microsoft / microsoft/PowerToys
High Memory Usage by PowerToys.Run (Mostly Unmanaged Memory)
- Dominant language
- C
- Stars
- 139k
- Forks
- 8.6k
- PR merge metrics
- PR metrics pending
Description
### Microsoft PowerToys version
0.99.1
### Installation method
PowerToys auto-update
### Area(s) with issue?
PowerToys Run
### Steps to reproduce
In my system it is just a matter of starting the app and the memory reaches around 900MB even without calling it a single time.
A quick windbg check shows that it is mostly unamanged memory.
[FullMemoryDump](https://1drv.ms/u/c/79f8f1bdd14fa87d/IQCCdC7Rk8luSYwOI5ULQu_lAd2zwssKXD27rt8GrMbEXVU?e=pE5V14l)
### ✔️ Expected Behavior
Idle memory should be low, probably less than 100MB
### ❌ Actual Behavior
the memory in idle is around 900MB
### Upload Bug Report ZIP-file
[PowerToysReport_2026-05-20-23-32-54.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/28082320/PowerToysReport_2026-05-20-23-32-54.zip)
### Additional Information
OS version (Windows 11)
.Net version (10.0.204)
System Language (pt-BR)
User or System Installation (User)
Running as admin (as Admin)
### Other Software
_No response_
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start by analyzing the linked full memory dump and PowerToys report ZIP alongside PowerToys Run's startup path; the issue names no source file or test. Reproduce on Windows 11 with PowerToys 0.99.1 and verify that idle memory remains below 100MB without invoking Run.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- c
- Domain
- desktop, operating-systems, performance
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100