In Windows, a memory leak occurs when an application or system process fails to properly release a block of RAM to the operating system’s memory manager when it is no longer needed. In some cases, a program will return only a portion of the memory block it was using, while in other cases, nothing will be released. Because physical RAM is a finite resource, it is critical to ensure that you have enough available to handle your workload.

While there are a few types of memory leaks in Windows, standby memory is by far the most common. Dating back to Windows 7, standby memory is still a prevalent issue in Windows 10. Once your standby memory starts eating up all of your free memory, your system can begin to slow down and even crash. Since a memory leak is usually the result of a software bug or glitch, it’s important to keep all of your drivers up to date.

Resource Monitor is a great built-in tool that can give you a much clearer picture of how Windows is managing your computer’s resources (RAM, CPU, hard drives, etc.). If you suspect that an application or process is not freeing up your standby memory, Resource Monitor is a great place to start observing. The steps below will show you how to view your system’s memory usage in Windows 10, 8, and 7.

Press the Windows key+R, enter “resmon” and select OK.