Low system resources error

[BMAVillage]

A few weeks ago I started getting "low system resources" error messages from Zoom every time I log into a meeting.  I am using the same 2020 laptop as I have been for two years.  I never got these messages before, and now even when I close all other applications, I get stuttering and freezing.  Can you tell me what steps to go through to try and fix this? I see many of the same question posted, but no answers.

[J-Zoom-ATL · Accepted solution]

@BMAVillage The "Low System resources" message is going to be tied to what Zoom would see as a system busy. 

These benchmarks are going to be as below:
The client isn't sending audio/video info every 10ms.

If the client isn't seeing audio/video sent for over 50ms several times.
We also consider CPU usage as a supplementary factor. Higher CPU usage can get a higher chance of system busy, but high CPU usage is not a necessary condition.

In my experience what most often can cause this would be too many programs open taking up valuable CPU and RAM usage, too many background processes running, driver issues, or even faulty/failing hardware. 

I would start by restarting the computer and making sure you don't have any other programs open and as few background processes running (think Video Game launchers, Email services, etc. ) to see if the issue persists. 
Zoom primarily should be using between 5% to 15%  CPU (possibly up to 25% depending on the specs) on a well suited machine. 

Then I would check and reinstall Video and Audio drivers if possible to make sure a driver update hasn't started causing issues. 

As last thing to check, you can also try uninstalling reinstalling the desktop client to make sure there isn't an issue with the installation. 
Uninstall: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362983-How-to-uninstall-Zoom

Reinstall: Zoom.us/download 

It may even be worth having the device serviced to ensure there isn't any faulty hardware. I've seen issues with faulty RAM causing this issue (as well as a host of other problems). 

If this answer helped solve your question/issue, please hit the "Accept as Solution" button below.

[BMAVillage]

Nope.  None of these things.  My computer is the same computer with the same programs that worked perfectly on zoom every day until one day it stopped. Then every time, no matter if I had ZERO other applications running, I would get this error message.  So I uninstalled Zoom and reinstalled it, and boom, fixed.   Same computer, no other changes made.

[miiko]

Agree with that. After a full year of trying absolutely every suggestion (high-end new machine, W11, 32G RAM), I found that the one way to get smooth audio and video is to use a VPN.

BTW: I do not have any of these problems with an older W10 machine with only 8GB of RAM

[ThePowerCoach]

I am having the same issue. Can you share which VPN you are using? 

[English-1]

I wish what you were saying was true, unfortunately it is not true at all. I have tried all of the suggested methods mentioned here and non work! I used to run an old Windows 7-executive using firefox and never had any problems other than it being a bit slow. I upgraded to a windows-10 with SSD 8gig hard drive and now all I get is continuous "LOW RESOURCES MESSAGE AND BAD SOUND QUALITY".  i TOOK IT TO MY IT GUY AND HE SAID HE SEES 8-10 PER WEEK SAME COMPLAINT....ZOOM IS A HUGE RESOURCE HOG and it never was. I just purchased this computer and now I have to get more RAM just to feed zoom so I can continue teaching....zoom used to be QUALITY....it no longer is! It has gone the way of all companies as they grow!

[Armando_R_Bravo]

I'm having the same issue with a new laptop I bought just for zoom meetings. I uninstalled Zoom and installed the latest version and did everything on the list above but I'm still getting the error.  I get this error with my wife's laptop as well. 

I have an ASUS - ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401Q Gaming & Entertainment Laptop

(AMD Ryzen 7 5800HS 8-Core, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, GeForce RTX 3060, 14.0" 144Hz Full HD (1920x1080), Fingerprint, Win 11 Home) with Hub. 

My processor never goes over 15% when in meetings and my ram usage never goes over 8GB. I've made sure to close all apps except for the citrix receiver that is required for me to access my work e-mails and Zoom.  I need your help to fix this issue ASAP, this is my work PC and this issue is happening more often. 

[Danielle4545]

I have a similar issue. I get the "Low System Resources" message in the middle or end of a zoom call and then my microphone stops working. I already took my laptop in to have it serviced by IT professionals. They did not find anything wrong with my laptop and tested the audio.  I'm not sure that reinstalling zoom or audio drivers would work. I tried to reinstall zoom already and that did not work. Do you have any other suggestions?  Maybe it is time for me to buy a new laptop because its not running the software correctly? My laptop is about 2 years old. 

Thanks,

Danielle 

[BlahBlah2]

I was contemplating buying a new one too.  But, I am holding off...  as ...  I doubt this will fix this issue, as people with the latest processors and 32 GB ram plus fancy graphics cards still report this issue (with system and other resources still being under 25%).  Zoom tech need to wake up and sort this issue as it is now widespread for reasons only known to them. 

[miiko]

I am puzzled by a low resources message, accompanied by complaints of lag when sharing presentations or evn just static screens, video freezing and jaggy sound. (When using Around, I have none of these issues)

I have a gigabit ethernet connection and am using a high end late model i7 laptop with 32Gb RAM, a top spec graphics processor. Even doing my best, CPU doesn't run above 15% nor memory above 30%.

I have uninstalled and re-installed Zoom. Still experiencing the same problems.

Appreciating anyone's further suggestions

[miralms]

Nothing of the above works... And I have a solid system - i7 11 gen - 16 GB ram and Iris graphics card... I reinstalled and getting I dont use gaming programs or anything of the sorts

[HH3]

Same problem with our Office-Laptops. Everything worked fine for 4 years, now 50% of user get this error message. Nothing was changend on the machines, everything else works flawlessly (and fast) only Zoom produces these errors: "low system resources" and then sound-cutoffs...

[SanjayCoach]

There is no question of checking the drivers because this message is coming to any users and also only on Zoom no where else! I have uninstalled and reinstalled Zoom and hoping the pproblem gets resolved otherwise its a Zoom software glitch.

[Bullion2266]

I've got 64 GiB of RAM, and AMD 7900X3D, and an RTX 7900 GRE.

I'm sitting at less than 20% of RAM usage, and less than 5% CPU usage. I can play modern CPU- intensive games in 4K on high settings without a problem, compile large C/C++ and Rust apps in seconds or minutes, and compile the linux kernel in less than a minute and half in my Linux partition. I just use the Web version because as terrible as Chromium-based browsers are, they at least function.

In my work 2019 Macbook with 32GiB of RAM and the 2.4GHz 8-core i9, I have to shut down every single application to run Zoom, and if I turn on my camera, then everything freezes up and I can't participate in the meeting.

Two different OS with radically different software installed, and in neither does the software function at an acceptable level.

[madamescorpio]

None of you suggested solutions work.

This IS a ZOom issue - maybe not compatible with realtalk updates??

It is def on the Zoom side, have had many MANY Many programs live during our pandemic zoom sof 3- 40 peoplle..NO ISSUES AT ALL but something changed about 1-ish yrs ago. It all started after a big zoom update. 

[MDK-2023]

>> too many programs open taking up valuable CPU and RAM usage

To all responders on this thread: how much RAM does your computer have, and when you select the "Performance" tab on the Windows "Task Manager", how much is being used (or available).

I think that your computer needs at least 4 GB of RAM. For me, having 8GB of RAM makes for better performance, especially if you have a "spinning" disk-drive, not new SSD or NVMe storage chips.

[CharlesH]

I have 16GB and an SSD, that's definitely not the issue. And the Performance tab shows memory is 75% utilized. But you bring up an interesting point about memory allocation, see https://www.perplexity.ai/search/how-does-memory-allocation-wor-ESmclLrrQpiKJX2WP_YDpg

[ImAZoomer]

I don't so much have a problem with this guidance (It's always a good idea to shut down extraneous programs, check for current drivers, update your client app, etc)---

What I do have a problem with is ignoring the OP's data that basically says "Given everything else being the same, Zoom has now started hogging system resources." In which case, this guidance is a good starting point, but doesn't really help in any other way.

In fact, the reason I'm here is because, in the last few weeks, on a system that's ostensibly the same as it's ever been (16GB RAM, all other programs closed, internet speed tested at a consistent average of over 175mBPS for downloads), I've was just in a meeting with 2 other people where

• I shut off my video,
• No one screen shares

...and Zoom was, at one point, pulling OVER NINETY PERCENT of Memory in Task Manager.

Keep in mind, nothing else changed. With this EXACT configuration, 3 weeks ago, no problem. Now for the last week or so, it's a problem. It doesn't matter who's in the meeting or what they're doing, it's always the same. 

Occam's Razor says that Zoom started doing something differently. But no one's addressing that anywhere, are they?

[Helpnout]

Having the same issue here with Zoom erroring out with the Low System Resources error. I am running Win 64, and my system exceeds the best recommended requirements including 32 gb ram, quad core. No other app's, games, video editing, 3d design or anything I throw at this thing. Zoom is THE ONLY one that gives me this error.
Went thru the suggestion above and none of it made any difference. As many have said Zoom didn't used to have this issue. It has only been the past year or so that this has been getting worse.

Zoom this appears to be a known issue and it needs to be looked into!!!!!

[JDenton]

Interesting..I just got off of a company meeting and we had the same message on our screens. That has never happened before. 

[Acadza]

All the Solutions presented by Zoom Employees here are pointless... I have not renewed my subscription - this creates a lot of chaos especially when you are live streaming - I have Nvidia 8GB graphics card along with 16GB ram and i7 11 gen... 

Teams is much better option - even Google Meets is workable - though personally I love whiteboard feature of Zoom but the issue of low resources creates a lot of issues

[J-Zoom-ATL]

@JDenton This message is going to be local to the machine, so in this case it would have only been a coincidence that the low system resources were seen by multiple people in the meeting. 
What I shared above would apply for anyone receiving that message. 

The only alternative would be if someone was screen sharing their desktop and received the message, then this would show in the screen share. 

[miiko]

Can you please look in to the "your internet connection is unstable" thread, as these problems seem to be related. Many thanks

[madamescorpio]

no coincidence 

omg, can you not see the trend?

[Kickyn]

Finally I can fix it in my laptop after uninstall Zoom then reboot my laptop. And reinstall zoom again. A week already and have no more low resources error.

[whourie]

Same issue here "Low System resources" , I use Acer Aspire A514-54G (2022 Laptop) 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz 2.80 GHz & 16.00 GB RAM + Window 11 Home. 
This problem happens so often, only when I use Zoom, and especially when I share my screen, despite more than 70% of CPU/RAM is empty. 

When It happens, it's very embarassing situation for me, as people think I don't have a good internet and occurred so many times with same people, I try to kill all background processes, and all windows. But no success, the problem persists only until I restarted my laptop. 

Come on guys, please fix this bug. 

[MDK-2023]

You mention "good Internet". When you run a "Speed Test" (www.SpeedTest.net) what speeds does it report for "download" and for "upload" ? 

Are you using an Ethernet cable to connect your computer to the cable-modem (or telephone company's adapter), or are you using WiFi between your computer and the cable-modem?  If using WiFi, is your WiFi using "Wireless N" or the much-faster "Wireless AC" communication protocol (assuming that the cable-modem supports "AC") ?

[miiko]

Hi there
Typical speeds over a wired connection are 500mbps up and down
Speeds over 5GhZ wireless are similar, perhaps 10% slower
Wifi protocol is Mixed, so a/n/ac

Hope that helps,
Miiko

[DaveK25]

same for me - have been using zoom for years with no problems, now I get terrible audio quality every meeting so much so I cannot use it with confidence so am having to move across to Teams. It's no good for zoom employees just to say this issue is local to everyone as it obviously isn't

[CharlesH]

I have the same issue and none of your suggestions work. Every time I use Chrome when running a Zoom session, Zoom says it has low system resources. All other apps are switched off, it's really only a Zoom issue with Chrome. It's not a bandwidth issue as I am on a 1gB fiber and not on Wifi but a cable connection to my router. It's embarrassing to see you say "reinstall Zoom'' as I get weekly reinstalls with all the updates that you do. Except this issue, you don't seem to be able to solve this.

[madamescorpio]

Have to agree with most of the posters in this thread. Zoom worked great for a couple of years and now all of a sudden, getting a low resource message and laggy zoom, with stutter. NEVER happened during lock down, and I alway had several things running. This happens when I am using my work zom account, with the University. My personal Zoom does not do this...yet.

[jwardlaw]

Totally agree on the degradation in performance. Zoom brings my laptop to a halt every time. Never had this issue until recently. I'll reinstall the application but I doubt it is going to help.

[Flyfisherman]

I am in the same situation.  Noticed degradation of meeting quality within the last 4-6 months on Windows MAchine.  What I found out so far, is that ALL of the NEW APPS, that I don't use, such as calendar, contacts, scheduler, team chats, etc. are consuming resources inordinately.  Zoom has two services for Zoom Meeting, and One for Zoom Workplace.  Workplace consumes more than 100% more than Meetings two instances do.  Zoom also uses Webview2 Manager which consumes more than TWICE the memory and resource for calendar, mail, storage, and more, which I DONT USE and have turned off.  Poor application performance.  Why can't we remove Webview or the extra services?

[CT-Australia]

Exactly the same situation for me. 2020-puchased laptop (hi spec with SSD, lots of RAM) with Windows 10. Been good for years, except that this issue has occurred for the last 3 or so months.  The only thing I can see is many more programs running, that I cannot recall in use before.  eg I am a Chrome user. Edge is forced on my by Microsoft, and now I see Microsoft Edge Webview2 (15 of them!) and this cannot be uninstalled.  They all consume many MBs of RAM.  Ideas appreciated.

[MDK-2023]

@CT-Australia wrote I am a Chrome user. Edge is forced on my by Microsoft, and now I see Microsoft Edge Webview2 (15 of them!) and this cannot be uninstalled.

Open the Windows Task Manager. Select the "Start Up" tab. Right-mouse-button "click" on Microsoft Edge, and choose to "disable" it every time when Windows starts.  Restart, and Edge will not be running, and thus will not be consuming any CPU/RAM.  🙂  

This is not the same as "uninstalling" Edge, but it frees-up some resources for Chrome to use.

Also, if Windows overall performance slowly gets worse, some of the apps that you use may have a "memory-leak".  The app requests some (virtual) RAM, and does not release that RAM when you close the app.  Compare to your teenagers driving your car, and never buying any gasoline. When you drive your car, the gasoline gauge will show "empty" -- not enough "resources" for a long trip. On your computer, the remedy for such a memory-leak is to occasionally restart Windows. Of course, on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, Windows Update will force a restart of your computer, as it installs updates.

[MGSR]

Hello community members,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Kindly check out this article for troubleshooting high processor usage with the Zoom desktop client.

Please let us know if you need further assistance. 

[CT-Australia]

Yeah, done all of that.  The article is too basic. I need a detailed support investigation into what is causing Zoom to no longer being a viable commercial product. Should I open a support ticket, or MGSR, can you help me? 

[MGSR]

I'm sorry to hear that the article did not solve your concern. Kindly submit a support ticket to our technical support team for in-depth troubleshooting assistance. 

[ImAZoomer]

Maybe Zoom AI Companion is problem..... Hm.... 

[Tom171]

Hi I had the same issue. I have installed zoom about 4 months ago and it worked even though i had other applications open on my PC. This message started popping out after 4 months of using zoom. Tried several options mentioned by others like, reinstalling zoom, restarting my PC and so on. Nothing helped. The thing is when i connected to a meeting using my android phone it worked OK. So I'm a bit puzzled by it.