How to Limit RAM Usage for a Program on Windows 11

Windows is designed to manage memory automatically, allocating RAM to programs based on demand and system availability. However, not all apps behave nicely. Some programs—especially games, emulators, browsers, and heavy background tools—can consume excessive memory, causing your PC to lag, freeze, or slow down dramatically.

If you’re here reading this, we’re guessing you have a specific program that keeps hogging RAM, and you want to restrict how much memory it can use. Maybe Chrome is eating gigabytes of memory, a game launcher is consuming too much RAM, or a background tool is impacting performance. No worries—you’re in the right place.

In this in-depth guide, we’ll walk you through all the practical methods to limit RAM usage for a program on Windows, including built-in tools, advanced system settings, third-party utilities, and even virtualization methods.

Why Limit RAM Usage for a Program?

You may want to cap RAM usage if:

• A program consumes too much memory
• Your PC has limited RAM (4GB or 8GB)
• You want to prevent system slowdowns
• An app becomes unstable under full load
• You run multiple heavy applications together
• You want better control over system resources

Windows doesn’t include a simple toggle like “Limit RAM for this app,” but several effective workarounds exist.

1. Use Windows Resource Monitor to Identify High RAM Usage

Before limiting RAM, identify which apps are consuming the most resources.

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Go to Performance → Open Resource Monitor.
3. Select the Memory tab.

You’ll see detailed memory usage per process, helping you target the right program before applying any limitations.

2. Limit RAM Usage Using “Set Affinity” and “Priority” (Indirect Control)

While affinity controls CPU cores, setting low priority indirectly limits RAM usage because Windows gives other apps priority access to resources.

1. Open Task Manager.
2. Go to the Details tab.
3. Right-click the target program.
4. Select Set priority → Low.

Windows allocates fewer system resources—including RAM—to low-priority processes, preventing them from overwhelming the system.

3. Use Group Policy to Limit System Memory (Advanced)

You can’t directly limit RAM per app via Group Policy, but you can restrict overall memory usage, forcing Windows to manage apps more aggressively.

1. Press Windows + R, type:

gpedit.msc

2. Navigate to:

Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → Memory Management

3. Enable:
   • Turn off Windows Memory Compression
   • Disable swap usage control

This forces Windows to throttle RAM-hungry apps earlier.

4. Use Windows Sandbox / Virtual Machine to Limit RAM for an App

This is the most effective, cleanest, and safest method.

You run the problematic app inside a sandbox or VM and allocate limited RAM to that environment.

Method A: Windows Sandbox (For Windows Pro/Enterprise)

1. Enable Windows Sandbox:
   • Open Windows Features
   • Check Windows Sandbox
2. Restart your PC.
3. Launch Sandbox from Start Menu.
4. Install and run the target program inside the sandbox.

Advantages:

• Windows Sandbox uses isolated resources
• You can limit RAM by editing Sandbox config files

Sample Configuration File (limit RAM to 2GB):

Save as sandbox.wsb:

<Configuration>
  <MemoryInMB>2048</MemoryInMB>
</Configuration>

Double-click the file to launch Sandbox with capped memory.

Method B: Virtual Machine (VMware, VirtualBox)

1. Install VMware or VirtualBox.
2. Create a new VM.
3. Allocate fixed RAM (e.g., 2GB or 3GB).
4. Install Windows or run a portable app inside the VM.

Why it works: The app inside the VM cannot exceed the RAM assigned—the VM acts as a hard limit.

5. Use Third-Party Tools to Limit RAM Allocation

Several tools allow you to impose artificial memory limits on apps.

Method A: Use “Process Lasso”

Process Lasso is one of the most powerful resource control tools.

1. Download Process Lasso (free version available).
2. Open the program.
3. Right-click your target app.
4. Choose: CPU → CPU Priority / Memory Priority
5. Select Always → Memory Priority → Low.
6. Enable the SmartTrim feature to enforce memory cleanup.

Method B: Use “BES – Battle Encoder Shirase”

BES can throttle processes, indirectly reducing memory load.

1. Download BES.
2. Run the tool → click Target.
3. Select the program you want to limit.
4. Apply a throttle value (10–30% recommended).

This limits CPU time and prevents RAM overload.

6. Reduce RAM Usage Using App-Specific Settings

Many programs allow you to control resource usage internally.

• Google Chrome / Edge
  • Disable heavy extensions
  • Enable Memory Saver
  • Limit background tabs
• Games (Steam, Epic, etc.)
  • Lower texture quality
  • Reduce render distance
  • Disable high-res assets
• Emulators
  • Manually set RAM limits inside settings

Always check the app’s own resource settings—it’s often the fastest fix.

7. Increase Page File Size (Virtual Memory Trick)

If your system runs out of RAM, apps begin to slow or crash. Increasing virtual memory prevents this and indirectly limits crashes from heavy programs.

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to System → About → Advanced system settings.
3. Under Performance, click Settings.
4. Go to the Advanced tab → Virtual Memory.
5. Uncheck: Automatically manage paging file size
6. Choose a drive → click Custom size.
7. Set:
   • Initial size: 1.5 × RAM
   • Maximum size: 3 × RAM

Example: 8GB RAM → Set up to 24GB.

Wrapping Up

And that brings us to the end of our comprehensive guide on how to limit RAM usage for a program on Windows. Whether you’re dealing with an over-hungry browser, a poorly optimized game, or a memory-intensive background app, the methods above give you several ways to control resource usage and improve overall system performance.