Most modern Android phones come with plenty of RAM, sometimes as much as a mid-range laptop. On paper, that sounds like more than enough, and it actually is. But if you’re not careful, even with all that memory, your Android phone can still start to feel sluggish over time.
That’s because most apps like to run in the background, widgets keep refreshing, and system processes are always competing for resources. While Google doesn’t give much guidance on managing RAM manually, there are certainly benefits to doing that.
Uninstall or disable apps you never actually use
Ditch those forgotten apps
Like most people, I used to have a few apps installed, hoping that I’d need them someday. (Spoiler: that day never comes.) You know those apps you download for a single reason, use once, and then completely forget about.
When I finally checked my phone’s RAM usage by heading to Settings > Device care > Memory, I was shocked to see a few of those forgotten apps that I hadn’t opened in weeks still running in the background. Some were using over 100 MB of RAM each. That might not sound like much, but when you add them all up, it’s a significant amount of memory that could be better used for something else.
My list of digital freeloaders included Threads, Samsung Pass, Samsung Daily, and even Bixby, all running in the background doing who knows what. Uninstalling these was a no-brainer. A few didn’t give me the option to uninstall, so I went ahead and disabled them instead.
Stop background apps from quietly eating up RAM
Keep your favorite apps without letting them run wild
On my phone’s RAM usage list, aside from the apps I never touched, there were also a few that I actually liked but didn’t use every day. These weren’t useless apps—just the ones I used occasionally, like photo editors, shopping apps, or that one game I only open when I’m stuck waiting somewhere. I didn’t want to uninstall them completely, but I also didn’t want them quietly eating up my phone’s memory in the background.
So, instead of uninstalling them, I decided to put them on a leash. The quickest fix was opening their app info and force-stopping them. I also restricted their background battery and mobile data usage to keep them from running when I didn’t need them.
If you have a Galaxy phone, you can also put unused apps to sleep. Go to Settings > Battery and device care > Battery > Background usage limits, and you’ll find the options to put apps to sleep or deep sleep. Once they’re in deep sleep mode, they won’t use any RAM or battery unless you’re using them.
Widgets are great — until they’re not.
I used to love having widgets for everything on my home screen, like weather updates, my calendar, a fitness tracker, a news feed, and even a music player. It felt convenient. But what I didn’t realize at first was that all those widgets constantly refresh in the background, which meant even when I was not using them, they were using memory and battery too.
So I decided it was time to cut back. I kept only the essentials, like the weather widget because I actually check it every morning, and my calendar because missing meetings isn’t cute. Everything else had to go. If you also love widgets, you don’t have to ditch them all. You can pick the ones that truly add value and say goodbye to the rest.
What not to do when trying to save RAM
This one’s equally important — if not more
When it comes to freeing up RAM, there’s a fine line between being efficient and being overzealous. One thing you should never do is constantly remove apps from the recent apps screen. When you close apps too aggressively, the system has to reload them from scratch the next time you open them, which uses more power and slows things down.
Another common mistake is relying on “RAM booster” or “cleaner” apps. These apps promise magical speed improvements, but most of the time, they do more harm than good. Since they force-stop background processes that Android already manages efficiently, it causes your phone to lag or even drain your battery faster. Some of these so-called optimizers are even packed with ads or unnecessary permissions that end up wasting more resources than they save.
Finally, Android is designed to manage RAM intelligently. It already decides which apps to keep in memory for quick access and which ones to close when more space is needed, so you don’t need to micromanage it.
Keeping your Android phone running smoothly doesn’t have to be difficult, and reducing RAM usage is one of the best ways to do that. With the tips above, I managed to free up a significant amount of RAM, and now my phone performs much better when I’m playing games or multitasking.