Yesterday I visited an unverified third-party website because of an urgent issue. Since then, my Windows 11 PC has been using around 70–75% of its 8 GB of RAM instead of the usual 37–45%. CPU usage has also increased from about 10% to roughly 40–50%, and the memory usage keeps climbing unless I close something. I ran a virus scan, but it didn't find anything. Task Manager shows roughly the same individual app usage as before, so it seems like Windows itself is using more memory. What should I check?
3 Answers
With only 8 GB of RAM, 70% usage is not automatically unusual, especially with Windows 11, a browser with several tabs, and other background services running. The more important signs are whether the system is slowing down, paging heavily, or whether one process keeps increasing its memory use. If performance is otherwise normal, the number may simply reflect normal memory caching rather than an infection.
Start with Task Manager's Processes and Details tabs and sort by Memory to see what is actually consuming the RAM. Also check the Performance tab for the Cached, In use, Committed, and Available values. Windows will use otherwise-free memory for caching, so a higher percentage by itself does not prove there is a problem. Restart the PC and see whether the usage returns to normal; if it climbs again, look for a process that steadily grows over time.
A website visit alone usually won't permanently increase RAM usage, but a malicious download, browser extension, or compromised installer could still be involved. Make sure Windows and your browser are fully updated, review recently installed apps and browser extensions, and run a full scan with Windows Security. For extra confidence, run an offline scan or a reputable second-opinion malware scanner. If the issue continues, check startup programs and Task Manager for unfamiliar processes.
The Task Manager numbers for the visible programs look about the same as before. It seems like the system itself is taking more memory than usual.