Virtual memory is a memory management feature in a computer that uses a portion of the storage drive (HDD or SSD) as temporary memory when the physical RAM becomes full. It helps the operating system run more programs and processes smoothly, even when available RAM is limited.

The system stores less frequently used data in a special file called the paging file or swap file, freeing up RAM for active tasks. Although virtual memory is slower than physical RAM, it improves multitasking and prevents programs from crashing due to insufficient memory.