Instead, macOS does indeed have it’s very own “Task Manager Mac” if you will but you have to access it a different way and today we’re going to show you how to do just that so that if you need to close down an application which has frozen you can do so with ease.
![]()
Modern operating systems are not flawless. Applications sometimes crash unexpectedly, processes hang up and take up precious computing resources, and files get lost or corrupted because of bugs.
Task managers are useful applications that let you monitor what’s happening on your computer and provide you with the ability to shut down misbehaving processes and file system activity for read and write events on sensitive data.Just like Windows has a task manager, called simply, macOS also comes with an application that provides information about computer performance and running software and allows users to terminate processes if they start misbehaving forcibly. This article introduces the official task manager in macOS, explains what it can do, and presents three alternative Mac task managers for users who would like to explore other options. Table of Contents.Activity Monitor Is the Task Manager for MacIf you go to the Utilities folder under Applications on your Mac, that’s where you can find Activity Monitor, the official task manager for Mac computers. Seeing Activity Monitor for the first time can be overwhelming as the application displays a plethora of information at the same time.
But once you understand what Activity Monitor does and how to use it to keep your computer running like a well-oiled machine, the initial bewilderment will be quickly replaced by an appreciation for its usefulness.There are several tabs at the top of the Activity Monitor window: CPU, memory, energy, disk, network, and cache. Using these buttons, you can see how processes are affecting your Mac computer. CPU: Clicking on this button sorts running processes by the percentage of CPU capability used by each.
Additionally, the percentages of CPU capability currently used by system and user processes are displayed at the bottom of the Activity Monitor window. Right next to the percentages of CPU capability currently used by system and user processes is a CPU load graph, which shows the percentage of CPU capability currently used by all system and user processes. Memory: Clicking on this button sorts running processes by how much memory each process uses. Displayed at the bottom of the Activity Monitor window is the Memory Pressure graph, which helps illustrate the availability of memory resources. You can change how often the graph updates by clicking on View and Update Frequency. The graph is green when enough memory resources are available, yellow when memory resources are still available but are being tasked by memory-management processes, and red when memory resources are depleted.
Energy: Clicking on this button sorts running processes by their energy use. Displayed at the bottom of the Activity Monitor window is the Energy Impact graph. Energy Impact is a relative measure of the current energy consumption of an application, and the graph indicates how much energy is being consumed by all apps. Also displayed at the bottom of the Activity Monitor window is the current battery charge level, whose color changes from blue to green when the computer is getting power from a power adapter. Disk: Clicking on this button sorts running processes by the amount of data they read from your disk and written to your disk. After clicking at the Disk button, the bottom of the Activity Window displays a graph that shows total disk activity across all processes. The graph has two lines: one blue and one red.
The blue line shows either the number of reads per second or the amount of data read per second, while the red line shows either the number of writes out per second or the amount of data written per second. Network: Clicking on this button sorts running processes by how much data they are sending or receiving over your network. After clicking at the Network button, the bottom of the Activity Monitor window displays a graph that shows total network activity across all apps.
The graph has two lines: one shows either the number of packets received per second or the amount of data received per second, and the other one shows either the number of packets sent per second or the amount of data sent per second. Cache: Available only in macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 or later, the Cache button shows how much cached content local networked devices have uploaded, downloaded, or dropped.
We never like to have problems with our computers, right? However, some of them are inevitable. Sometimes your apps don’t work, your Mac gets slow, you see a spinning wheel of death, and more. Understanding the root of some problems can be difficult; fortunately, there are some troubleshooting tools to diagnose what’s wrong with your Mac.
One of such tools is the Activity Monitor, and in this article we’ll tell you how to use it, what alternatives are out there, and how to maintain your Mac to avoid different problems. So let’s start!
Activity Monitor — The Task Manager for Mac
If you’re familiar with the Windows Task Manager, then you may wonder whether there is a twin for Mac. Don’t worry, a Task Manager exists on Macs but it has another name — Activity Monitor. Just keep in mind that Activity Monitor is the Mac Task Manager equivalent and functions in a very similar way as it does in Windows.
Activity Monitor shows the processes that are running on your computer, so you can see how they affect your Mac’s performance. This important tool will help you manage your Mac’s activity, so you should know how to use it at its full potential.
How to open Task Manager on Mac
Activity Monitor is located in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder and there are a few ways to launch it. The simplest one is to use Spotlight for a quick search.
![]()
Here’s how to access Task Manager on Mac using the Spotlight:
However, if Spotlight doesn’t work or you just want to try another way to open Task Manager Mac, do the following:
Good news, you can avoid the long ways of opening a Task Manager by pinning it to the Dock. Once you do it, you’ll be able to access the Activity Monitor by simply clicking on its icon.
Follow these steps and you won’t keep asking yourself how to start Task Manager on Mac every time you need to check some processes:
That’s it! The Activity Monitor will be available from the Dock of your Mac, so you can view it easily.
How to use the Activity Monitor
The Activity Monitor is a simple but very important tool. Find out what you can do with its help.
Monitor the system parameters
Once you open the Activity Monitor on your Mac, you’ll get access to the five tabs: CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, and Network. By analyzing the data, you can identify what processes affect your Mac performance.
View additional info about an app or process
The Mac Task Manager also allows you to check the additional information about every application or process on your Mac. Here’s how to view it:
As you see, the Activity Monitor is a real gem. It helps you gain insight into many useful things. Therefore, it will be much easier to diagnose any problem your Mac has.
How to Force Quit applications from a Task Manager in Mac
If some application or program freezes and you can’t quit it normally, you can use the Activity Monitor to shut it down. To force quit an app from a Mac Task Manager, do the following:
What’s a Control+Alt+Delete equivalent on Mac?
All Windows users know this magic combination: Control+Alt+Delete. The first thing they do when an app or program hangs is using this keyboard shortcut. Fear not: there’s the similar shortcut for Macs.
In addition to the Activity Monitor, Macs have a Force Quit Applications Manager that allows to close the frozen apps and programs. To open it, hold down the Command+Option+Escape keys.
If you just need to force quit an application and don’t care how much CPU or Energy it is using, then you should launch a Force Quit Applications Manager to perform the task. It gives an immediate access to all apps, so you can quickly solve the problem of an unresponsive program.
Maintain your Mac a whole lot easier with CleanMyMac X
What if we tell you that there is a way to avoid all those frozen apps, unresponsive programs, and spinning beach balls? Most likely, you won’t even need to know how to get Task Manager on Mac because everything will work smoothly. Sounds attractive?
The secret is the regular maintenance of your Mac. And a smart utility like CleanMyMac X will help you keep an eye on your computer and take its performance to a new level. You can download it for free here.
![]()
CleanMyMac can not only clean up the system from all the junk, but also free up RAM, delete and reset apps, manage the startup items, remove cache files, and speed up your Mac with its maintenance scripts. That’s what will ensure the good health of your Mac and its top performance.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned!
These might also interest you:![]() Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2023
Categories |