How to Change Virtual Memory in Windows 10

To change virtual memory in Windows 10, open System Properties (sysdm.cpl) > Advanced > Performance > Settings > Advanced > Change. Clear Automatically manage paging file size for all drives, choose Custom size, enter an initial and maximum size in MB, select Set, then OK, and restart the PC.

Applies to: Windows 10. Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025, and only PCs enrolled in Extended Security Updates still get security fixes, through October 12, 2027.

Virtual memory uses a file on your drive, called the page file, to hold data that doesn’t fit in RAM. By default, Windows manages its size for you, and that’s the right choice for most PCs. Change it only if you see “low on memory” warnings, or an app tells you to. On a newer PC, follow changing virtual memory in Windows 11 instead.

Open the virtual memory settings

1. Press Windows logo key + R, type sysdm.cpl, and press Enter.
2. Select the Advanced tab. Under Performance, select Settings.

3. In Performance Options, select the Advanced tab, then Change under Virtual memory.

Set a custom size

1. Clear Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.
2. Select the drive, usually C:, and choose Custom size.
3. Enter an Initial size and a Maximum size in MB, then select Set.
4. Select OK, and restart when Windows asks.

The dialog shows a Recommended size near the bottom. A starting point is to use that as the initial size, and a larger number as the maximum. Leave room for your busiest workloads.

See how much of the page file is in use

• In Task Manager, open Performance > Memory. Committed shows memory in use against the total of RAM plus page file.
• In PowerShell, Get-CimInstance Win32_PageFileUsage | Select-Object Name, AllocatedBaseSize, CurrentUsage shows the page file’s size and current use in MB.

Change it from PowerShell

If you manage several PCs or prefer commands, open Windows PowerShell as administrator and run these lines one at a time. The example sets a 4,096 MB initial size and an 8,192 MB maximum on C:.

1. Turn off automatic management: Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystem | Set-CimInstance -Property @{AutomaticManagedPagefile=$false}
2. Set the sizes: Get-CimInstance Win32_PageFileSetting -Filter "Name='C:\\pagefile.sys'" | Set-CimInstance -Property @{InitialSize=4096; MaximumSize=8192}
3. Restart the PC.

To undo it, run the first command again with $true instead of $false and restart. The older wmic commands some guides show still work on many Windows 10 PCs, but Microsoft is removing wmic, so PowerShell is the safer choice.

Put the page file on another drive

If C: is short on space, you can use a second internal drive. In the same dialog, select the other drive and choose System managed size or a custom size, then select Set. Keep a small page file on C: as well, so Windows can still save crash information.

Go back to automatic

Open the same dialog, check Automatically manage paging file size for all drives, select OK, and restart.

Things to know

• Don’t turn the page file off. Doing so goes against Microsoft’s advice, and Windows needs it for stability and for saving crash information.
• More virtual memory isn’t more RAM. The page file is much slower than RAM. If the PC is often short on memory, adding RAM helps more, so check how much RAM you have.
• It uses disk space. A large page file takes space on the drive, so check your free disk space before you raise it.

If changes don’t work

• Nothing seems different: page file changes only take effect after a restart.
• A warning mentions crash dumps: the size is too small to save crash information. Select Yes to continue, or raise the initial size.
• There isn’t enough space on the drive: free up space first or choose another drive.
• Low memory warnings keep coming: check Task Manager for an app whose memory use keeps growing, and close or update it.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if I’m low on memory?

Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and select Performance > Memory. If it stays near full, close apps or free up RAM.

Will this make my PC faster?

Usually not. It can stop out-of-memory errors. For general speed, try the tips for speeding up Windows 10.

Is it OK to keep the page file on an SSD?

Yes. Modern SSDs handle it well, and an SSD makes the page file much faster than a hard drive would.

Where is the page file stored?

It’s a hidden system file called pagefile.sys at the top of the drive, usually C:\. Don’t delete it in File Explorer; change it only in this dialog.

There are other ways to open System Properties in Windows 10 if the Run box isn’t handy. If a crash already happened, reading dump files in Windows 10 is the next step.

For sizing details, read Microsoft’s article How to determine the appropriate page file size for 64-bit versions of Windows.