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Adding RAM to Surface Laptop

Shnay Jaffe 20 Reputation points
2025-07-20T04:03:32.6233333+00:00

Is it possible to add additional RAM to a Surface Laptop with 4GB of RAM? The laptop was purchased some time ago for basic tasks, but now there is a need for a program that requires 8GB of RAM. This is the original Surface Laptop model.

Surface | Surface Laptop | Install and update
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  1. AceRobertT 9,060 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-07-20T05:49:06.85+00:00

    That could be an alternate possible solution Shnay. While you can't physically upgrade the RAM in your Surface Laptop, you can give Windows a bit more breathing room by using virtual memory essentially borrowing space from your internal or external storage to act as overflow RAM. Windows uses something called a paging file or virtual memory when your physical RAM runs out. You can manually increase this paging file size or even assign it to an external drive like a USB stick or external SSD. It’s not as fast as real RAM, but it can help reduce crashes or slowdowns when running memory hungry programs.

    Here's how you can increase Virtual Memory on your Internal Drive and this is the most stable and effective method below:

    1. Control Panel > System > Advanced system settings > Performance Settings > Advanced tab > Virtual memory
    2. Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size

    then Choose your system drive, then set a custom size example > Initial: 4096 MB, Max: 8192 MB. Just keep in mind that this won’t magically make your system behave like it has 8GB of physical RAM, but it can help smooth things out when memory gets tight.

    Here's the reference: MiniTool

    Note: Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you. The sites are not controlled by Microsoft. Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any suggestions from the above link

    Best regards,

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  1. AceRobertT 9,060 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-07-20T04:44:03.3566667+00:00

    Hello, Shnay. Unfortunately, upgrading the RAM on the original Surface Laptop is not possible. The memory in that model is soldered directly to the motherboard, which means it’s permanently fixed and not designed for expansion.

    This design choice is common across most Surface devices, especially the earlier generations. Microsoft intended these laptops to be sleek and lightweight, which meant sacrificing upgradeability. So if your current workload demands 8GB or more, your best option would be to consider a new device with higher RAM capacity from the start.Here's the reference: Microsoft

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

    Best regards,

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