Do you know that you can specify how much RAM you want a particular application to use on your Windows 10 computer? Whether it’s your browser starting to lag with dozens of open tabs or a game not working with streaming music or other programs running in the background, this is an issue many of us have faced for years. That’s why today we’re going to show you how to allocate more RAM to certain apps in Windows 10 to optimize memory usage on your computer. You will also learn how to increase or decrease the RAM cache in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
Allocate More RAM to Certain Apps in Windows 10
Usually Windows does a good job of deciding how much memory to allocate to each application. However, you can manually override the default system settings and prioritize allocating RAM for certain apps in Windows 10. You can do this like this:
Method 1: Using the Task Manager
The easiest way to allocate additional memory to any particular application in Windows is to raise its priority. You can do it easily from the Task Manager by following the steps detailed below:
- Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and click on the ‘Details’ tab.
- Now right click on the executable for your target application. Hover over ‘Set Priority’ and select ‘High’ or ‘Above Normal’ depending on how much priority that program has for you.
- Confirm by clicking ‘Change Priority’ in the checkbox.
This will allow your computer to give that program a higher priority over other applications running at the same time.
Method 2: Using the Windows Context Menu
You can also specify the amount of RAM for each program using the next method. It works for most apps, but here we’ll show you how to adjust (increase or decrease) the RAM cache in Google Chrome.
- If available, right-click the Chrome shortcut on your desktop. Now select ‘Properties’.
Note: If you don’t have the Chrome shortcut on the desktop, right-click on Google Chrome in the Start Menu and select ‘More > Open File Location’. Now right click on the shortcut in the opened folder and select ‘Properties’.
- Now in the ‘Shortcut’ tab, find the ‘Target’ field and copy+paste
–disk-cache-size=1073741824At the end of the current entry. Click ‘OK’.
The above action allocates up to 1073741824 bytes (1 GB) of RAM cache to Google Chrome. I chose 1GB for demo purposes. You can choose any value you want (depending on the available memory on your computer) to increase or decrease the RAM cache in Google Chrome.
Method 3: Using Application Settings
The best way to allocate additional RAM (or reduce memory allocation) to a program is to determine the amount in that application’s settings. However, this method does not work for all applications, and even if it does, the process varies from one program to another. Here we will show you how to adjust (increase or decrease) the RAM cache in Mozilla Firefox.
- To manually set the RAM cache in Mozilla Firefox, first type
about:configinto your browser’s address bar and press Enter. If you get a warning, turn it off to access advanced options.
- Call me now
browser.cachein the about:config search field. From the results, findbrowser.cache.disk.enableand double click on it to change its value to ‘false’.
- find now
browser.cache.memory.enable. It should be ‘true’ by default. This means that the disk cache is now turned off and the memory cache is turned on.
- find now
browser.cache.memory.capacity. The default value for this entry is “-1”. Press the ‘Edit’ button (pencil icon) to change its value.
- Enter the desired value to increase or decrease the RAM cache in Mozilla Firefox. Finally, click the blue checkmark on the right to save your settings.
Note: The memory cache you enter must be in kilobytes. So to allocate 1GB the entry should be 1048576. The default value of “-1” allows Firefox to choose the size of its cache based on your computer’s installed RAM capacity..
The Risks of Allocating the Wrong Amount of RAM
You are unlikely to harm your computer by specifying too much (or too little) RAM for any application. However, under certain conditions, it can cause a program to crash or become unusable. The reason for this is what is called ‘.stack overflow error‘ occurs when the call stack memory is exceeded. It’s also worth noting that some apps are coded to use a certain amount of RAM. Therefore, you may not see a big improvement by allocating more memory to these programs.
Allocate More RAM to Certain Apps to Improve System Performance in Windows 10
With consumer computers starting to ship with mind-blowing amounts of RAM, you may not always notice a significant slowdown in performance when using multiple programs and applications at the same time. However, if you are using an older computer or an entry-level machine with limited memory, you must have felt the need to optimize memory usage.
Using our tutorial above, you should be able to easily allocate more RAM to certain apps to speed up your Windows 10 computer. If you enjoyed this article, check out our linked guides that explain the best Windows 10 tips and tricks and steps you can take to improve your Windows PC’s battery life.
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