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    Mac Guides
    Intermediate
    1 min read 5 stepsJanuary 25, 2026Verified January 2026

    How to Use Activity Monitor on Mac

    Monitor your Mac's performance and find resource-hungry apps with Activity Monitor.

    At a Glance

    Category
    Mac Guides
    Difficulty
    Intermediate
    Read Time
    1 min read
    Steps
    5
    Topics covered
    intermediate
    mac
    activity-monitor
    performance

    In this guide (5 steps):

    1. 1.Open Activity Monitor
    2. 2.View CPU usage
    3. 3.Check memory usage
    4. 4.Monitor energy usage
    5. 5.Quit a misbehaving process
    1

    Open Activity Monitor

    ~15s
    Press Cmd+Space, type "Activity Monitor" and press Enter.
    2

    View CPU usage

    ~15s
    The CPU tab shows which processes are using the most processing power. Click the column to sort.
    3

    Check memory usage

    ~15s
    The Memory tab shows RAM usage. A green Memory Pressure gauge means you have enough RAM.
    4

    Monitor energy usage

    ~15s
    The Energy tab shows which apps drain your battery the most — useful for laptops.
    5

    Quit a misbehaving process

    ~15s
    Select a process and click the X (Stop) button → Quit or Force Quit.

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    intermediate
    mac
    activity-monitor
    performance

    Official Resources

    Apple SupportHow-To Geek — MacApple Support YouTube

    Sources used to create and verify this guide. View all sources →

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