Many users who have converted from Windows to Mac computers are often left wondering as to what is the Task Manager equivalent on a Mac and how to open it. In this article, we will be showing you how to open and use Task manager on Mac.
Some windows on your Mac display a row of icons at the top of the window, known as a toolbar. While the toolbar gives you one-click access to commonly used commands, such as saving or printing a file, you may want to hide your Mac’s toolbar so that it doesn’t clutter up the appearance of a window. On your Mac, click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window. Do any of the following: Hide or show the sidebar: Choose View Hide Sidebar or View Show Sidebar.(If Show Sidebar is dimmed, choose View Show Toolbar.) Resize the sidebar: Drag the right side of the divider bar to the right or left. Change what’s in the sidebar: Choose Finder Preferences, click Sidebar, then.
Mac Equivalent of Task Manager
The Task Manger on a Windows Computer is used to quit applications, whenever an application or program gets stuck or freezes on a Windows Computer.
Activity Monitor is the Mac’s version or the equivalent of Task Manager as found in Windows Computers. Similar to the Task Manager, Activity Monitor provides the details of the CPU or the Memory being used by Apps and services on your Mac.
- Instead of opening Google Docs directly in your browser, you can click on a shortcut on your taskbar or desktop and open the app that way. To do this, open Google Chrome and go to docs.google.com.
- Click the Windows icon (lower-left corner on the task bar). If Drake appears in the tiled area to the right of the list, drag it to your desktop and drop it there. A shortcut now appears on your desktop and the tile will reappear in its original location. Otherwise, select All apps and find Drake Software in the All apps list. Click the arrow.
While the episodes of Apps and native Services freezing on a Mac are fewer compared to Windows Computers, Mac also provides a dedicated Force Quit Applications Manager, in addition to the Activity Monitor.
In case you do come across any App getting stuck on your Mac, you can make use of Force Quit Applications Manager to quit the offending App or make use of the Activity Manager to see more details about this app.
Open Task Manager On Mac
As mentioned above the Mac equivalent of Task Manger is known as Activity Manager and it provides detailed information about how much CPU, Memory, etc. an application or process is using up on your Mac.
1. Click on the Finder icon (Happy Face) from the left corner of the Dock on your Mac
2. On the next screen, click on Applications from the side menu (See image below)
3. In the Applications Folder, click on the Utilities Folder and open it (See image above)
4. In the Utilities Folder, click on Activity Monitor (which is usually the first item in the list)
5. On the next screen (Activity Monitor), you will be able to see the details of CPU being used by all the Apps and Services running on your Mac.
Pin Activity Monitor to Dock on Mac
You can avoid the long way of Opening Activity Monitor on your Mac by pinning the Activity Monitor to the Dock Bar.
1. Once you open the Activity Monitor on your Mac using above steps, it will be visible on the Dock Bar. Simply Right Click on the Activity Monitor icon in the Dock to launch a Menu (See image below)
2. Next, hover your mouse over Options and then click on Keep in Dock option in the side menu that appears (See image above).
From now on you will see the Activity Monitor Icon pinned to the Dock on your Mac and you will be able to access the Activity Monitor by simply clicking on its icon on the Dock.
How to Use Task Manager on Mac
Below is a short guide on how to use the Mac equivalent of Task Manager, known as the Activity Monitor on your Mac.
1. View CPU, Memory and Other System Resources Being Used on your Mac
Once you open Activity Monitor on you Mac, you will see a screen with five Tabs – CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk and Network (See image below).
CPU – Clicking on the CPU tab provides you information about the amount of CPU being used by the various Applications on your Mac.
Memory – Clicking on the Memory tab allows you to see the amount of Memory being used by the Apps and System Programs on your Mac. You will see the Apps using the highest Memory at the top of the list (See image below)
The Memory tab also provides a totals chart at the bottom, displaying an overview of the total Memory usage on your Mac.
Energy – Tapping on this tab will bring up the Energy Usage by the Apps and processes on your Mac. The Apps using the most energy (battery) in the last 8 hours or since your Mac has started up will be listed at the top.
At the bottom of the screen you will see how much battery is left, how long the battery is expected to last and how many hours has the battery been used for.
Disk – Tapping on the Disk tab will show you the amount of data that each application or process has read from your disk and written to your disk.
At the bottom of the Disk tab you will see the total amount of data read and total amount of data written by the disk including all processes and apps.
Network – Tapping on the Network tab will show you how much data each process is sending and receiving over your internet connection.
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At the bottom, you will see the total amount of data received and total amount of data sent by your Mac computer.
View Info About an Application or Process
The Activity Monitor also allows you to view additional information about Application and Processes on your Mac.
1. Click on the Application or the process that you want to view more information about.
2. Next, click on the i button from the top left corner of the Activity Monitor window (See image below)
3. A window will pop-up showing you more information about the application or process.
Force Quit Applications in Activity Monitor
Follow the steps below to Force Quit Applications using the Activity Monitor on your Mac
1. Once you have opened the Activity Monitor on your Mac, click on the Application that you want to Force Quit (See image below)
2. Next, click on the x button, located near the top left corner of the Activity Monitor window (See image above)
3. You may see a pop-up asking you to confirm that you do want to Quit the App. Click on Force Quit option in the pop-up to quit this App.
Ctrl + Alt + Delete Equivalent on Mac
In addition to the Activity Monitor, Mac computers also feature a Force Quit Applications Manager which allows you to force quit Apps.
The Force Quit Applications Manager on a Mac can be accessed by holding down Command + Option (Alt key) + Escape Keys on your Mac.
The Force Quit Applications Manager just allows you to Force Quit Apps and does not provide details like how much CPU or memory an application is using.
You will find below the steps to use Force Quit Applications Manager.
Open Force Quit Applications Manager on Mac
If your primary goal is to only Force Quit an application on your Mac and you do not care about how much CPU or Memory the application is using up, then you should make use of the Force Quit Applications Manager to perform this task.
There are 2 ways to open the Force Quit Application manager on your Mac
1. Click on the Apple icon in the top menu-bar on your Mac and then click on Force Quit… Option (See image below)
2. On the Force Quit Applications screen, click on the Application Name that you want to quit and then click on the Force Quit button (See image below).
3. Next, you will see a pop-up asking you to confirm that you do want to Force Quit this app. Click on Force Quit to quit this application.
In case an application is active, you can Force Quit the Application by clicking on the Apple icon in the top-menu bar of your Mac and then clicking on Force Quit (Application Name) from the drop-down menu (See image below).
Note: You can also use the Command + Alt + Esc key combination to launch the Force Quit Application Manager on your Mac.
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How To Create A Shortcut On Mac Dock
Without a doubt, the menu bar is one of Mac’s great features. It’s condensed, easy to tap into on the fly, and displays much-needed information in real time.
![App App](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126637958/287952953.jpg)
But, with every new icon app added, things become a little more cluttered and usability takes another hit. Fortunately, it’s possible to edit the menu bar to rearrange and remove icons so that it’s able to suit your needs at any given moment. Read on for the best ways to make the menu bar on Mac truly yours.
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How to rearrange items in menu bar
How much freedom you have to rearrange items in menu bar depends on which version of macOS you’re running. The users of macOS Sierra and later definitely have more creative license here than others. And if you are not there yet, it’s time to upgrade to the newest macOS anyway.
Rearranging menu items in macOS
To move an icon in the menu bar, hold Command (cmd), then click and hold the icon to drag it across the bar. Simple.
There are no restrictions here — feel free to move icons anywhere you see fit. Don’t like the clock all the way over there on the right-hand side? Drag it to somewhere more suitable. Want to place the Setapp icon over to the area of the bar once reserved for first-party apps? Do it!
The only icon that cannot be tampered with is the Notification Center. Apple has decided this must remain in the far right corner of the menu, which is fair enough — it looks good there.
Rearranging menu items in OS X versions (El Capitan and older)
Movement of icons in old versions of macOS is reserved for selected apps only: Bluetooth, audio, Time Machine, WiFi, battery, clock, and user switching. Spotlight and Notification Center must stay put, as must all third-party apps.
To move icons around within the designated area, once again hold Command, then click and hold the icon to drag it.
How to remove icons from the top bar on Mac
If there are items in the menu bar that you feel don’t belong there, hold Command, click on the icon, and drag it outside of the menu bar.
Note: this only works for first-party icons.
It is possible to remove third-party icons from the top bar on Mac by clicking on them and selecting “Quit” or “Close,” but this will stop the app from working until you reopen it.
Some apps give the option to remove icons from the top bar on Mac in their settings: [chosen app] > Preferences. However, a lot of apps won’t. To fully customize which icons appear in the menu bar, you should use a third-party app like Bartender.
If you’ve removed the first-party app and you’d like it back on the menu, it can be re-enabled in System Preferences.
How to add icons to the top bar on Mac
If you’re missing a specific system icon in the Mac’s menu bar, you can add it through System Preferences. For instance, to enable the Language icon, select Language & Region in the preference pane, click Input Sources, and check the box next to “Show Input menu in menu bar.”
Add menu bar extras
Because the menu options like Clock and Ink can’t be found in System Preferences, you might need to use the System folder as well:
- Open Finder.
- Select Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar.
- Type a path: /System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras.
- Double-click an item and it will instantly appear in your menu bar.
You can easily remove any of the icons by holding Command and dragging it outside of the menu bar as described above.
How to customize and tidy Mac menu bar
It’s possible to change the look of the default menu bar items in System Preferences and third-party apps’ ones in their respective preferences. Most of the time, you’ll be able to at least switch the color to black and white.
Change how the date and time are displayed in the menu bar
In the right corner of your menu bar, click on date and time to Open Date & Time Preferences. Go to the Clock tab and unlock the preferences by entering your administrator password, so that you can make changes. To customize the look of the clock, choose between two different time display options: Digital or Analog. You can also tick the boxes for “Show date” and “Show the day of the week.”
To instantly toggle between different display options, click on date and time in the menu bar and choose “View as Analog” or “View as Digital.”
How to use your battery status on Mac
Keeping track of your battery life from the menu bar takes a few simple actions and yet is vital to Mac’s performance.
Click on the battery icon and tick Show percentage to see how much battery power you have left. In the same drop-down menu, you can check the programs that are using significant power in case your battery is draining too fast. To optimize battery usage, select “Open Energy Saver Preferences” and adjust sleep settings.
Toggle between fast user switching icons
There are three different options on how the Fast User Switching menu can be displayed in your Mac’s top bar – as a full name, account name or icon. Here’s how you do the customization:
- Click on the icon and open Users & Groups Preferences.
- Enter your password to unlock.
- Select Login Options in the bottom left corner of the Users & Groups.
- Go to “Show fast user switching menu” and pick one of the options.
- Untick the box if you prefer to remove the icon from the menu bar.
Show Wi-Fi status in the menu bar
To enable the Wi-Fi icon in your Mac’s top bar, go to System Preferences and select Network. Tick the box next to “Show Wi-Fi status in menu bar.”
How to replace menu bar app icons
If you want to have custom icons in your Mac’s menu bar, there’s a way to replace the default ones. To change the icon of a third-party app, find it in Applications, right-click to open a context menu, and choose “Show Package Contents.” Go to Resources folder to find the defaults – these can be used as templates for the new icons. Once you have a custom icon ready, simply copy it into the same Resources folder.
The same works for system icons, except you won’t find all of them in Applications. Here’s the path for you to take: Hard Disk > System > Library > CoreServices > Menu Extras. Once you’ve found the item you need, click on “Show Package Contents” and navigate to the icon via [MENUITEM.menu] > Contents > Resources.
In both cases, it’s a good idea to create backups of the default icons before replacing them – just in case you’ll need them later.
Hide menu bar items
One low-key feature on Mac is the ability to auto-hide menu bar. To do this, open System Preferences > General. Check the option to “Automatically hide and show the menu bar” and the menu bar will immediately disappear.
To get the menu bar to show up again, simply move the cursor to the top of the screen and hold it there for a second. Now you can access the menu whenever you need it and enjoy an extra bit of screen real estate when you don’t.
Customizing the menu bar with Bartender
If you want more control over how the menu bar looks and what it does, you should consider using the Bartender app.
Bartender lets you hide icons without quitting and rearrange icons in a way that better suits how you use the menu bar — something particularly useful if you’re running an older version of macOS.
App icons can be displayed when updating, shown in the Bartender Bar only, or hidden completely and accessed easily using a built-in search function. It’s even possible to toggle through and activate items using keyboard navigation.
If you’re someone that prefers a minimalist look, the app gives you the option to remove the Bartender menu item, leaving you with a crisp, clean menu bar.
Overall, the Mac menu bar is there to help you improve your productivity by giving you quick access to the apps and tools you need. Using the tips above, you can customize the menu bar in a way that works for you. Best of all, you can get full access to Bartender and over 150 more high-quality macOS apps on Setapp, with a 7-day free trial to get you started. So why not get your menu bar organized now?