Microsoft Promised Efficient Windows 11 But Its Weather App Uses 1.6GB RAM
Microsoft has committed to making Windows 11 more efficient on computers with 8GB of RAM, but its built-in Weather app can reportedly consume as much as 1.6GB of memory while performing basic tasks.
The issue could be particularly noticeable on systems with 8GB or 16GB of RAM, where a single app using this much memory can contribute to slower performance.
Even Idle RAM Usage is High
According to Windows Latest, opening the Windows 11 Weather app can immediately push its memory usage to around 1GB before it settles at roughly 600MB while sitting idle.
The lowest reported usage was around 500MB when the app was doing almost nothing.
However, interacting with the app can cause memory consumption to rise sharply. Simply zooming in and out reportedly pushed usage to around 1.5GB, with occasional spikes reaching approximately 1.6GB.
The behavior was also reproduced on a system equipped with 32GB of RAM.
On machines with less memory, such as those with 8GB or 16GB, this level of consumption could cause Windows 11 to rely more heavily on the SSD as temporary virtual memory once available RAM becomes limited. That can lead to delays and reduced system responsiveness.
Users who are less familiar with Windows may also have difficulty identifying the Weather app as the reason behind unexpected slowdowns.
Ads Add to the Problem
The Weather app also displays several advertisements while consuming significant amounts of system memory.
Windows Latest described the application as heavily tied to MSN content, with advertising appearing alongside weather information.
This makes the high RAM consumption more noticeable, particularly given that the app is handling a relatively simple task.
By comparison, Apple’s built-in Weather app on macOS reportedly consumes less than 250MB of RAM and does not contain the same level of advertising.
That means the Windows 11 Weather app can use around five times as much memory in some situations.
Microsoft Still Has Work to Do
The findings come as Microsoft continues working to improve Windows 11 performance on computers with 8GB of RAM.
However, the Weather app suggests that the company still has significant optimization work ahead if it wants Windows 11 to run efficiently on lower-memory systems.
Users who do not rely on the Weather app can uninstall it or prevent it from running in the background to reduce unnecessary memory usage.
Those who continue using it may have to wait for Microsoft to further optimize the application and Windows 11’s overall memory consumption.
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