To check how much RAM is installed and available on your computer, follow the steps below.

Note

Memory (RAM) and hard drive space are two completely different things. If you want to know how much information you can store on your computer, see the how to determine how much hard drive space page.

Tip

See our determining the type of memory my computer has page if you are trying to find memory specifications for upgrading your computer memory.

If you need a quick way to find out how much RAM your Linux system supports or to determine the number of DIMM slots available, you can use a command line tool called ' dmidecode '. To find out the maximum RAM capacity and the number of RAM slots available, use the following command: sudo dmidecode -t 16.

Find how much RAM is installed and available in Windows 8 and 10

1. From the Start screen or Start menu type ram
2. Windows should return an option for 'View RAM info' Arrow to this option and press Enter or click it with the mouse. In the window that appears, you should see how much installed memory (RAM) your computer has.

Note

If a memory chip is not being recognized by the computer, it is not included in the amount of memory listed under 'Installed memory (RAM)' in the System Properties window.

View used and available resources

To determine the amount of available system resources, including memory, as well as what is currently being utilized, open the Task Manager. On the Processes tab, you can see which programs are running and using resources. On the Performance tab, you can see an overall picture of all the system resources. You can see how much memory is available next to the Available label.

Find how much RAM is installed and available in Windows Vista and 7

1. From the desktop or Start menu, right-click on Computer and select Properties.
2. In the System Properties window, the system will list 'Installed memory (RAM)' with the total amount detected. For example, in the picture below, there is 4 GB of memory installed in the computer.

Note

If a memory chip is not being recognized by the computer, it is not included in the amount of memory listed under 'Installed memory (RAM)' in the System Properties window.

or

1. Click Start
2. In the Search box, type 'ram' without quotes and click the Show how much RAM is on this computer.

or

1. Click Start
2. Click System and Security
3. Under System, click View amount of RAM and processor speed.

View used and available resources

To determine the amount of available system resources, including memory, as well as what is currently being utilized, open the Task Manager. On the Processes tab, you can see which programs are running and using resources. On the Performance tab, you can see an overall picture of all the system resources. You can see how much memory is available next to the Available label.

Finding RAM information in Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, and XP

1. Double-click the Systems icon.
2. On the General tab, the amount of RAM currently installed and detected will be listed.

Note

If a memory chip is not being recognized by the computer, it is not included in the amount of memory listed under 'Installed memory (RAM)' in the System Properties window.

or

Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP users can also run the System Information (msinfo32) program that comes pre-installed on the computer. For additional information about this program, see our msinfo32 definition.

View used and available resources

To determine the amount of available system resources, including memory, as well as what is currently being utilized, open the Task Manager. On the Processes tab, you can see which programs are running and using resources. On the Performance tab, you can see an overall picture of all the system resources. You can see how much memory is available next to the Available label.

Find how much RAM is installed and available in Windows 3.x

Click File and then Exit Windows and follow the steps below for determining memory in MS-DOS.

Find how much RAM is installed and available in MS-DOS

Note

These instructions are for early versions of Windows and MS-DOS. If you are running a Windows command line, the mem command is no longer supported.

Type mem at the MS-DOS prompt and press Enter.

Note

Check Available Memory Slots

MS-DOS 6.2 will not accept or recognize more than 64 megabytes of RAM when typing mem.

• See the mem command page for further information about this command.

Find how much RAM is installed and available with Apple computer's

Click About this Mac in the Apple menu on macOS X to determine how much RAM is installed on an Apple Mac computer. The picture shows an example of the Apple Menu. As can be seen in the picture, the About This Mac is the first option.

In the About This Mac window that appears, you are shown how much memory your computer has.

Finding RAM information in Linux and Unix

Linux and Unix command line users can use top command, which displays the total memory detected by the computer, how much memory is used, and how much is free.

Using the free command also gives you an overview of memory, including how much of the memory is stored in the buffers.

Additional information

• See the RAM and memory definition for further information about each of these terms and related links.

It's a no brainier that adding more memory to your computer can increase performance and speed. But before you add additional memory, you need to know how many open memory slots are available and what kind of memory is installed in your computer.

One way to find out is by shutting down your computer and crack open the case. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done if your desktop computer is buried or the thought of opening your laptop, without breaking any tabs, more than once is something you rather avoid.

Instead, there is a much easier way to see inside your computer…without touching it.

While several tools exist that will report the amount and type of memory installed in your computer, the tool I use frequently is Crucial's Memory Advisor.

• Just go to Crucial site (http://www.crucial.com) and click on the 'Scan My System' button at the top of the home page.

• On the next page, check the terms and condition box, then click on 'Download The Scanner' and save the file to your desktop.

• Now, locate the CrucialScan.exe file and double click on it to begin (no installation is required).

• Next, you will see the scan in progress page…

• …followed by the scan results. As first it looks a little confusing, but if you scroll down to the second boxed results on the page, you will see your computer memory information, including the number of memory slots used and available.

As you can see on my laptop that I am using, both memory slots are being used.

Linux See Available Memory

Additional information can be found such as the type of memory to use, max amount of memory that can be added, are matching pairs needed, etc.

While Crucial provides great information, it doesn't identify the exact type of memory that is currently installed.

To find that information, I like to use the awesome SIW (System Information for Windows) tool.

Just go to SIW site and download (http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html) the SIW Standalone version, which requires no installation.

After downloading to your desktop, double click on the siw.exe file to run it, then using the left navigation pane, scroll down to the HardwareMemory section.

Linux How To Check Memory

Here you will find the type of memory that is currently installed in your computer, including manufacturer, part number, speed, etc.

Linux Get Free Memory

Once you have gathered all the information using both tools, you can now easily add more memory to your computer the right way without any guess work and get the cheapest price for memory here.