It happens sometimes that, the application you are trying to using gets crashed or not responding. This issue we mostly get to see in Windows OS, to terminate or end the current process by using Window’s Task Manager.

But the thing is, how do we do that in Mac? That’s the common question asked by those who just switched on Mac from Windows, and that’s obvious because the whole UI and settings are different on macOS.

Let me inform you that, ‘Activity Monitor‘ is your Task Manager in macOS. It’s just the same as Window’s Task Manager with few or more settings available but yup! That’s the thing that can help us to end or terminate the process on macOS.

While you have probably landed on the post, let’s know about the Mac’s Task Manager (Activity Monitor). Without wasting much of your time, let’s get started.

Also read: How to Copy Paste on Mac (For Beginners)

About Mac’s Task Manager

As mentioned, ‘Activity Monitor’ is your Mac’s Task Manager. You can analyze, control, and end tasks or applications in Activity Monitor.

If you suspect that a particular app is making you Mac misbehaving, or the current application is not responding. Use Activity Monitor to end or terminate the app or task. By doing so, your system will release the app and your Mac will run as it supposes to be.

How to Access the Activity Monitor on Mac

You can actually manage tasks on your Mac, this made easy with Activity Monitor. By terminating the app or ending a task, you are helping Mac to release some memory. As a result, Mac can use the free memory in another necessary task.

Here’s how to open Activity Monitor on Mac:

Step 1: On Mac, go to Applications.

Step 2: Click on Utility folder.

Step 3: Now, simple double click on Activity Monitor.

You can also open Activity Monitor on Mac, by using Spotlight with the shortcut keys. This is the quick way to summon Activity Monitor.

How to open Activity Monitor using Spotlight

Step 1: Press Command+Spaceabar to summon Spotlight feature on Mac.

Step 2: Now, type ‘Activity Monitor’.

Step 3: Wait for Activity Monitor to show up.

If some tasks are running unknowingly in the background, you can easily spot them using Activity Monitor. Keeping in mind that multiple tasks are running, you can arrange them by names, memory usage, process ID. If that’s not the case, use the search bar to locate specific elements of tasks on Mac.

Besides tracking the running tasks on Mac, you can keep eye on different tabs to track usage such as:

CPU Tab: It will let you know everything about the CPU usage, also it will show how much CPU percentage each task or apps is using.

Memory Tab: You can keep track of your memory (RAM) that you’re apps are consuming. Some apps are just hungry to eat a lot of memory, this lets other apps manage memory harder, so you can kill such app for better performance.

Energy Tab: This tab is helpful to know how much energy your running apps and tasks are consuming. The energy tab is very helpful if your Mac is on a low battery, you can terminate the process with high-consuming energy to save Mac’s battery.

Network Tab: This tab will show you how much data is used by running apps. In case, you have sluggish internet access, look at the network tab, some apps might be consuming more internet resulting in your browsing experience slow.

Cache Tab: If you want to save more bandwidth, it can be possible by letting those caching services running on your Mac. You can track the served cache by looking at Cache Tab in Activity Monitor.

How to end tasks or apps using Activity Monitor on Mac?

Now that we know that we can kill tasks or apps using Activity Monitor, but how to do that? Follow the steps mentioned below:

Step 1: Open Activity Monitor.

Step 2: Click on the tasks or app that you want to end or terminate.

Step 3: Now, click on the red ‘Quite Process’ button located on the top.

Step 4: A small window will appear asking to quit the process.

Step 5: Press the ‘Quit’ button to quit the tasks or apps. If you click on ‘Force Quit’, it will end the tasks or apps immediately.

Conclusion

If you follow the article, there shall be no confusion about how to access Activity Monitor on Mac. It’s good to end the unwanted tasks or apps that are consing memory, CPU usage, network on your Mac.

Always use Activity Monitor present on your Mac, if you suspect any performance drop.

That’s it for now, hope this helps! Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. Till then, stay tuned for more info.

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