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How to free Up RAM on Windows 11

The easiest way to free up RAM on Windows 11 is to close unwanted apps. All the running apps consume your RAM, leaving less RAM available for other programs. You can close your apps by simply clicking “X” in the app window’s top-right corner. If you want to see the apps using the most amount of RAM (so you only close those apps), launch Task Manager by right-clicking the Windows taskbar and selecting “Task Manager”.

In Task Manager, on the left, click “Processes.” On the right pane, in the Memory column, you’ll see each running app’s RAM usage. You can click this column’s title to sort the apps by their RAM usage. If you don’t see the Memory column, right-click an existing column and enable “Memory”.

Once you’ve found the unwanted apps using the most amount of RAM, close them how you normally would. If the apps refuse to close, right-click them in Task Manager and choose “End Task” to force-close them. Another way to free up available RAM space is by rebooting your computer. When you turn off your computer, your system clears all the contents stored on the RAM. The system begins to fill up RAM when you turn on your machine.

Before you reboot your machine, ensure you’ve saved any unsaved work in your apps. Then, open the Start Menu, click the Power icon, and select “Restart”.

If your RAM starts filling up as soon as you turn on your computer, one or more of the startup apps might be the culprit. These apps automatically launch on your PC’s boot and start consuming your machine resources, including RAM.

To fix that, review your startup apps list. Open Task Manager by right-clicking the Windows taskbar and choosing “Task Manager.” On the left, select “Startup Apps.” On the right, each app whose Status column says Enabled automatically opens on your computer’s boot. To prevent an app from automatically launching when you turn on your computer, right-click that app on the list and choose “Disable.” Do this for all the apps you don’t want automatically launching.

Find Memory Leaks with performance monitor

If your PC continues to run out of RAM, your system might be experiencing memory leak problems. In this case, use a built-in tool to detect those issues.

To do that, open the Run dialog box by pressing Windows+R. Type the following in the box and select “OK” or press Enter:

perfmon

In the left sidebar, navigate to Monitoring Tools > Performance Monitor. Click “Add” or press Ctrl+N and add Process > Private Bytes. Choose “OK.” Back on the main screen, check if an app’s memory usage keeps going but never down.

If the memory usage is high even though the app is in idle mode, the app likely has a memory leak. In this case, update the app if an update is available. Try uninstalling and reinstalling the app to see if that fixes the issue. If the problem persists, use an alternative to this app.

Some apps run in the background even when you aren’t using them. These apps might be eating into your RAM, causing your system to run out of RAM space. In this case, prevent these apps from functioning in the background.

To do that, launch Settings by pressing Windows+i. From the left sidebar, choose “Apps.” On the right pane, select “Installed Apps”. Find an app that runs in the background. Next to the app, click the three dots and choose “Advanced Options.” On the following screen, click the “Let This App Run in Background” drop-down menu and choose “Never”.

Repeat the above step for each app you don’t want to allow to run in your system’s background.

How to Disable Background Apps in Windows 11

Disable Background Apps on your Windows device and enhance its speed and performance.

Windows 11 includes an Efficiency Mode that allows you to free up RAM without closing your apps. This mode prioritizes the RAM usage for your active apps. To enable that mode, launch Task Manager by right-clicking the Windows taskbar and choosing “Task Mananger.” Access the “Processes” tab and find the app you want to enable Efficiency Mode for. Right-click the app and choose “Efficiency Mode”.

Later, to turn off Efficiency Mode, right-click your app and select “Efficiency Mode”. Sometimes, malware or viruses that have infected your PC can use your RAM. This can cause a sudden spike in RAM usage, making less RAM space available for other apps to use. In this case, run a malware scan to find and remove any threats from your computer.

You can choose an antivirus of your choice or the built-in Microsoft Defender Antivirus to do that. To use the latter, launch Windows Search (press Windows+S), type Windows Security, and open the app. Select “Virus & Threat Protection” in the app and choose “Scan Options”.

Enable the “Full Scan” option and choose “Scan Now”

Wait while Windows Security finds and removes any viruses and malware from your computer. When that’s done, restart your PC. Some programs use a lot of RAM, and you can switch to their lighter alternatives that use less RAM. This means you can get your tasks done while still keeping some RAM freed-up.

For example, Google Chrome is known to be resource-hungry. If this happens to be your primary web browser, you can switch to a lighter alternative like Mozilla Firefox. Similarly, if you use Adobe Photoshop, you can switch to an app like Paint.NET for basic photo editing. These alternatives use less RAM than their main programs.

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How to use the CHOOSECOLS and CHOOSEROWS Functions in Excel to Extract Data

Excel’s CHOOSECOLS and CHOOSEROWS functions are like twins: their DNAs are very similar, but they’re separated by subtle differences. The same can be said for their syntaxes.

Here’s the syntax for CHOOSECOLS:

=CHOOSECOLS(a,b,c,…)

And here’s the syntax for CHOOSEROWS:

=CHOOSEROWS(a,b,c,…)

In both cases,

  • a (required) is the original array that contains the columns (CHOOSECOLS) or rows (CHOOSEROWS) you want to extract,
  • b (required) is the index number of the first column (CHOOSECOLS) or row (CHOOSEROWS) to be extracted,
  • c (optional) represents the index numbers of any additional columns (CHOOSECOLS) or rows (CHOOSEROWS) to be extracted, each of which must be separated by commas.

If an index number represents a column or row in the center of the array (in other words, not the first or last column or row), adding extra columns or rows to the center of the array will change the indexed column or row.

You might be thinking that these functions sound very similar to the TAKE function. However, where TAKE lets you extract the first or last x columns or rows, or a single column or row from elsewhere in a named table, CHOOSECOLS and CHOOSEROWS let you extract any number of columns in any order from anywhere in your data.

Extract specific data from your Excel table.

Example 1: Extracting the First and Last Column or Row From a Table

I’ve already lost count of the number of times I’ve used CHOOSECOLS and CHOOSEROWS to extract the first and last column or row from a table. This is particularly handy if the first column or row is a header, and the last column or row contains totals.

To follow along as you read this guide, download a free copy of the Excel workbook used in the examples. After you click the link, you’ll find the download button in the top-right corner of your screen.

Imagine you’re an administrator for a local sports league, and you’re producing a report that summarizes the points scored by five teams across five games.

The first dataset you want to generate will tell you the total number of points scored overall by each team. To do this, in a blank cell, type:

=CHOOSECOLS(T_Games[#All],1,-1)

where

  • CHOOSECOLS is the function you want to use, since you’re extracting the data from the Team and Total columns,
  • T_Games is the name of the table where the array is stored, and [#All] tells Excel that you want to include the header and total rows in the result,
  • 1 is the first column (in this case, the column named “Team”), and
  • -1 is the last column (in this case, the column named “Total”)

and press Enter.

By default, CHOOSECOLS counts from left to right, and CHOOSEROWS counts from top to bottom. To reverse this, place the minus symbol (-) in front of the relevant index numbers. Here’s the result you get when you press Enter, and this data can be duplicated on another sheet in the same workbook, such as a dashboard tab, or copied and pasted as text in an email or Word document.

Now, even if more data is added, the result—including the Total row—updates accordingly.

You could also use the same method with unformatted tables by using direct cell references rather than structured references. However, if you add more rows to the right or columns to the bottom of your array, the formula won’t pick these up unless you change the cell references manually. Also, generally speaking, tables offer better tools and adaptability than unstructured cells.

The next report you want to generate will show the number of points scored in each game (rows 1 and 8).

So, in a blank cell, type:

=CHOOSEROWS(T_Games[#All],1,-1)

and press Enter. Remember that adding [#ALL] after the table name in the formula forces Excel to count the header and total rows when addressing the index numbers.

Example 2: Extracting Columns from more than one Range

Now, let’s say you have this spreadsheet, and your aim is to produce a list containing the total scores of each team across Leagues 1 (green), 2 (blue), and 3 (gray).

This time, you don’t want Excel to extract the column headers and row totals, since you’re going to nest the VSTACK function within the CHOOSECOLS formula to stack the three tables directly on top of each other. So, in cells I1 and J1, create the column headers manually.

How to Combine, Reshape, and Resize Arrays in Excel

Take control of the arrays in your spreadsheet and arrange them as you please.

Then, in cell I2, type:
=CHOOSECOLS(VSTACK(League_1,League_2,League_3),1,-1)

where

  • CHOOSECOLS is the function you’ll use to extract columns,
  • VSTACK lets you combine the results vertically,
  • League_1,League_2,League3 are the names of the tables that represent the arrays, and the absence of [#ALL] after the table names tells Excel not to include the header and total rows in the result,
  • 1 tells Excel to extract the first column (“Team”) from each array, and
  • -1 tells Excel to extract the last column from each array (“Total”)

and press Enter.

At this point, you could go one step further and sort the result in descending order by typing:

=SORTBY(I2#,J2:J16,-1)

into cell L2, and pressing Enter.

So far, I’ve shown you the benefits of using CHOOSECOLS and CHOOSEROWS to extract the first and last columns and rows from an array. However, this time, I’ll show you how you can use CHOOSECOLS to extract other columns, and combine this with additional Excel tools to make your spreadsheet stand out.

This spreadsheet shows five teams’ scores over five games, including the total points scored in each game in the total row. Your aim here is to produce a result that shows each team’s score and the overall total in cells A11 to B15 for a game number you will enter into cell B9.

First, type a game number into cell B9, so that you have something to work with when you generate your CHOOSECOLS formula. Then, in cell A11, type:

=CHOOSECOLS(T_Scores[[#Data],[#Totals]],1,B9+1)

where

  • CHOOSECOLS is the formula used to extract columns,
  • T_Scores is the name of the table, and [[#Data],[#Totals]] tells Excel to include the data and the totals in the result, but not the header row,
  • 1 represents the first column (“Totals”), and
  • B9+1 tells Excel that the second index argument is represented by the value in cell B9, plus one. The reason you need to include +1 here is because the game numbers start in the second column of the table. As a result, typing 3 into cell B9 extracts the data from the fourth column of the table, which is game 3.

Although typing the game number into cell B9 works well, if you or someone else accidentally enter an invalid number, the CHOOSECOLS function will return a #VALUE error.

Excel returns a #VALUE error if any of the index numbers are zero or exceed the number of columns or rows in the array.

This is a good case for using data validation in cell B9 to create a drop-down list of the available game numbers. It beats typing in the same options 200 different times manually.

My preferred way to do this for a header row in an Excel table is to first select all the relevant cells, plus a few extra to allow for growth, and name the range in the name box in the top-left corner of the Excel window. Notice how I’ve not selected the column header “Team,” because I don’t want this to appear in the game drop-down list in cell B9.

  • Next, select cell B9, and click the top half of the “Data Validation” button in the Data tab on the ribbon.
  • Now, in the Data Validation dialog box, select “List” in the Allow field, make sure “Ignore Blank” is checked, type an equal symbol (=) followed by the name you just gave to the column header range, and click “OK.”

You can now click the drop-down arrow in cell B9 to select a valid game number, safe in the knowledge that even if you add extra columns to your table, CHOOSECOLS and the named range in data validation will work together to update the available options accordingly.

Finally, to visualize your data even further, select cells B11 to B15, and in the Home tab on the ribbon, click “Conditional Formatting,” hover over “Data Bars,” and choose a solid fill color.

As a result, not only have you extracted specific columns from your data using CHOOSECOLS, but you’ve also made the result dynamic by adding a drop-down list, and you’ve formatted the data to add visual clarity.

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