How to monitor memory usage in Windows using Resource Monitor

Monitoring memory usage in Windows is vital for maintaining consistent performance. Overusing RAM degrades system responsiveness and causes bottlenecks. Resource Monitor provides detailed insights into how each process consumes memory, helping pinpoint potential issues.

While Task Manager offers a broad overview of memory usage, Resource Monitor provides granular metrics such as committed memory, working sets, and standby lists. These details help diagnose memory leaks, resolve performance slowdowns, and optimize allocations. Accurate monitoring of these parameters ensures stable system operations.

Organizations and individual users leverage Resource Monitor for real-time analysis, process-level monitoring, and streamlined resource management. Its graphs and tables highlight memory consumption across active processes, facilitating better-informed decisions about workload adjustments and memory configurations. This approach keeps systems running efficiently and reduces the risk of slowdowns.

1. Open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc or right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager.
2. Click on the Performance tab.
3. At the bottom of the window, click Open Resource Monitor.
4. Select the Memory tab within Resource Monitor.
5. View the memory details, including In Use, Modified, Standby, and Free categories.

   The Memory tab shows the breakdown of memory usage and details on each process’s memory consumption.

6. Scroll down to see a list of processes and how much memory each is using.

   Sorting by the Commit or Working Set column helps identify memory-heavy processes quickly.

7. Observe the Physical Memory usage graph at the bottom for real-time tracking.
8. Use the Processes pane to filter processes by memory usage, commit size, or other metrics.

   This pane helps identify potential memory leaks or heavy memory usage by specific applications.