See CPU, Memory, Network Speed and Temperature Live in Your Mac Menu Bar

When the fans suddenly spin up, a download crawls or switching apps starts to stutter, what you want to know is usually simple: how busy is the CPU, is there enough memory, how fast is the network, and how hot is the Mac? Activity Monitor, which comes with macOS, answers most of that, but you have to open it every time. With the key readings in your menu bar, a glance is enough.

#Start with what macOS includes

Activity Monitor is in Applications > Utilities and has CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk and Network tabs:

• On the CPU tab, sort by the % CPU column to see what's using the processor.
• The Memory Pressure graph at the bottom of the Memory tab tells you more than the amount of used memory. Apple explains that memory pressure is determined by the amount of free memory, swap rate, wired memory and file cached memory, and reflects how well memory is serving your processes.
• To keep an eye on the CPU without the window open, choose View > Dock Icon and pick one of the CPU options, and the icon in the Dock becomes a live graph. Window > CPU Usage and Window > CPU History open small separate windows. See Apple's guide for details.

What it lacks: there's no temperature reading, network speed means switching to the Network tab, and the app has to stay open.

#How to read the numbers

• CPU: short spikes are normal, for example when you open a large file, compile code or export a video. If usage stays high and you don't know why, it's worth a look.
• Memory: high used memory isn't necessarily a problem, because macOS puts spare memory to work as cache. Memory pressure matters more, and when it's normal, there's nothing to do.
• Network: upload and download speeds help you tell a slow connection from a slow website, and show when an app is uploading or downloading a lot in the background.
• Temperature and fans: temperatures rise under heavy load, and your Mac manages that on its own. The readings help you decide whether to give it a break or move it somewhere with better airflow.

#Put the readings in your menu bar with WashBear

1. In WashBear, open Settings > General, find System status, make sure its switch is on (it is by default), and click Configure….
2. Under Display mode, choose Menu bar, Floating window or Both.
3. Under Display items, select the metrics to show and drag them to change their order. CPU, memory, disk usage and network are shown by default. Depending on your Mac's hardware, you can add GPU, temperatures, fan speed, charging power, battery power, system power and CPU core frequencies. Some metrics let you pick a specific network interface, disk or fan.

To spot trouble at a glance, click Colors next to a metric and set colors for value ranges, for example red when CPU utilization reaches 90%, then turn on Color indicators under Appearance. If menu bar space is tight, turn on Compact mode for tighter spacing and network units shortened to K, M and G. Logo controls whether the WashBear icon appears in the menu bar.

When the menu bar runs out of room, macOS hides some menu bar icons, which happens more easily on a MacBook with a notch. Don't add too many items, or move the readings to the floating window.

#Open the status panel for details

Click the readings in the menu bar to open the status panel. It has Overview, CPU, GPU, Memory, Disk and Network pages, plus Power on Macs with a battery. There you'll find last-minute trends, temperatures, disk reads and writes, network interface details and battery health.

The CPU and Memory pages list apps by usage. When you find an app using more than it should, expand it to Open location or quit it normally, just as if you chose Quit in the app, so it can ask you to save first.

#Release memory when it's tight

On the Memory page, click Release. WashBear reclaims memory that apps have marked as discardable. It doesn't close any apps or need an administrator password, and it shows the change it observed when it's done. When memory shows Normal pressure, releasing usually isn't necessary.

Open the menu next to Release and choose Release settings to turn on Automatic release, set Check every and Memory usage at least, and add Excluded apps. Both manual and automatic release skip excluded apps.

#Use a floating window instead

With Floating window selected, the readings appear in a small window on your desktop, and the menu bar keeps only the WashBear icon. Drag the window anywhere. It appears on all desktops but not over full-screen apps. Right-click it to switch between Horizontal and Vertical, adjust Appearance or open Configure…. If you can't find it, choose Reset position.

Under Appearance, you can also set the floating window's Layout, Font size, Bold text, Show dividers, Background and Background opacity. To start over, click Restore defaults; your enabled state, display mode and window position are kept.

#Have it appear when you log in

While System status is on, closing the main window leaves WashBear running in the menu bar. Turn on Launch at login in Settings > General to have it appear every time you log in. To quit completely, right-click the menu bar icon and choose Quit.

Too many things launching at login can slow your Mac down too, so it's a good moment to review your login and background items.

#Are the readings uploaded?

No. All readings are collected and shown on your Mac. They're sent, encrypted, to a paired phone only if you turn on phone remote access; see Keep an eye on your Mac from your phone. For every setting in detail, see System Status Monitor.

#FAQ

#Why can't I choose some temperatures or power readings?

It depends on what your Mac's hardware can report. Metrics your Mac can't provide show the reason in Display items.

#A reading seems stuck. What's going on?

If a reading can't update for a while, the panel keeps showing the last value it read successfully, and it updates again once readings resume.

#Do I still need Activity Monitor?

You can use both. A glance at the menu bar covers everyday checks, and Activity Monitor is still the place for digging into individual processes or energy use.