For example, you could select “My Processes,” to see only a list of processes associated with your user account. Click the tab corresponding to the section you’d like to visit.Īt any time while listing processes, you can select a process from the list, and click the “Stop” button (which looks like an octagon with an “x” inside it) to force it to quit, or click the “Inspect” button (an “i” in a circle) to see more information about the process.Īnd if you’re overwhelmed by the number of processes listed, you can narrow them down using the “View” menu up in the menu bar. Using the five tabs across the top of the window, you can visit displays that show information on running processes sorted by CPU usage (“CPU”), memory usage (“Memory”), energy usage (“Energy”), disk usage (“Disk”), and network usage (“Network”). Once the “Activity Monitor” window opens, you will see a list of all the processes running on your Mac, similar to this: When the “Spotlight Search” bar appears, type “activity monitor,” and hit “Return.” Or you can click the “Activity Monitor.app” icon in the Spotlight results. As a result, it may be a bit daunting to get configured, but once it is done, the benefit is huge. Originally written to replace them due to some limitations in how each work, it attempts to overcome them by simply being extremely configurable. To open “Spotlight,” click the small “magnifying glass” icon in your menu bar (or press Command+Space). Slate is a window management application similar to Divvy and SizeUp (except better and free). One of the fastest ways to open Activity Monitor is by using Spotlight.
