How to install zram and boost your RAM on Manjaro Linux 2026

In this video I will show you to install zram and find out, how it will boost your computer, especially if you have 4 or 8 Gb of RAM. I hope you enjoy the video! zram creates a compressed swap data inside your physical hardware RAM. This increases your effective memory capacity and prevents performance slowdowns caused by heavy disk swapping. How does zram help boost your computer? Saves time. Instead of pushing data to your hard drive, zram compresses it right inside your RAM. It helps your system to stay responsive under heavy memory use. Stops freezes. Low-memory crashes happen less often when apps run out of your physical RAM. Extends your drive's lifespan. Less disk writing means less hardware wear-and-tear, keeping your SSD healthy for years longer. On Manjaro Linux zram package is called zram-generator. Command to install zram: sudo pacman -S zram-generator After installing zram-generator, create the file "zram-generator.conf", located at the directory "/etc/systemd/zram-generator.conf" with the following command: sudo nano /etc/systemd/zram-generator.conf Type "[zram0]". This is enough to get a zram device called zram0 created with the default options. To save the file, press "Ctrl + O" and press "Enter". To exit, press "Ctrl + X". The generator reads the config at boot or systemd reload. Once a configuration has been defined, run command "sudo systemctl daemon-reload". The same will work if you just type command "reboot". This will start your configured "systemd-zram-setup@zramN.service" instance (N matching the numerical instance-ID, in the example it is "systemd-zram-setup@zram0.service"). sudo systemctl daemon-reload reboot zram will use compressed space dynamically as memory fills up. To ensure the zram service is running, you have to type command: sudo systemctl status systemd-zram-setup@zram0.service To make sure that everything is working as we wanted, you can check the swap status by using "zramctl" command, or by using "swapon" command. zramctl swapon