#MACBOOK PRO ACTIVITY MONITOR POWERD HOW TO#

Occasionally, you will see a process named вЂњkernel_taskвЂќ using a large percentage of your CPU, often when your MacвЂ™s fans are blowing.This is usually normal behavior (unless itвЂ™s all the time). Processes associated with Spotlight can show an extended spike in CPU usage during indexing.Some processes may occasionally display high CPU usage, but this isnвЂ™t always a problem. You may also see problematic processes in red text with the phrase вЂњNot RespondingвЂќ. If an app that isnвЂ™t doing anything shows up at the top with a high percentage of CPU, it may be misbehaving. To see which apps are taking up the most CPU, open Activity Monitor, andВ choose вЂњView > All Processes.вЂќ Click on the top of the вЂњ% CPUвЂќВ column to sort your processes by CPU usage. When you arenвЂ™tВ using yourВ machine, thatВ вЂњIdleвЂќ number should be overВ 90%. But CPU usage should decrease when the task is finished, and it should stop entirely when the app is no longer open. Temporary spikes are normal when an app is working hard, especially if itвЂ™s something resource-intensive like video editingВ or 3D games. Also, when an app consumesВ too much CPU, itВ deprives other processes of their share, slowing down your computerВ and often resulting in frequent, and extended appearance of spinning beach ball in all applications. A busy CPU means shorter battery lifeВ and more heat. Sometimes, an appВ might useВ more CPU than it should, even when the app doesnвЂ™t seem to be doing anything. Blue shows the percentage used by user processes, while red shows the percentage used by system processes. YouвЂ™ll also see a graph that shows how much of your CPU is being used in total. If you look at the bottom of the window, youвЂ™ll see some more general statistics, including the percentage of your CPU currently used by вЂњsystemвЂќ processes that belong to OS X, вЂњuserвЂќ processes, which are apps you opened, and how much of your CPU is currently not being used. YouвЂ™ll see what percentage of the total CPU a process is using, how long itвЂ™s been active, the name of the user or service that launched the process, and more. The CPU tab shows how the processes are using your computerвЂ™sВ processor. If you want to see whatвЂ™s taking up so much network bandwidth, youвЂ™d click вЂњNetworkвЂќ. For example, if you want to see what processes are using up your RAM, youвЂ™d click the вЂњMemoryвЂќ tab. The five category tabs at the top of the Activity MonitorвЂ“вЂњCPU,вЂќ вЂњMemory,вЂќ вЂњEnergy,вЂќ вЂњDisk,вЂќ and вЂњNetworkвЂќвЂ“focus the list of processes on a given resource. On the top right there is a вЂњSearch FilterвЂќ box which lets you search for a specific process. Click the column title once or twice to change the order.

You can also sort the list of processesВ by any of the columns in ascending or descending order.

Expand the вЂњColumnsвЂќ option, choose the ones you want to view, and theyвЂ™ll appear in Activity Monitor. ItвЂ™s possible to view additional columns by going to theВ вЂњView > ColumnsвЂќ menu. All the processes are listed together with a moreВ details in each column. Some applications are easy to spot, while others are background system level operations you donвЂ™t normally see. NoticeВ how many items appear in the Process list, even when youвЂ™re just staring at the desktop doing nothing. The main paneВ shows both a list of both open applications and system processes. The main screen of Activity Monitor is divided into two sections: 1. Launch the Activity Monitor app by going to вЂњApplications > Utilities > Activity Monitor,вЂќ or just type вЂњActivity MonitorвЂќВ into Spotlight.

#MACBOOK PRO ACTIVITY MONITOR POWERD HOW TO#

HereвЂ™s how to use Activity MonitorВ to manage your MacвЂ™s memory, fix slow applications, and troubleshoot various other issues. Not many casual users know about OS XвЂ™sВ Activity Monitor, and fewer still understand how it works and what it can really do.

Macbook pro activity monitor powerd