Debloated Windows 11 Dropped RAM Usage to 2.5GB
Using Rufus to strip preinstalled components lowered memory footprint for a cleaner operating system environment.
Updated on Oct. 12, 2026 in Computers
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A test of Windows 11 version 26H2 installed via Rufus 4.15 showed a system memory footprint of 2.5GB. This performance result demonstrates a reduction in resource overhead compared to standard installations of the operating system.
Why it matters
Reducing background resource consumption is critical for optimizing performance on hardware with limited memory capacity. This approach addresses the bloat of preinstalled services that typically run alongside the Windows desktop environment.
The system, powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 3500 and 16GB of DDR4-2133 memory, consumed 2.5GB of RAM at idle with an additional 2.1GB cached. This was achieved by removing preinstalled apps using Rufus version 4.15.
The players
Microsoft
A global technology corporation that develops the Windows operating system and its associated ecosystem of cloud services.
Rufus
An open-source utility software used to create bootable USB drives and customize Windows operating system installations.
The details
Rufus version 4.14 introduced an installation utility designed to remove specific Windows components and apps. This process disables resource-heavy background services, including Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Copilot. By stripping these background tasks, the system effectively reduces its baseline memory footprint, which provides more available headroom on systems that hover near the 4GB minimum requirement.
Timeline
July 2026: Microsoft confirmed ongoing development of memory usage optimizations for Windows 11.
October 12, 2026: The performance results of the debloated installation were published.
The Tech Race
The manual removal of background services mirrors official efforts by Microsoft to streamline the Windows 11 memory footprint. This user-led optimization attempts to bypass the resource-heavy overhead that has become a primary bottleneck for entry-level hardware.
Users with older PCs or systems approaching the 4GB minimum RAM requirement may gain usable memory by stripping background components. This workflow is currently manual and requires technical proficiency to avoid potential system instability.
The takeaway
Users looking to extend the utility of limited-memory hardware can use specialized tools to prune non-essential Windows services. Future testing should monitor how Microsoft's upcoming updates interact with these stripped environments.
Further reading
For more on the performance of desktop hardware, visit the Computers section.
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Would you use third-party tools to remove preinstalled features to improve your computer's performance?
