Thursday, April 2nd 2026

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Raises Recommended Memory Requirement to 6 GB

by
Nomad76
 Discuss (56 Comments)
Canonical increased the recommended system memory for the upcoming Ubuntu 26.04 LTS "Resolute Raccoon" to 6 GB of RAM, a first major change since 2018. According to the release note, the 26.04 LTS now lists 6 GB of RAM as the baseline for a comfortable desktop experience, alongside a 2 GHz dual-core CPU and 25 GB of storage, unchanged from previous generations. This represents a 50% increase over Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, which in 2018 raised the bar to 4 GB, and a notable shift from earlier releases that ran on as little as 1 GB. The change is not caused by a heavier core OS. Instead, it reflects the reality of modern workloads. The GNOME desktop, now updated to newer revisions, along with current web browsers (i.e., Firefox) and everyday apps like LibreOffice, demand more memory in multitasking scenarios.

Importantly, 6 GB is not a hard requirement. Ubuntu 26.04 LTS will still install on systems with less than 6 GB of RAM. However, performance may suffer. Early testing shows that the OS remains functional even on 2 GB systems although with significant slowdowns. As before, the 25 GB storage requirement remains mandatory for the desktop edition. As Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is expected to be the next long-term support release from Canonical, the Ubuntu ecosystem provides many options for those using lower-end hardware. Lighter flavors such as the official Lubuntu or the Linux Lite distro, and manual installations with a minimal base remain available and viable options. Also, Ubuntu Server can be deployed on systems with around 1-1.5 GB of RAM, depending on the use case. Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is currently in development and scheduled to be released on April 23.
Sources: Ubuntu release notes, OMG Ubuntu

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56 Comments on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Raises Recommended Memory Requirement to 6 GB

#1
_roman_
swap is still supported. and people still configure swap although they should not need it.

the bloat of certain software comes now into play.

i have another day, another fully booted up gentoo with several vivaldi windows with again 2.42G DRAM usage without any configured swap. i also have many files stored in dram

-340mb dram usage for cache files (terminal is running, etc..)
tmpfs 13G 303M 13G 3% /home/roman/.cache
tmpfs 13G 40M 13G 1% /tmp

2GB DRAM are more than enough for www-client/vivaldi and several browser plugins

i wonder how much dram the gentoo live iso image with over 3gib needs? which has the bloated systemd and bloated kde inside.
Posted on Reply
#2
lexluthermiester
This is interesting. Mint, which is based on Ubuntu, has not changed it's 4GB recommendation, even for Cinnamon. I wonder what Ubuntu and Mint are doing differently?
Posted on Reply
#4
lambda
It's fine, one can opt for Lubuntu if it's an issue.
Posted on Reply
#5
lexluthermiester
lambdaIt's fine, one can opt for Lubuntu if it's an issue.
Or just use Mint.
Posted on Reply
#6
Solaris17
Super Dainty Moderator
lexluthermiesterThis is interesting. Mint, which is based on Ubuntu, has not changed it's 4GB recommendation, even for Cinnamon. I wonder what Ubuntu and Mint are doing differently?
Nothing. The wording is tricky but it’s for a comfy user experience. Which is what they define the numbers as. Ubuntu itself does not need requirements that high to install and be usable.
Nomad76The change is not caused by a heavier core OS.
For everyone in the back.
Posted on Reply
#7
Buddyspike
lexluthermiesterThis is interesting. Mint, which is based on Ubuntu, has not changed it's 4GB recommendation, even for Cinnamon. I wonder what Ubuntu and Mint are doing differently?
Maybe because it’s based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and doesn’t use Gnome 4 nor 5? I read next Mint (that will be based on 26.04 ) would not be earlier that few months from now - maybe it will take half year or so - don’t remember exactly.
Posted on Reply
#8
lightning70
We can now say that 8GB RAM has become the minimum standard.
Posted on Reply
#9
Darmok N Jalad
I guess I understand why they didn’t say 8GB, but that’s really what you’re going to end up with, unless you’re going with a 4GB+2GB (or 2+2+2) RAM setup, which will be basically no one.
Posted on Reply
#10
_roman_
lightning70We can now say that 8GB RAM has become the minimum standard.
yes: when i look at the entry level arm notebook which costs around 800 us dollar and has 8gib dram for everything with arm.
yes: when i look at my windows 11 pro refurbished notebook which uses some dram for the graphics with ryzen 4650u.

yes 8gib dram is most likely the minium standard: when you claim bare minimum standards you have to assume cheap components. a hdd, not a ssd, not a sata ssd, no dedicated graphic card but cpu graphics. in the worst case quite high resolution 27" whqd screen with cpu graphics. www-clients may need 2gib dram itself also which usually is a core component.

i wonder what mistake i made that my started x server wiht a temrinall needs now around 530mb dram and not 130mb as it used to.

edit: i just made my backup with the gentoo live cd.

kded6 process is running. it seems kde. htop claims to need 2.05G of DRAM. it also looks like systemd. i do not want an user desktop to wrongly notify me that my samsung hdd is failing. no it is not. i use it for downloads, just because a few sectors are dead and smart is wrong, does not change the fact kde contains features which makes it bloated.

my i3wm which i just warm booted needs 550MB

that is a factor ~4 of dram usage just because you want windows 95 style with kde.
kde is bloated and the qt kit which it is made from is also bloated.

the real question is: Which out of the box experience has teh fewest dram usage with cpu graphics from which livecd / installer cd with a graphic desktop environment? Which one with the windows 95 style?
Posted on Reply
#11
enb141
Darmok N JaladI guess I understand why they didn’t say 8GB, but that’s really what you’re going to end up with, unless you’re going with a 4GB+2GB (or 2+2+2) RAM setup, which will be basically no one.
The reason why is due to Virtualization, there 2 GB makes the difference. On real hardware you have either 4 GB or 8 GB, almost nobody has 6 GB.
Posted on Reply
#12
Selaya
yeah but virtualisation is mostly a thing for headless (server), that will happily run on 250mib
Posted on Reply
#14
unwind-protect
lexluthermiesterThis is interesting. Mint, which is based on Ubuntu, has not changed it's 4GB recommendation, even for Cinnamon. I wonder what Ubuntu and Mint are doing differently?
It's pulled out of thin air either way.
Posted on Reply
#15
Shihab
Darmok N JaladI guess I understand why they didn’t say 8GB, but that’s really what you’re going to end up with, unless you’re going with a 4GB+2GB (or 2+2+2) RAM setup, which will be basically no one.
Dunno about 6, but I rolled with 20 on a laptop (4+16) for a years, and had a semi-short stint with a 12 (4+4+4) on a desktop.
I wouldn’t be surprised of there exists a significant portion (although still a minority) of the nerds that make up linux users who use machines frankensteined from random parts or upgraded with what’s at hand.

Although I am inclined to agree with the virtualisation theory. Wouldn’t rule out there being more docker images of Ubuntu currently in use than native installs…
Posted on Reply
#17
shuffy_losys
Darmok N JaladI guess I understand why they didn’t say 8GB, but that’s really what you’re going to end up with, unless you’re going with a 4GB+2GB (or 2+2+2) RAM setup, which will be basically no one.
There's the Nehalem platform and its triple channel memory. I'm pretty sure 6GB configs were common back then.

But also, that's a 17 year old platform.
Posted on Reply
#19
shuffy_losys
Looking at the OMG Ubuntu source mentioned, there was this bit:
Rather, it’s more of an honesty bump. Components that make up the distro – the GNOME desktop and extensions, modern web browsers (and the sites we load in them) and the kinds of apps we use (and keep running) whilst multitasking are more demanding.
I'm inclined to believe this. Looking at my Ubuntu Server 24.0.4 instance, it's sitting at around 400MB of RAM. And AFIAK, the server version is basically the same as the desktop version at its core.
Posted on Reply
#20
Rulumi
That's a completely good and fair point, and given modern web ads and telemetry of some sites weight it is a fair point to put to. That a lot of apps nowday are actually web apps using Electron or similar frameworks doesn't help either.
Posted on Reply
#21
lexluthermiester
unwind-protectIt's pulled out of thin air either way.
No, Canonical and the Mint group do a set of calculations to arrive at a threshold of performance metrics. What I'm wondering is what their metric points are and why they differ.
Solaris17Nothing.
There's got to be something different.
Solaris17Ubuntu itself does not need requirements that high to install and be usable.
True, I recently installed Kubuntu on a laptop with 2GB of DDR3 on a dual Core and it runs fine.
Posted on Reply
#22
Octopuss
ReadlightI haw tablet with 1 GB RAM
Enjoy your 10+ years old Android 4 device then :D
Posted on Reply
#23
unwind-protect
lexluthermiesterNo, Canonical and the Mint group do a set of calculations to arrive at a threshold of performance metrics. What I'm wondering is what their metric points are and why they differ.
LOL

Oh you were serious...
Posted on Reply
#24
dismuter
So, 50% more than before? Anything in particular taking up 2 additional gigabytes?
Or could it have been 5 GB rather than 6 GB? Oh that's right, I'm sorry, uneven numbers (other than 1) are taboo.
Well, at least they broke the taboo of not using powers of 2.
Posted on Reply
#25
lexluthermiester
unwind-protectOh you were serious...
Yeah, genuinely. I'm very curious.
Posted on Reply
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