Windows 11 Copilot Diagnoses Sluggish PCs While Eating 1GB Of RAM

Microsoft's ongoing efforts to improve Windows 11 don't always go to plan. One major cause behind Windows 11 performance issues was increased use of web apps (including webview, PWA, etc.) rather than native applications, and the latest version of the Copilot AI assistant has some issues too.

The new version of Copilot for Windows 11 is now a web app, unlike the previous native version. WindowsLatest studied this newest release, and discovered it could consume up to 1 GB of RAM while at idle. Besides being an obvious example of AI bloat, this can also be attributed to Copilot including its own dedicated instance of Edge, Microsoft's Chromium-based web browser that loves RAM.


Users still have numerous ways to disable Copilot and other AI features on Windows. This latest version of Copilot, as well as its new "PC Insights" feature, are slowly rolled out across the US. They were intended to help users identify what's slowing down their PCs. The irony of Copilot using so much memory at idle while also being intended to help users troubleshoot their systems is not lost on anyone.

In statements to WindowsLatest, Microsoft asserts that users are better served by asking Copilot rather than manually checking Task Manager or File Explorer. The company asserts that Copilot "explains it in plain language so you can take action faster" and provides example questions like "Do I have enough space for a 100GB game?" and "What's my current CPU usage?"

An AI assistant could come in handy for more complicated troubleshooting tasks, but it's hard to see such significant memory consumption amid current economic conditions and not call Copilot PC Insights a sub-optimal solution at this time. Windows users have been using Task Manager and checking File Explorer to answer basic questions for decades now—why do we suddenly need Copilot to answer them? And why does Copilot keep being switched between a web and a native app?

Fortunately, Microsoft seems to understand that users don't want to be forced into using some AI-related features. With that in mind, to access Copilot PC Insights, a manual opt-in is required. Hopefully, Microsoft will take steps to improve Copilot's performance and memory utilization before PC Insights is more broadly rolled out.

Image Credit: WindowsLatest