Windows 11 likely to have memory leak issue, Reddit user spotted it two months ago

While a lot of users got their hands on the beta version of Windows 11, Microsoft has officially launched the Windows 11 operating system for users around the world. Systems that are running on a licensed version of Windows 10 and meet the minimal hardware requirements can upgrade to the new operating system by Microsoft for free. However, some users who have downloaded and installed the Windows 11 update are reporting a bug.

As mentioned in a Reddit thread, the latest Windows 11 update has a Memory Leak issue. It is being said that the issue is due to a bug in File Explorer on Windows 11, wherein the system is allocating excessive RAM to the program and does not free it upon closing the program as well. The issue was first seen and reported by a Reddit user Gyrohan269 back when Windows 11 was in its beta testing phase. 

Reddit user reports Windows 11 contains memory leak issue

Memory leaks occur when the system does not free up RAM when a program is closed

Due to the Memory Leak issue in Windows 11, the system is allocating additional RAM to Windows File Explorer. While it is natural for a computer program to occupy more RAM while it is active and release the memory when it is closed by the user, the File Explorer on Windows 11 is behaving abnormally.  According to the Reddit user, the RAM occupied by File Explorer is increasing even when the user is closing the program. In this recurring process of RAM allocation, the program eventually occupies up to 15 times more RAM than it should, unless the user ends the task manually or restarts the PC.  

The memory leak issue on Windows 11 is also reported by several other users

The Reddit user was a member of the Windows 11 Insider program and spotted the issue while the operating system was in beta testing. As the user reported the issue, other users have been able to replicate the same. The Reddit thread has received thousands of upvotes and comments from other Windows 11 users as well. In a recurring loop of memory allocation, File Explorer keeps will keep on occupying memory until the system starts to lag. In some cases, the computer might even hang and become unresponsive. Microsoft has not acknowledged the issue yet.