Select View > Columns for the monitor, then choose the columns you want to show by checking them off.

Enter the name of a process or app in the search field to search.

Click the triangle in a selected column heading to reverse its order.

Sorting processes is achieved by clicking on a column heading to change the view.

To see more information, select the process, then doubt-click it or click the Info button in the Activity Monitor window.

To view process activity, do any of the following:

The Memory tab, by contrast, shows how much memory is being used by the same processes. Under CPU, for example, are CPU time and percentage, and other columns easily sorted. Under each tab in the monitor, you’ll find current information about each running process. With Activity Monitor, you can see how much memory and CPU time each process uses in real-time. Processes take many forms, including apps, system apps, and invisible background processes. Choose View > Update Frequency to change the setting.īy definition, processes on your Mac will ultimately affect your computer’s performance. Information presented under the macOS Activity Monitor is updated every five seconds, but you can update information more frequently for more precise monitoring. Included in the tool are three tabs: CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, and Network. The Activity Monitor is located by clicking Go on the Finder menu bar in the Applications folder under Utilities.

You can find the Activity Monitor through Spotlight or the Go menu for Finder under Utilities. Better still, it shows in graphical form which programs and processes are affecting your Mac’s performance.

The somewhat hidden Activity Monitor shows what’s currently running on your Mac.

Find activity monitor on mac