How to open Task Manager on Mac

MacOS has a feature with functionality similar to that of Windows Task Manager. Those of you using Windows know the usefulness of bringing up the Task Manager. It displays running processes, those which are negligible, those which are gorging on the RAM, those that have too much access to the network. One can end several processes or start new ones. MacOS has a similar feature called Activity Monitor, and if you’re moving from Windows to Mac, you might not know how to access the Activity Monitor. So, if you are a fresh user or just don’t know what to do about your macbook’s speed, read on ahead.

Mac has Spotlight, which is its built-in search feature. Spotlight searches and finds apps, documents, files on your mac. To use Spotlight, press Cmd+Space. You’ll get a search box, within which you’ll have to type “Activity Monitor.” Press Return and almost instantly, the Activity Monitor window opens.

Another way to open it is to go to the dock. By clicking on the Launchpad icon, you’ll get access to a list of apps. Click on Other and you’ll be able to see Activity Monitor. Furthermore, open Finder and scroll to Applications. Within the Utilities section, you’ll see the icon for Mac’s task manager.

Keep in Dock

As most Mac users understand, the Dock holds the list of all your favorite apps. The ones you use most can be kept in the Dock. Once Activity Monitor is open, right-click on the icon. A menu tray appears, select Options and you’ll get a drop-down menu. Click on “Keep in Dock.” After that, the icon is glued to the Dock until you wish to discard it.

Mac’s equivalent of the task manager does everything what one would expect out of a monitor. The status of each application and is divided into CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, and Network. These tabs can be seen on the top, just next to the settings icon. By visiting each tab, you’ll see the list of all active processes and just how much memory or energy or disk space they’re consuming.

This data doesn’t help the lay user much. If your PC is running slowly, it makes sense to close the applications that are running, however, there might be several others running in the background which you cannot see. Therefore, bringing out the Activity Monitor helps you to identify the exact process that’s consuming your system’s RAM or CPU.

It’s also helpful for those with an eye for micromanaging and recording the data. Access to the workings of each process allows you to improve battery life, weed out those applications with too much Network access, and check for redundancies.