How to Turn off Windows 11 Memory Compression

Many friends have noticed that Win11 has the memory compression function turned on by default. Memory compression, as the name implies, can compress data in memory, reduce memory usage, reduce swap frequency, and bring higher I/O efficiency.

But at the same time, compressing data requires CPU resources. Some friends use devices with weak CPU performance, such as thin and light notebooks. Turning on memory compression may cause slowness. At the same time, memory compression needs to consume additional CPU resources and bring more power consumption and heat generation, which is also inappropriate for devices that focus on battery life.

In fact, Microsoft has enabled the memory compression mechanism in Win10, and continues this setting in Win11. So the question is, if you don't lack memory, but the CPU performance is weak, and you need longer battery life, how to turn off memory compression? Let's take a look!

Confirm that memory compression is enabled

First, we need to confirm whether memory compression is really turned on. There are two methods here.

View through task manager. If memory compression is turned on, then in the task manager, the data of the compressed memory will be displayed, which is easy to observe.

View via command line. With system administrator privileges, open PowerShell and enter the following command:

Get-MMAgent

Press the Enter key to run, if you see the "MemoryCompression" item is "Ture", then the memory compression has been turned on.

How to turn off  Windows 11 memory compression

To turn off memory compression, we need to resort to the command line. Open PowerShell with administrator privileges and enter the following command:

Disable-MMAgent -mc

Press the Enter key to run, then restart the system, and the memory compression is turned off.

If you want to turn memory compression back on, it's also very simple, also open Powershell with administrator privileges, use the following command: 

Enable-MMAgent -mc

After restarting the system, memory compression is turned back on.

Conclusion

This is the process of how to turn off Windows 11 memory compression. In general, in most cases, memory compression is a very practical technology, which can increase the efficiency of memory utilization, improve I/O performance, and bring a better multitasking experience. But if your CPU power is limited, or you are very focused on battery life, turning off memory compression is also an option, try the method in this article.