Is it normal that my ram is being almost maxed out like this?

Hi, I saw this message when I tried to boot into safe mode and not nervous and backed out. Is there another way?

Hi MarFitzpatrick,

Thanks so much for the detailed explanation and for really digging into this issue — I really appreciate you taking the time to share all those helpful details! It sounds like you’ve been very thorough, and your observations about Edge and the learning site definitely give us some good clues.

Since this might be related to how some websites or background processes are working on your ARM-based Surface, the next step I’d suggest is to try booting into Safe Mode. It’s a way to start Windows with just the basics running, so we can see if something extra is causing your RAM to spike.

Here’s how you can do it:

Press Windows + R, type msconfig, and hit Enter.

Go to the Boot tab.

Tick the box for Safe boot and pick Minimal.

Click OK and restart your laptop.

Once you’re in Safe Mode, just leave it running for a bit (about 5–10 minutes) without opening anything. Then, check your RAM usage in Task Manager under the Performance tab.

If the RAM usage is much lower there, it’s a strong sign that something running normally in Windows, maybe a background app, service, or even the website stuff you mentioned, is causing the high usage.

To get back to normal mode, just go back into msconfig and untick Safe boot, then restart again.

Give that a try and let me know what happens! If it looks better in Safe Mode, we’ll know where to focus next. If not, we can look into some other options.

Thanks again for sticking with this. I’m here to help however I can.

Cheers,

Adrian A

Option 1

I checked the resource view and this is what is looks like. The "in use" was above 13K but I did a restart after doing the RUN modification you suggested and it went down to 11K but I assume that was probably just from the restart. It will slowly rise back up eventually though. Keep in mind that this is 74% after a fresh restart with nothing opened so still unusual. Option 2

I didn't have much options in here because I don't really have anything installed on the laptop other than Spotify, the HP printer app and Microsoft apps. I only disabled the HP printer service because I started notice that high ram usage around the time I bought the printer so I figured it might be that. Anyway, I restarted but behavior seems to be the same so I might enable the service since I use the printer. The other stuff listed came with the Surface laptop.

Option 3

The command you mentioned doesn't seem to exist. However, I did do run a full scan yesterday via windows security before I made this post and nothing was detected. It this different? If so, kindly provide another code.

Findings

I have some interesting observations.

Yesterday, I expanded Edge in the task manger and noticed a whole bunch of "Subframe" websites I have never visited before. Closing the entire Edge process and restarting the laptop made the RAM usage go from 95% to 50%. BUT by last night, the usage was back up to 86% but the random "subframes" didn't return. I'm starting to wonder if this is caused by the Online Learning Provider's website I use to study.

Today - After trying the options you suggested and restarting the PC. the usage was still 72% as you can see in option 1 but I noticed the Edge process were still open so I decided to close the edge process again and now I'm back to 50% despite now having 5 Edge tabs and OneNote open.(This is the same stuff I had opened yesterday except the website I study from) I suspect that if I go to the Online learning provider's website again the RAM usage will be high again tonight... or maybe it's something else that's doing it. Idk. but that's what I noticed. I have the same stuff open other than that website. I don't want to say the site and bring any weird attention because they're a trusted learning provider. If there is a way to private message I will tell you the site.

On my work PC, I noted that the Online Learning Provider's website uses some kind of service that prevents you from taking screenshots of their media. It causes the video to turn black if you use snipping tool or even if you are in a video call and screenshare. It worked on my work PC with a regular Intel processor. However, it doesn't seem to work on this laptop (Snapdragon X plus processor) and I'm actually able to take screenshots now. So the service they use doesn't seem to work on ARM. Could it be that whatever they use is what is causing this?

As I type this with all the stuff opened (except that one website) and my usage is still at 50% for about 45 mins now. I will open the website and start to watch videos again and see if the RAM usage goes back up in the high 80s by tonight.

Hello MarFitzpatrick,

Thanks for sharing the screenshot — I see what you mean. I’m Adrian, an Independent Advisor. I’ll walk you through what we can do. I’m here to help troubleshoot it with you.

Please try these steps with me,

1. Check Memory Usage in Resource Monitor

For a more accurate view:

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc → go to Performance > Open Resource Monitor > Memory tab

Look under “Used by processes” and “Standby”

If Standby is huge (5–8 GB), it's cached memory, not in active use

If “In use” is >13 GB, something’s hoarding memory — likely a bug or background process

2. Run in Clean Boot Mode

Helps determine if it’s a background app/service:

Press Windows + R > type msconfig > Enter

Under Services tab, check “Hide Microsoft services” → click Disable all

Go to Startup tab > Open Task Manager → Disable all

Restart your PC

If memory usage drops, something from the startup is bloating RAM

3. Check for Malware (just in case)

It’s rare, but high memory with no obvious source can mean a hidden process.

Run a full scan using:

Microsoft Defender or using Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool (MRT)

Press Windows + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box.

Type mrt and hit Enter. This will launch the Malicious Software Removal Tool.

Once the tool opens, you will be presented with three scanning options:

Choose Quick Scan: This scans critical areas of your system where malware is likely to be present. It is faster and uses fewer resources.

Let me know what you observe, and if anything specific seems to trigger the jump in memory usage. From there, I can give you more targeted suggestions or adjust settings.

Looking forward to your update!

Warm regards,

Adrian A.