igormundstein/winmemorycleaner

★ 4,579C#Audience · generalComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((winmemorycleaner))
    What it does
      Frees unused Windows RAM
      Clears memory holding areas
      Uses official Windows APIs
    Trigger Modes
      Manual button
      Scheduled interval
      Low memory threshold
      Keyboard shortcut
    Memory Areas Cleaned
      Standby list
      Modified page list
      System file cache
      Registry cache
    Features
      System tray icon
      Process exclusion list
      30 language support
    Install Options
      Single exe portable
      Chocolatey and WinGet

mindmap root((winmemorycleaner)) What it does Frees unused Windows RAM Clears memory holding areas Uses official Windows APIs Trigger Modes Manual button Scheduled interval Low memory threshold Keyboard shortcut Memory Areas Cleaned Standby list Modified page list System file cache Registry cache Features System tray icon Process exclusion list 30 language support Install Options Single exe portable Chocolatey and WinGet

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Free up RAM on a machine with limited memory by running a one-click cleanup when things start slowing down.

USE CASE 2

Set automatic memory cleanup to trigger whenever free RAM drops below a custom percentage threshold.

USE CASE 3

Protect specific programs from having their memory trimmed by adding them to the process exclusion list.

USE CASE 4

Run memory cleanup from any window using the default Control+Shift+M keyboard shortcut without switching apps.

Tech stack

C#Windows API

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Requires administrator permissions to access Windows memory management APIs, no installation needed beyond downloading the .exe.

Free utility, check the repository license file for redistribution and commercial use terms.

In plain English

Windows Memory Cleaner is a free utility for Windows that frees up RAM when programs hold onto memory they are no longer actively using. When you close an application, Windows does not always immediately reclaim the memory it was using, instead, it keeps that memory in various holding areas in case it is needed again. Over time, especially on systems with limited RAM, this can slow things down. This tool manually clears those holding areas using official Windows API functions, giving back memory to programs that currently need it. The app is portable, meaning you download a single executable file and run it without installing anything. It does require administrator permissions to access the low-level memory management features. You can trigger a cleanup manually, or set it to run automatically on a schedule (every X hours) or whenever free physical memory drops below a percentage you specify. A global keyboard shortcut (Control+Shift+M by default) lets you kick off a cleanup from anywhere without switching windows. The README describes seven distinct memory areas the tool can clean, each targeting a different part of how Windows manages RAM. These include the standby list (cached data from closed apps), the modified page list (RAM pages waiting to be written to disk), the system file cache, the registry cache, and the working set (memory held by currently running processes). Which areas are available depends on your version of Windows, the app supports everything from Windows XP through Windows 11 and Windows Server 2003 through 2025. Other features include a compact tray mode that shows real-time memory usage as a small icon, notifications after each cleanup showing how much memory was freed, a process exclusion list to protect specific programs from having their memory trimmed, and support for 30 languages. The app can be installed via Chocolatey, Scoop, or WinGet, or downloaded directly as a single .exe file.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Show me how to configure Windows Memory Cleaner to run automatically every 2 hours and notify me how much RAM was freed each time.

Prompt 2

Help me set up a low-memory trigger in Windows Memory Cleaner that fires when free RAM drops below 20 percent.

Prompt 3

I want to exclude my video editing app from memory trimming in Windows Memory Cleaner, how do I add it to the exclusion list?

Prompt 4

Explain what each of the seven memory areas in Windows Memory Cleaner does and which ones are safe to clean on a gaming PC.

Prompt 5

Show me how to install Windows Memory Cleaner silently using WinGet so I can deploy it to multiple machines at once.

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