How To Increase Ram On A Tablet

To increase RAM on a tablet, you cannot physically install more memory, tablets are sealed devices, but you can free up existing RAM and, on select Android models, enable virtual RAM to expand available memory. The fastest way to reclaim RAM is to restart your tablet, which closes all background apps and clears temporary data; for a deeper boost, you can force-stop unused apps, clear cached data, and disable bloatware. If you need a similar refresh on a laptop, you can clear RAM on a Chromebook to speed up a sluggish system. On Samsung tablets, you can also enable RAM Plus, a built-in feature that uses storage as virtual RAM, giving your device more headroom for multitasking.

Before you start: what you can (and can’t) do to increase RAM on a tablet

Here’s the reality check: tablets are not like desktop PCs, you can’t pop open the back and add a RAM stick. The memory is soldered onto the motherboard, so physical upgrades are out of the question for virtually all consumer tablets. What you can do is optimize the RAM you already have. Android tablets give you the most control, letting you close background processes, clear caches, disable preinstalled apps, and even use virtual RAM features. iOS tablets (iPads) are more locked down, so your options there are limited to restarting, offloading apps, and reducing visual effects. This guide focuses on Android, where the actionable steps live.

Restart your tablet to increase RAM instantly

The quickest and most effective way to free up RAM is a simple restart. When your tablet runs for days or weeks, apps and system processes accumulate in memory, and some don’t release their resources properly. A restart wipes the slate clean: it closes every background app, kills lingering processes, and clears temporary data that’s eating up RAM.

To restart your Android tablet:

1. Press and hold the power button until the power menu appears.
2. Tap Restart or Reboot (the wording varies by manufacturer).

That’s it. You’ll notice an immediate improvement in responsiveness, especially if your tablet was sluggish. Make this a habit: restart your tablet at least once a week, or anytime you notice a performance dip. It’s the single easiest way to increase available RAM without changing any settings.

Close unnecessary apps and background processes

If a restart isn’t enough, or you want to free up RAM on the fly, manually closing apps is your next move. Every app you’ve opened, even if you’ve swiped away from it, can keep running in the background, consuming memory. Here’s how to reclaim that RAM:

1. Open the app switcher: Tap the square or recent-apps button at the bottom of your screen (or swipe up from the bottom and hold, depending on your tablet).
2. Swipe away apps: Swipe each app card left or right to close it. On some tablets, you’ll see a “Clear All” button, tap that to close everything at once.
3. Force-stop stubborn apps: If an app keeps restarting itself, go to Settings > Apps, tap the app, and select Force Stop. This kills the app and all its background services.

For deeper control, check which apps are consuming the most RAM: go to Settings > Developer options > Running services (if you have Developer options enabled). You’ll see a list of active processes and how much memory each uses. From there, you can force-stop anything that’s hogging resources. Just be careful, don’t stop system apps you don’t recognize, as they may be essential for the tablet to function.

Clear the cache to free stuck memory

Cached data is temporary files that apps store to load faster, things like images, scripts, and login tokens. Over time, this cache can grow large and consume a noticeable chunk of RAM. Clearing it doesn’t delete your personal data, but it does force apps to rebuild their cache, which frees up memory.

To clear the cache on Android:

1. Go to Settings > Storage.
2. Tap Cached data (or Clear cache on some models).
3. Confirm when prompted, this clears the cache for all apps at once.

Alternatively, clear per-app cache:

1. Go to Settings > Apps.
2. Select an app that’s using a lot of storage or RAM.
3. Tap Storage > Clear cache.

Do this for heavy hitters like browsers, social media apps, and games. You’ll free up RAM immediately, and the apps will still work normally, they’ll just take a few extra seconds to load the first time you open them after clearing.

Disable or uninstall apps you never use

Tablets come with a pile of preinstalled apps, often called bloatware, that you’ll never touch. These apps run in the background, consuming RAM and battery even when you don’t open them. Disabling or uninstalling them is a permanent way to free up memory.

Here’s how:

1. Go to Settings > Apps.
2. Scroll through the list and find apps you don’t use (e.g., duplicate browsers, manufacturer-branded apps, trial games).
3. Tap the app, then choose Disable (if available) or Uninstall.

Disable stops the app from running and hides it from your app drawer, but it stays on the device. Uninstall removes it completely, freeing up both RAM and storage. Not all apps can be uninstalled, system apps are locked, but you can usually disable them. A word of caution: don’t disable core system apps like Settings, Phone, or System UI. If you’re unsure, look up the app name before disabling it. When in doubt, leave it alone.

Periodically review your app list. If you haven’t opened an app in months, it’s a candidate for disabling or uninstalling. This keeps your tablet’s RAM dedicated to the apps you actually use.

Reduce animation and transition effects

Animations look nice, but they consume RAM and GPU resources. Every time you open or close an app, the tablet renders a transition animation, and that takes memory. By reducing or disabling these effects, you free up RAM for actual tasks.

To adjust animation settings, you’ll need to enable Developer options first:

1. Go to Settings > About tablet.
2. Tap Build number seven times until you see a message that Developer options are enabled.
3. Go back to Settings > Developer options.
4. Scroll down to the Drawing section.
5. Change the following settings to 0.5x or Off:
   • Window animation scale
   • Transition animation scale
   • Animator duration scale

Setting these to 0.5x makes transitions noticeably snappier without feeling jarring. Setting them to Off eliminates animations entirely, which gives the biggest RAM savings. Try 0.5x first, it’s the sweet spot between performance and aesthetics. You can always change it back if you miss the animations.

Enable RAM Plus (virtual RAM) on Samsung tablets

Samsung tablets include a feature called RAM Plus that lets you use a portion of your internal storage as virtual RAM. This effectively expands your available memory, allowing more apps to stay open in the background without slowing down. It’s a legitimate way to increase RAM on a tablet, without any hardware changes.

To enable RAM Plus:

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to Battery and device care.
3. Tap Memory.
4. Select RAM Plus.
5. Choose how much storage you want to dedicate as virtual RAM (options typically range from 2GB to 8GB, depending on your model).
6. Restart your tablet if prompted.

After the restart, your tablet will have more available RAM. Note that RAM Plus is model-dependent, not all Samsung tablets have it, and it’s not available on other Android brands. If you don’t see the option, your device doesn’t support it. Also, virtual RAM is slower than physical RAM, so it won’t match the speed of built-in memory, but it’s still a useful boost for multitasking.

When to reset your tablet to factory settings

If you’ve tried everything above and your tablet is still sluggish, a factory reset is the last resort. This wipes all data, apps, and settings, returning the device to its original state. It’s drastic, but it clears out any software glitches, corrupted files, or resource leaks that have built up over months of use.

Before you reset, back up everything important:

• Photos and videos → Google Photos or a computer
• Documents → Google Drive or a USB drive
• App data → check if apps have cloud backup or export features

To perform a factory reset:

1. Go to Settings > General management > Reset (the path varies by manufacturer).
2. Tap Factory data reset.
3. Read the warning, then confirm.

The reset takes a few minutes. Afterward, you’ll need to set up your tablet from scratch, sign in to your Google account, reinstall apps, and restore your data. This is a surefire way to get a performance boost, but only use it when other methods haven’t worked. It’s the nuclear option, but sometimes it’s exactly what a clogged tablet needs.

Which method you should try first

Start with the quickest fix: restart your tablet. It takes less than a minute and often resolves sluggishness immediately. If that’s not enough, move to closing background apps and clearing cache, these are low-risk and give a noticeable boost. Next, disable or uninstall unused apps to free up RAM permanently. If you’re still running low, reduce animations and enable RAM Plus (if you have a Samsung). Only consider a factory reset if you’ve exhausted all other options and your tablet is still painfully slow.

Here’s a quick action plan:

1. Restart your tablet now.
2. Close apps you’re not using via the app switcher.
3. Clear cache in Settings > Storage.
4. Disable or uninstall bloatware.
5. Turn off animations in Developer options.
6. Enable RAM Plus on Samsung devices.
7. Factory reset only as a last resort.

By following this order, you’ll free up RAM efficiently and avoid unnecessary steps. Most users will see a major improvement after steps 1-3, with no need to go further.

For the wider topic, see allocate more RAM to tmodloader.