One of the longest-running frustrations for Windows 11 users has finally received an official acknowledgment from Microsoft: the operating system’s native applications use more memory than they should, and the company is planning structural changes to fix it.
The admission, reported by PCWorld and confirmed through Microsoft’s internal discussions, targets the WinUI 3 framework that underpins many modern Windows apps, including File Explorer, Settings, and the Start Menu. WinUI 3 provides the visual and interactive layer for these applications, but its architecture carries significant memory overhead compared to the older Win32 framework. Users with 32 gigabytes of RAM have reported idle usage exceeding 25 gigabytes after recent updates, with the native apps consuming a disproportionate share even when sitting in the background.
Microsoft’s planned fix centers on a WinUI 3 performance optimization pass that will reduce the memory footprint of native applications without changing their functionality. The optimization work is expected to ship before the company proceeds with a broader rewrite of the Start Menu, which is also built on the same framework and has been a frequent target of user complaints about sluggishness and resource consumption.
The problem has become more acute as AI-driven demand has pushed DRAM prices to historic highs. With 16-gigabyte memory kits costing substantially more than they did two years ago, the overhead from native Windows apps eats into a more expensive resource than it used to. The Windows 11 July preview update, KB5101684, already includes fixes for File Explorer and Search, but the WinUI memory overhaul is a separate, deeper intervention aimed at the framework level.
For users running Windows 11 on devices with 8 or 16 gigabytes of RAM – still the most common configurations in budget and mid-range laptops – the impact is most visible. System memory usage that climbs above 60 percent at idle leaves less headroom for applications, browsers, and virtual machines, forcing the system to rely on slower disk-based swap.
Microsoft has not specified a timeline for the WinUI performance update beyond stating that it is “coming.” The company is also exploring ways to reduce the memory footprint of the Copilot AI integration, which runs as a persistently resident process in recent Windows 11 builds.
Sources: Microsoft admits its Windows 11 apps hog RAM. A fix is coming (PCWorld, July 27, 2026); Microsoft admits Windows 11 native apps hog RAM, promises a WinUI performance boost (Windows Latest, July 27, 2026); Microsoft Is Finally Fixing One of Windows 11’s Biggest Problems (WinCentral, July 27, 2026)