Disable the Windows 11 search app restart loop — if Windows Search keeps re-enabling itself after an update, use the Services approach again; a Windows feature update can flip it back, so check periodically.
  3. Don’t touch SysMain on HDD machines — if your OS still lives on a mechanical drive, keep SysMain enabled; the preload genuinely speeds up app launches there.
  4. Keep optional diagnostic data off — this is the setting that stops Windows from silently re-enabling the telemetry service.
  5. Combine with Startup apps — check Task Manager’s Startup tab and disable apps you never use for a compounding effect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is disabling SysMain safe for my PC?

A: Yes. SysMain (formerly Superfetch) is a performance convenience, not a critical component. On SSD/NVMe systems disabling it is a common optimization; it won’t damage your system or data, and you can re-enable it anytime from Services.

Q: How much RAM can I free up on Windows 10/11?

A: Expect roughly 1-2GB freed after disabling SysMain, telemetry, the search indexer, and turning off P2P delivery. Exact numbers depend on how many apps Windows was preloading.

Q: Should I disable Memory Compression on 16GB of RAM?

A: No need. On 16GB+ systems the compression overhead goes unnoticed. It’s only on 4GB, 6GB, and 8GB systems that Memory Compression keeps RAM artificially busy while burning CPU cycles.

Q: Will disabling these services affect Windows Updates?

A: Slightly. Turning off Delivery Optimization means updates download only from Microsoft’s servers instead of from other PCs. Updates still install normally — it’s just a slower download in some regions.

Q: Is it safe to disable Connected User Experiences and Telemetry?

A: Yes. This service only collects Windows diagnostics and usage data for Microsoft. Disabling it improves privacy and frees memory; no essential Windows feature depends on it. Turn off “Send optional diagnostic data” too, or Windows may restart the service.

Q: Does the Windows Search Indexer use a lot of RAM?

A: The indexer can use hundreds of MB while it builds its index of file contents. If you rarely search inside documents, disabling Windows Search frees that memory with minimal impact on day-to-day use.

Q: Will my files get deleted if I disable Windows Search?

A: No. Windows Search only handles indexing for fast search. Your files stay exactly where they are. Search still works at the basic filename level; you only lose the instant content search results.

Q: Do these optimizations work on Windows 11 too?

A: Yes. All five services exist on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 — same names, same Services console, same PowerShell command. Windows 11 also allows additional tweaks through its Settings redesign, but these steps apply to both.

Key Takeaways

  • Five background services — SysMain, telemetry, Delivery Optimization, Windows Search, and Memory Compression — can consume 1-2GB of your RAM.
  • Verify your baseline in Task Manager first, then disable each service from Services, Settings, and PowerShell.
  • The biggest wins are on 4-8GB systems; 16GB+ machines see little benefit.
  • Skip the Windows Search step if you search document contents regularly.
  • Turn off “Send optional diagnostic data” or Windows will silently restart the telemetry service.