Task Manager for Mac: Alternatives that work on macOS
Task Manager is a Windows app, and a Mac has nothing by that name. Here is where the same thing lives on a Mac, how to quit a frozen app with a shortcut, and which Task Manager alternatives show the load in the menu bar.
Task Manager
- Windows only
- On macOS: Activity Monitor
It is already in Applications › Utilities: processes, CPU, memory, disk and network load. And instead of Ctrl-Alt-Delete, a Mac has Option-Command-Esc.
Task Manager alternatives for Mac
Activity MonitormacOS’s own Task Manager
Every process with its CPU, memory, energy, disk and network load. You can quit any process from here too.
- Built into macOS
- Processes and load
- Free
StatsLoad in the menu bar
Shows CPU, memory, disk, network and battery in the menu bar, and the hungriest processes when clicked. Free and open source.
- Open source
- Free
brew install --cask stats
htopFor Terminal
A live process list in Terminal with load, search and sorting. A good fit if you are at home on the command line.
brew install htop
| Activity Monitor | Stats | htop | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Process list | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Quit a process | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| Load in the menu bar | — | ✓ | — |
| How you use it | A window | Menu bar | Terminal |
How to open Activity Monitor
- Press Command-Space to open Spotlight.
- Start typing «Activity Monitor» and press Return. Or open Applications › Utilities › Activity Monitor.
- Click the % CPU or Memory column to put the hungriest processes on top.
To keep it at hand, Control-click its Dock icon and choose Options › Keep in Dock.
How to quit a frozen app
- Option-Command-Esc opens the Force Quit Applications window: choose the app and click Force Quit. This is the Mac’s Ctrl-Alt-Delete.
- From the Dock: Control-click the app’s icon, hold Option and choose Force Quit.
- In Activity Monitor: select the process, click the Stop button (the cross at the top of the window), then Force Quit.
Unsaved changes in a force-quit app are lost. Don’t quit processes you don’t know: some of them are macOS itself.
What to look at when the Mac is slow
- CPU: an app that sits at hundreds of percent for long keeps the processor busy and heats the Mac.
- Memory: at the bottom of the tab is Memory Pressure. Green is fine. Yellow and red mean memory is short, so close what you don’t need.
- Disk: with little free space on the startup disk, macOS runs slower. See how to clear cache on Mac to free some.
Keep your Mac tidy
With little free disk space, a Mac runs slower. System Junk in MacWashing finds app caches, logs and old installers and shows how much space they take.
Free trial · macOS 14 or later
Questions and answers
Where is Task Manager on a Mac?
It is the Activity Monitor app: Applications › Utilities, or search for it in Spotlight with Command-Space.
What is Ctrl-Alt-Delete on a Mac?
Option-Command-Esc: it opens the Force Quit Applications window, where you can quit a frozen app.
Can I see CPU load in the menu bar?
With built-in tools, only as Activity Monitor’s Dock icon (View › Dock Icon). The free Stats app is handier: it puts CPU, memory and network right in the menu bar.