How to Use Terminal to Monitor System Performance (top/htop)

• February 20, 2026
• Admin
• Macbook
• Linux

Monitoring your system performance through the Terminal is fast, lightweight, and powerful. Follow these step-by-step instructions to use top and htop effectively.

🔹 Method 1: Using top (Built-in Tool)

🖥️ Step 1: Open Terminal

                    •  macOS: Open Terminal from Applications → Utilities

                    •  Linux: Press Ctrl + Alt + T or search for “Terminal”

▶️ Step 2: Run the top Command

          ➤  Type:

                    •  </>
                    •  top

                    •  Press Enter

📊 Step 3: Understand the Output

          ➤  top shows real-time system activity:

          ◇  CPU Usage – Percentage of CPU being used

          ◇  Memory Usage – RAM usage (used, free, cached)

          ◇  Load Average – System load over 1, 5, and 15 minutes

          ◇  Process List – Running programs with:

                    •  PID (Process ID)

                    •  %CPU usage

                    •  %MEM usage

                    •  Running time

⌨️ Step 4: Useful top Shortcuts

          ➤  While top is running:

                    •  Press P → Sort by CPU usage

                    •  Press M → Sort by Memory usage

                    •  Press K → Kill a process (enter PID)

                    •  Press Q → Quit top

🔹 Method 2: Using htop (User-Friendly Alternative)

🖥️ Step 1: Install htop (If Not Installed)

          ➤  Ubuntu/Debian:

                    •  </>
                    •  sudo apt install htop

          ➤  CentOS/RHEL:

                    •  </>

                    •  sudo yum install htop

          ➤  macOS (with Homebrew):

                    •  </>

                    •  brew install htop

▶️ Step 2: Run htop

                    •  </>

                    •  htop

                    •  Press Enter.

🔍 Step 3: Understand the Interface

          ➤  htop provides:

                    •  Color-coded CPU usage bars

                    •  Memory and Swap usage

                    •  Scrollable process list

                    •  Mouse support

                    •  Easy process management

⌨️ Step 4: Useful htop Shortcuts

                    •  F3 → Search for a process

                    •  F4 → Filter processes

                    •  F5 → Tree view

                    •  F6 → Change sorting

                    •  F9 → Kill process

                    •  F10 → Exit

✅ When to Use top vs htop

Feature                           top                      htop

Pre-installed         ✅ Yes               ❌ Usually no

Color interface         ❌ No               ✅ Yes

Mouse support         ❌ No               ✅ Yes

Easier to use         ⚠️ Basic       ✅ More user-friendly

🎯 Pro Tips

                    •  Use top on remote servers (always available).

                    •  Use htop for easier monitoring and troubleshooting.

                    •  Monitor high CPU processes to identify performance issues.

                    •  If your system feels slow, check load average and memory usage first.