If you've been using Windows for a long time and recently switched to Mac, you may be wondering where the task manager is on Mac or how to get Task Manager on Mac. Is that right? After using Windows for quite a long time, most users have the habit of pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete Open Task Manager to force quit apps or check what's slowing down the system. There's also a Windows Task Manager equivalent on Mac that provides similar information and tools. This article will show you how to open and use Task Manager on Mac.
Task Manager equivalent on Mac
Windows computers have a Task Manager that allows users to see what programs are running on the computer, check resource consumption, and manage and troubleshoot tasks. Every Mac has an equivalent Task Manager called Activity Monitor. This built-in macOS utility provides a detailed look at your Mac's progress, including apps and system tasks. You can check the current running processes & applications and the amount of system resources each process is using. Additionally, this Mac Task Manager equivalent allows you to force-quit applications that cannot be closed in the normal way.
How to open Task Manager on Mac
Unfortunately, the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keyboard shortcut will not open your Mac's Task Manager aka Activity Monitor for you. However, opening Activity Monitor on Mac is easy and quick. Here are some ways to do it.
Method 1: Use Spotlight
Spotlight search is one of the fastest ways to open your MacBook's Activity Monitor. Because you can access Spotlight from any window or application you're working in, you always have your Mac's Task Manager at hand. Here's how:
- Use keyboard shortcuts Command + Space to open Spotlight on your Mac.
- Now, let's start typing Activity Monitor.
- When it is highlighted, press Return or click Activity Monitor to open.
Method 2: Use Finder
- From Dock, open Finder.
- Navigate to Applications from the left sidebar.
- Now click Utilities in the Application window and double-click Activity Monitor to open.
Method 3: Use Launchpad
- From Dock, open Launchpad.
- Click Others and you will see Activity Monitor.
- Double click to open Activity Monitor on your MacBook.
Method 4: Use Dock
If you need Activity Monitor more often, you must pin it to the dock for easier access. This will be a handy, one-click shortcut to open Task Manager on your Mac. Here's what you need to do:
- First, open Activity Monitor on your Mac. You can use any of the ways discussed above.
- Once active, right-click the Activity Monitor icon in the Dock.
- Click Options then select Keep in Dock.
Activity Monitor will now be in the Dock and you can launch it at any time just like any other app or program.
How to use Task Manager on Mac
Activity Monitor is a task manager on Mac. If you always use a Windows computer, you may need to learn how to use Activity Monitor. This article will cover some of the most useful ways to use Task Manager on a Mac. Let's take a look.
Check CPU usage
Activity Monitor has a tab CPU Shows real-time CPU usage. This tab shows the processes currently taking up your Mac's CPU, their power consumption, and tells you how long they've been running. To see which process is consuming the most CPU, click the column %CPU. This will sort the process by CPU usage, from highest to lowest.
You will notice a process named “kernel_task” that can take up a large portion of the CPU. Don't panic and don't turn it off! This is an essential macOS process that simply manages CPU temperature by making the CPU less available to processes and applications that are using it heavily.
Check RAM usage
If your Mac is performing too slowly, you can use Activity Monitor to check RAM usage on your Mac. Since RAM is directly responsible for maintaining speed on your device, RAM usage can help you figure out why performance is slow so you can speed things up.
To check RAM usage, click the tab Memory at the top. At the bottom, you will see the Memory Pressure Gauge which indicates the system's ability to meet user memory requests. Higher memory pressure can reduce system performance. If the bar turns red, you may need to expand your device's memory.
Check energy usage
There may be cases where the MacBook battery drains abnormally and you don't know why this happens. In such cases, you can use Activity Monitor to check real-time power consumption on your Mac. Just click the tab Energy at the top. This will tell you how much battery your apps and processes are using. If you discover some apps draining your battery, exit them to extend screen time.
Check disk usage
Unlike other tabs in your Mac's task manager, you may not use tabs Disk regularly in your daily routine. This tab displays the number of times different processes interact with the hard drive to read and write data. If some processes are logging a lot of data, they may be malware. You must get rid of them immediately.
Check network usage
Finally, there is a tab Network in your Mac's Activity Monitor shows the amount of data being received and sent by every app you have on your machine. Although you won't use it often, it can help you detect apps and processes that send too much data online.
Force quit apps and processes on Mac
Activity Monitor on Mac lets you force-quit apps that aren't responding or can't be closed like they should. Additionally, it allows you to see and exit background processes that you normally don't see. This is useful when your Mac is running slow or applications are not working properly.
- Open Activity Monitor.
- Browse through the list of processes and identify the application you want to close.
- Now click the button “X” in the upper left corner.
- In the pop-up window, click the button “Force Quit”.
Check progress in Activity Monitor
You can also dig deeper and check a specific process running on your Mac. This information is useful when you're experiencing slow performance on your Mac. This information can help you detect apps or background processes that are slowing down your system.
Here's how to check progress on your Mac:
- In Activity Monitor, double-click the process you want to check.
- This will open a new window showing detailed progress information.
- When you click Parent Processanother window will display information about the parent process.
- Tab Memory will display the process's real-time CPU usage.
- Tab Statistics will display some technical information, including the number of threads the process is using.
- Open files and ports shows the files and ports the application is using at a given time.
