Why is News and Interests Taking up Memory? How to Fix It

News and Interests taking up gigabytes of Memory (almost all of RAM) is a concerning issue on Windows 10 and 11 systems. It is a result of memory leaks due to a bug in the program’s coding. Therefore, the app continues using up more memory gradually without freeing it.

Whenever this happens, your computer starts slowing down. Your free storage space may also decrease as the program starts hogging large space for the pagefile after using up the RAM.

Since it’s a memory leak issue in a system process, the only way to properly resolve it is by installing system updates that patch the error.

As of September 2022, Microsoft has not released a permanent solution for this problem. However, until it does, there are a few things you can do to fix it temporarily or bypass the issue.

How to Fix News and Interests Taking up Memory

Here are some possible solutions you can apply to resolve the above error:

Update Windows

Microsoft has released a cumulative update KB5010415 for Windows 10 on 15th February 2022. This update also includes a temporary fix for this memory leak issue, so you need to install it as soon as possible.

However, it only works on Windows 10, version 1903, and later. Microsoft has already ceased support for all previous builds. So make sure to install the necessary system updates before installing the cumulative update.

Then, you can download and install the update from Microsoft Update Catalog. It is also possible to check for the cumulative update on your Update Settings and install it. To do so,

1. Open Run and enter ms-settings:windowsupdate to get to this Setting.
   
2. Click Check for updates.
3. After checking, if it lists KB5010415 as an optional update, select Download and install below it.
   

You can also upgrade to Windows 11 or clean install it as this issue is not present in the Windows 11 version as of the current date.

If your computer lags a lot and brings any issues while updating, you can end the News and Interests process or disable it altogether and then install the update.

End Feeds or News and Interests Process

One way you can resolve this issue temporarily is by killing the News and Interests process.

Doing so only temporarily closes it and it will soon start running again. However, it will still take some time to build up its memory usage to a high value. And you can also carry out the other troubleshooting measures in the meantime.

To end News and Interests or Feeds process, you need to use the Task Manager in the following way:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager.
2. If it shows less number of apps with no description, click on More details.
   
3. On the processes tab, click on Memory to sort the apps based on memory usage.
4. Select Feeds or News and Interests and click End Task.
   

Disable News and Interests

If you don’t use News and Interests altogether, you might as well disable the feature to resolve the error in a more permanent manner. Furthermore, you need to do so anyway if the update KB5010415 didn’t resolve your issue.

You can easily disable this feature on your system from the Taskbar using the steps below:

1. Right-click on the Taskbar area without any app icons.
2. Hover over News and Interests and select Turn off.
   

There are also other ways to disable it, such as using the Local Group Policy Editor and the Registry Editor. To disable it through the Local Group Policy Editor,

1. Open Run and enter gpedit.msc to open Group Policy editor.
2. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > News and interests.
   
3. Search for and double-click on Enable news and interests on the taskbar.
4. Check Disabled and click OK.
   
5. Then, restart your PC to apply the changes.

In Windows Home editions, you can’t access the Group Policy Editor by default. In such cases, you can use the Registry Editor to perform the same task.

1. Open Run and enter regedit to open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Feeds
3. Look for and double-click on ShellFeedsTaskbarViewMode.
   
4. Set its Value data to 2 and click OK.
5. Then, restart your Windows Explorer from the Task Manager to apply the changes.

After disabling News and Interests, you may also have to end its task from the Taskbar if it’s still leaking the memory.