Virtual Memory

What is virtual memory?

Virtual memory is a memory management technique used by a computer’s operating system (OS) to create the illusion of a larger Random Access Memory (RAM) than physically available. Even if a computer doesn’t have enough RAM to hold everything at once, virtual memory will borrow space from a computer’s hard drive and use it as extra memory when necessary.

This is done by temporarily transferring data between the RAM and a dedicated portion of the hard drive called the swap file or page file. Essentially, the computer will temporarily move less frequently used data from the RAM to the swap file, freeing up space in RAM to accommodate a new request. When data is needed from the virtual memory, it’s swapped back into RAM.

This swapping between RAM and the hard drive happens behind the scenes. It lets you run more programs simultaneously without slowing down your computer too much, even if you don't have a lot of physical RAM. Think of it like having a cabinet next to an office desk. When the desk is too crowded, you’re able to put items in the cabinet to make more room on the desk.

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