More virtual memory used than physical, even though enough RAM.

[TheBlock]

Hello,

I have 12gb ram, and I thought the computer would switch to virtual memory mainly if my RAM is getting near full.
But right now I am using 2.5Gb of my ram, but 3.3Gb virtual memory! Why? Why doesn't it just put it on the Ram? Is the stuff that goes onto virtual memory not used/changed a lot, so it just sits there, or is it actually hurting performance?

 

[das_stig]

VM memory is being used for data that is either not a high priority or not accessed often and as such has been offloaded by Windows.

It's doing it's job right and you shouldn't worry.

 

[holyprof]

Only linux behaves as you suggest (using swap when RAM is nearly full). Windows starts swapping in advance. I think you can change that but not sure what will be the change by selecting to prioritize background programs in "Performance settings", "Advanced" tab.
For normal use that shouldn't be necessary but you can try and see what effect does it produce on your PC.