Expanding RAM: can you upgrade your laptop?

Written on 17 September 2026

A laptop that seizes up as soon as you open a few programs at once more often has a memory problem than a processor problem. That is good news, because memory is one of the few parts you can still expand.

In this article you first check whether your laptop can be upgraded, and then what exactly you need: the memory type, the number of slots and the maximum your motherboard can take.

Which upgrades can your laptop take?

That depends on how the manufacturer mounted the memory. In business series the RAM sits in separate slots under the bottom plate, and then you can add to it or replace it.

In thin ultrabooks the memory is soldered onto the motherboard to save space. There the number of gigabytes you bought the device with is also the number you are stuck with.

A ThinkPad from the T series, a Dell Precision or an HP ZBook are designed to be maintained. It is precisely those machines that come onto the market as refurbished laptops, and that makes upgrading a real option there.

How much memory is in it and how many slots are there?

Windows tells you this without you having to open anything. Open Task Manager with Ctrl, Shift and Esc, go to the Performance tab and click Memory.

Bottom right you see the total, the speed in MHz, the form factor and the number of slots used. If it says 8 GB with 1 of 2 slots in use, you can add a second module.

If it says 1 of 1, or the slot information is missing, the memory is probably soldered on. Check that in the specifications of your model to be sure.

Which memory type fits: compatibility and DDR generation

Laptop memory is called SO-DIMM and is shorter than the DIMM in a desktop. That is the first thing that has to match for the memory in your laptop.

Then there is the generation. DDR2, DDR3, DDR4 and DDR5 each have a different notch and physically do not fit in each other's slot, and your motherboard supports exactly one of them.

If you add a module, choose the same speed as the existing one. Modules with different speeds work together at the lower of the two, and that makes the upgrade worth less than it could have been.

How much RAM is enough?

For email, Office and browsing, 8 GB is the absolute minimum and in practice it fills up quickly. 16 GB is the comfortable standard for office work and multitasking.

32 GB is what you need for video editing, gaming, virtual machines or large datasets. Mobile workstations often come with that extra RAM, and below that it is spare capacity you do not see back in speed.

64 GB is workstation territory and makes sense with 3D rendering or simulations. Per use case that is worked out further in how much RAM you need.

What is the maximum memory of your motherboard?

Every laptop has an upper limit, set by the chipset and the processor. Fitting more memory than that maximum does not work, even if the module physically fits.

Look up the maximum with the manufacturer. Lenovo publishes it per model in PSREF, and Dell and HP put it in the specifications of the relevant series.

Also watch the distribution. Two modules of 8 GB work faster in many laptops than a single one of 16 GB, because the memory then runs in dual-channel mode.

How do you open the casing and fit a memory module?

Switch the laptop off, pull out the plug and disconnect the internal battery where possible. Then touch a metal part to get rid of static charge before you pick up the module.

The memory modules sit on the underside of the laptop, under the bottom plate.

1. Undo the screws of the bottom plate and carefully take it off.
2. Find the memory slots; they usually sit under a metal shield.
3. Slide the new module into the slot at an angle of about 30 degrees.
4. Press it down until the clips on both sides snap into place.
5. Close the bottom plate, start up and check the new total in Task Manager.

If Windows does not see the new memory, the module is not seated properly. Take it out and fit it again before you go looking for more complicated causes; a RAM upgrade founders more often on a poor contact than on incompatible memory.

When do you replace the SSD instead of the memory?

If your laptop still runs on a hard disk, start there. The jump from a hard disk to an SSD is bigger than any memory upgrade, because the disk is then the bottleneck when starting up and when opening programs.

If you already have an SSD and your memory visibly fills up in Task Manager while you work, RAM is the next step. If your memory has plenty of headroom and the laptop is still slow, look at software before you buy parts.

The difference between the two storage types is in SSD versus HDD.

Upgrade or buy a different model?

Work it out before you order parts. A 16 GB memory module costs a fraction of a laptop, and if the rest of the device is still keeping up fine, upgrading is the cheapest route.

If the laptop is at the end on other points too, such as a worn battery or a processor that does not support Windows 11, you are putting money into a device you are going to replace anyway.

With us you find business models that already come with 16 or 32 GB, which makes the upgrade unnecessary. If the battery turns out to be the weak point instead of the memory, have a look at separate batteries.

How do you replace the SSD yourself?

First look at which type is in it. Most laptops from recent years use an M.2 card, which looks like a stick of chewing gum and is held in by a single screw.

Within that there are two flavours: SATA and NVMe. They sometimes fit in the same slot, and whether your laptop supports both is in the specifications of the model.

The replacement itself is simple: screw out, pull the card out at an angle, new one in and fasten. The work is in what comes after.

You need a fresh Windows installation, or you clone the old drive to the new one with a USB adapter. Cloning saves you reinstalling all your software, and a fresh installation gives you a cleaner system.

If you want to go from a hard disk to an SSD, that is the upgrade with the biggest noticeable effect. Starting up, opening programs and searching for files all become an order of magnitude faster.

In brief

First look in Task Manager under Performance and Memory at how many slots your laptop has and how many of them are in use. If one is free, you add an SO-DIMM module of the same type and the same speed, because DDR4 and DDR5 do not fit in each other's slot. Look up the maximum of your motherboard with the manufacturer before you buy. If you are still on a hard disk, moving to an SSD brings more than extra memory. And if the laptop is worn on more points, a different model is wiser than buying parts.

Why refurbished at DSL Tech?

Every laptop at DSL Tech is checked on more than 30 points and comes with a 2-year warranty. Customers rate us 9.0 on average, you pay securely by iDEAL or in three instalments with in3, and order before 12:00 and your laptop arrives tomorrow.

This article is part of our complete guide buying a refurbished laptop, with grades, warranty, the right specs and the brands set out side by side.

Sources

• Lenovo PSREF: specifications and maximum memory configuration per model
• Crucial: SO-DIMM and memory compatibility for laptops
• Microsoft Support: using Task Manager to view performance