A Windows 11 system with 16 GB of RAM only consumed 16% of total memory via Rufus; Other methods removed bloatware when running the latest 26H2 update

The latest Windows 11 26H2 update managed to take another step towards reducing total RAM usage, but only if your setup has more than 16 GB of memory, which is not beneficial at all. However, one user managed to bring their total RAM usage to just 16% using installation via Rufus, while using 16GB of RAM, which is considered the bare minimum when running Windows 11.

Using only 2.5 GB of the available 15.9 GB buffer, a user shows how to seriously optimize Windows 11 memory usage with Rufus

On X, @soyaakinohara6 is running what the majority of us would consider outdated hardware. In Task Manager, it is clearly mentioned that the Windows 11 system is running 16GB of DDR4 RAM running at 2133MHz, with only 2.5GB used out of the total, bringing the usage to just 16% when idle.

We’ve previously reported that Windows 11 laptops like the new Dell Fortunately, Rufus, which is a free tool used to create bootable USB devices, goes a step further by providing options to reduce unnecessary bloat.

This includes ignoring Secure Boot, TPM and others. However, Rufus does not remove bloatware by itself, and judging by the user’s translated words saying “remove all bloatware, install a different version, then apply 26H2”, we can assume that a reduced or alternative ISO like Tiny11 was used.

Yet regardless of the actual process, @soyaakinohara6 managed to reduce memory usage in Windows 11 before Microsoft rolled out its series of updates. However, while this is a decent step, it’s important to note that with only 16GB of RAM, you’ll still need to be careful with your usage, as just a few Chrome tabs can increase this memory usage.

Information source: @soyaakinohara6

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