The SuperFetch Service in Windows 10 or 11 is designed to use cached files from RAM instead of loading it from the hard drive each time. So each time you want to access a program instead of going all the way to fetch it from the hard disk it can just load it from the cache memory. This Windows service is designed to improve the overall performance of your computer but the disadvantage of this service is that it can consume your computer’s RAM especially when your system memory capacity is very low. In this guide, you will learn how to Enable or Disable SuperFetch in Windows 11. Please see How to run Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool on Windows, and how to run Performance and Diagnostics in Microsoft Cloud with Azure Monitor.
This will result in system performance dropping and hanging of your computer processes and operations. While newer systems may not experience this but may cause performance issues on older systems and even newer systems with low RAM capacity.
So when you notice any changes in your system performance, it will be better to Enable or Disable SuperFetch on your system. In this guide, I will be showing you how to enable or disable superfetch in Windows 11 when you are regularly running into High RAM consumption.
Steps to Enable or Disable SuperFetch in Windows 11
Please note that you may not find the service name superfetch in some operating systems like Windows 11 and 10 but find it in another service name called SysMain service. Both superfetch and sysmain are the same.
You can read more on Windows Performance: How to work with Windows Performance Toolkit, How Performance Monitor works in Windows 10, How to track your device performance and health via Windows Security in Windows 10 and do you want to know How much RAM does your Windows PC really need?
Disable SuperFetch or SysMain using Service.msc
1: Open Windows Service and search for SysMain
2. SysMain is used to maintain and improve system performance over time. right-click on SysMain and click on Properties.
3. On the SysMain Properties set the “Startup type” to Disabled and click OK.
Please see How to Improve Website Response Using Traffic Manager, how to configure Windows Deployment Services on Windows Server 2019, and What are the differences between Capture image, Discover image, Install and Boot images (Windows PE).
Enable or Disable SuperFetch or SysMain using Registry
1: Open the registry editor.
2. On the Registry Editor navigate here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > Session Manager > MemoryManagement > PrefetchParameters.
3. In the right pane, double-click on the EnableSuperFetch. Note: If you cannot find the EnableSuperFetch entry, you can create one by right-clicking on the PrefetchParameters Folder and selecting New > DWORD Value. Enter EnableSuperFetch as the value name.
4. Edit the DWORD value data to “0” and Click on OK to save the changes and close the Edit DWORD screen.
Take note of the following values:
0 – Disables SuperFetch Service on your computer1 – Enables SuperFetch only when a program is launched2 – Enables boot Prefetching3 – Enables Prefetching of practically Everything on your computer
FAQs on how to Enable or Disable SuperFetch in Windows 11
1. Run services.msc.
2. After entering services.
3. Double-click on SysMain and select Disabled as the startup type and click the Stop button.
You don’t need to disable Superfetch or SysMain on Windows. But when you discover that your system is regularly overheating, or the performance has dropped by becoming slower or hanging. Then disabling the SysMain service might help.
I hope you found this blog post on how to Enable or Disable SuperFetch in Windows 11 Interesting and helpful. In case you have any questions do not hesitate to ask in the comment section.
