All-mighty Mac system monitor

The OneDrive app on my Mac, running macOS High Sierra, is using an excessive amount of memory (1.42 GB!!) even when there is no file activity at all going on.

When your Mac slows down or starts behaving erratically, chances are it's because an application that's running, perhaps in the background, is misbehaving. And if it's not an application that's causing the problem, it will almost certainly be a process associated with macOS or an ancillary service.

The Storage pane of About This Mac is the best way to determine the amount of storage space available on your Mac. Disk Utility and other apps might show storage categories such as Not Mounted, VM, Recovery, Other Volumes, Free, or Purgeable. Right-click on the apps that you don’t want running at startup. Finally, select Disable. Using RamMap to empty system working set – This free tool by Microsoft can show metafile usage and find which RAM areas are used by which applications. It’s a great tool to address high memory usage on Windows 10 and you have no idea why the issue exists. Show All Running Apps On Mac Using Force Quit Applications Manager. Another method to check all the Running apps and programs on your Mac is through the Force Quit applications manager on Mac. Click on the Apple icon in the top menu bar of your Mac and then click on Force Quit Application in the drop-down menu (See image below).

Solving this problem is usually as simple as killing the process, but in order to do that you need to identify which one.Here's a comprehensive guide on how to view and kill processes on your Mac.

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Try the best tools that help you find and kill processes hampering your Mac's performance.

How to show which processes consume a lot of memory

The easiest way to view all active processes running on your Mac is to launch Activity Monitor from your Applications folder. In the default CPU tab, you can see how much processing power every process takes, ranked by the most consuming. And if you switch to the Memory tab, you will see the same list ranked by the amount of used up RAM.

For more immediate and elaborate information on how your computer resources are consumed, use iStat Menus, which handily lives in your menu bar and, in its MEM table, shows you applications and processes that are consuming more than their fair share of RAM in real time.

How to kill process using Activity Monitor

1. Launch Activity Monitor.
   The easiest way to launch Activity Monitor is to press Command and spacebar to call up Spotlight, then start typing Activity Monitor. When it appears in Spotlight, hit Return to launch it. Alternatively, go to Utilities in the Applications folder and double-click on its icon. Or open Activity Monitor in one click through iStat Menus app.
2. View and filter tasks.
   You'll notice there are five tabs across the top of the Activity Monitor window: CPU, Energy, Memory, Disk, and Network. Clicking on any of those tabs organizes processes according to the percentage of the resource they are using. So, clicking on CPU lists tasks in the order of how much CPU capacity they're using. By default, processes are ordered starting with the one that's consuming the most of the resource at the top, so you can quickly see where problems are occurring or likely to occur. To flip the order, so that processes consuming the least of the resource are at the top, click the arrow next to Memory or CPU above the list of processes.
   
3. Kill problematic processes.
   When you identify a process that's causing a problem, either because it's hogging lots of CPU cycles or memory, or because it's highlighted in the Activity Monitor as having crashed, you need to kill it. To do that, click on the process first and then on the X in the Activity Monitor toolbar. The process will quit and free up the resources it was taking up. If it's a critical process, it will restart. If it's an application, it will remain shut down.

Activity Monitor alternatives

Get an advanced system monitor for macOS – an improved alternative to the default program.

How to shut down processes using Terminal

1. Launch Terminal. Press Command and spacebar to pull up Spotlight then start typing Terminal. When the Terminal app appears in Spotlight, tap Return to launch it. Alternatively, navigate to the Utilities folder in Applications and double-click Terminal.
2. View processes. When Terminal has launched, type 'top' into the Terminal window. You'll see a list of currently running processes. At the top of the list is an overview of the processes that are running and the resources they're consuming.
3. Kill an unwanted process. When you identify a process that's causing a problem or consuming too many resources, take note of the number in the PID column next to the name of the process. To kill the process, type 'kill -9' followed by the PID number. Press Enter. The problem process will now quit.

How to prevent problematic processes

You can pretty much avoid issues altogether by being a little bit proactive in hunting down the common culprits. Here, iStat Menus will help you identify which applications or processes are consuming finite resources, such as CPU and RAM.

Then, you can use CleanMyMac maintenance routines that, when run regularly, will keep you Mac running smoothly. Here's how to do that:

1. Launch Setapp and search for CleanMyMac.
2. Find the maintenance scripts. Under the Speed section in the left sidebar, click on Maintenance. You will see a list of tasks that CleanMyMac would suggest you to perform to optimize your Mac. You should try to run them all, but the one especially important for us is under Run Maintenance Scripts.
3. Run the maintenance scripts. Click on the checkbox next to Run Maintenance Scripts and then click Run. Alternatively, choose another specific maintenance script such as Speed Up Mail or Reindex Spotlight and click Run. When it's finished, click Select Tasks to return to the list of maintenance tasks.

Run other tasks, as necessary. If you're having problems with Mail, repeat step 3, but this time click the checkbox next to Speed Up Mail. Likewise, if Spotlight is running slowly, run the Reindex Spotlight task.

How to kill a background process

To kill a background process, use Activity Monitor. While the steps are the same as described in the 'How to kill a running process using Activity Monitor' section above, the key difference is that background processes often have obscure names that don't clearly describe what they do.

Be careful when killing a background process and, if not sure, leave it alone or search online for its exact role in your system. Otherwise, you might risk causes problems for your macOS. Generally, background processes don't tend to consume significant RAM or CPU cycles, so if you spot one that does, it has probably got into trouble. Kill it using the X in the Activity Monitor toolbar.

Reduce Memory Used By Apps Running On Macbook Pro

How to easily remove startup items

One common cause of Macs running slowly or having problems is items that launch automatically at startup. These could be helper apps for something like iTunes or just complete apps in their own right. They are also frequently apps you once used but no longer need.

To review the apps and helpers that startup when you log in

1. Launch System Preferences from the Apple menu and click on the Users & Groups pane.
2. Click the padlock and type in your password.
3. Then select your username in the left panel and click the Login Items tab.
4. Look through all the login items that correspond to apps you no longer use and then click the minus button. The app will no longer start up automatically when you log in.

How to Force Quit an application that's not responding

If you see the dreaded spinning beachball, or an app just won't do anything, you should force quit it.

There are several ways to force quit an unresponsive application:

1. Press Command-Alt-Esc and click on the application in the window that opens. Press Force Quit
2. Control-click or right-click on the application's icon in the Dock and choose Force Quit
3. Launch Activity Monitor, locate the application and press the 'x' in the toolbar
4. Locate the process in Activity monitor, look for the entry in the PID column and launch Terminal. Type 'kill -9' followed by the PID number. Press Enter

Fix crashing apps with Spindump

While Force Quit will fix the problem, it’s a temporary solution. If you’re determined to identify the source of crashing apps and prevent them from happening, use Spindump on Mac. It’s a hang reporting tool that alerts you about the crash and helps share the details with the app developer.

Whenever the app crashes, it will trigger Spindump and send the information to Apple or the app developer. Not only does it help you understand what just happened, but it also helps the developer track the conditions of app misbehavior — and fix it accordingly. A win-win.

How to create a Spindump file on Mac

1. Launch Activity Monitor via Applications > Utilities
2. Pick the app for which you want to create a Spindump file, then click on the Settings icon
3. Select Spindump or Run Spindump
4. Wait a few seconds for the file to generate
5. Click Save.

Reset a problematic app

There's one more thing you can try if an app keeps running slowly or crashing – reset it. Thanks to CleanMyMac, resetting an app is easy. Here's what you need to do:

1. Locate the uninstaller. In the left hand sidebar of CleanMyMac, click on Uninstaller under Applications.
2. Find the app that's causing a problem. Scroll through the list of apps until you find the one that's been crashing or running slowly. Click on it to highlight.
3. Reset the app. With the app highlighted, you'll see all the files associated with it in the right-hand window. Click Application Reset at the top of the window and all the files, except the main application file, will be selected.
4. Click Uninstall. All the selected files will be trashed, effectively resetting the application to its default state. When you launch it the next time, it will behave as if it has just been installed — so you'll need to recreate any custom settings or preferences.

If resetting the app doesn't work, the final resort should be to uninstall the app completely and reinstall it. To do that, click Complete Uninstallation in the same menu instead of Application Reset.

As you can see there are lots of different ways and apps that help you view and kill processes in macOS. iStat Menus is a great way to passively monitor which processes are causing problems, so you can launch Activity Monitor and quit them. And running CleanMyMac's maintenance scripts regularly prevents problems occurring in the first place. Best of all, all these apps are available to try for free on Setapp, along with over 200 high-quality macOS apps. So check your Mac for problematic processes now and see what you find.

Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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What is WindowServer Process on Mac? How to Prevent WindowServer Process Mac High CPU Usage:

The WindowServer is a very important and inevitable process in every Mac System. It is completely safe process that must run on your Mac to handle graphics and display related activities. When this process takes higher portion of CPU, you have to prevent it. The WindowServer High CPU Usage slows down the Mac System, heats it up and drains the battery faster. Therefore you need to find a way to prevent the WindowServer Process from taking High CPU Usage on Mac.

Contents

• 3 How to Prevent WindowServer Process from taking High CPU Usage on Mac

What is WindowServer Process on Mac?

WindowServer Process is a core part of Mac OS, it is directly concerned with Apple Graphics Hardware. The WindowServer is a mediator between the Apps and the Display of your Mac. Everything you type, draw or play on Mac is shown on the display by WindowServer Process.

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Why WindowServer Process taking High CPU Usage on Mac?

The WindowServer takes CPU Usage on the basis of number of opened apps and the apps, games or files constantly refreshing the display. If the Activity Monitor on your Mac is showing high CPU usage by WindowServer, you must check the running apps and games. Here we provide some possible causes of WindowServer Process taking High CPU Usage on Mac as follows:

• You are playing a High Graphics Game on your Mac. NFS, GTA, Asphalt and many other PC Games require high graphics on Mac computer.
• Drawing Software such as Coreldraw, AutoCAD consume high memory and the screen constantly refresh when you are creating designs.
• Photoshop, Picasa and other photo editor software are also responsible for WindowServer Process high CPU usage on Mac.
• Video Editor App uses graphics and keeps your Mac screen active for long time.
• There is a bug in one or more apps of your Mac.

How to Prevent WindowServer Process from taking High CPU Usage on Mac

WindowServer Process can take CPU Usage based on Mac user’s activities. But sometimes the process takes high amount of CPU without any specific reason.

For example: All apps and games are closed. All apps from the Dock are closed. There is No animated icon or picture on Mac desktop. But the WindowServer Process is still taking high CPU usage.

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In such circumstances, you need to take some action to reduce the WindowServer Mac CPU Usage. Because it will slowdown your Mac, heat the PC and if you have MacBook, it will drain the battery faster. Here we provide some easiest ways to prevent WindowServer Process High CPU Usage on Mac as follows:

01. Reduce Transparency

When Transparency Settings are set to high, the graphics usage is also high. As a result, the WindowServer Process takes high CPU usage on Mac. Therefore we suggest you to reduce transparency in your Mac System to reduce the CPU usage by the WindowServer Process. Kindly follow the steps given below to reduce transparency on your Mac:

01. On your Mac Desktop, open Apple Menu.

02. Select “System Preferences” to go to that section.

03. Click on “Accessibility” icon to open Accessibility options.

04. Now select “Display” in the left side list.

05. Here you will see various options such as Invert Colors, Reduce Motion etc..

06. Find out “Reduce Transparency” option and tick the box.

07. Close the Accessibility Settings Window.

After reducing transparency, you will notice that your Mac’s Apple menu bar and Dock have become non-transparent. It also affects other apps which will ultimately reduce the WindowServer High CPU Usage on Mac.

02. Turn On/Off Automatic Graphics Switching

Many MacBook devices come with two graphics processors. The Mac System uses the suitable graphics processor as per its requirement. It also switches the graphics automatically which may cause high CPU usage by WindowServer. We request you to turn off the Automatic Graphics Switching option to check if the CPU usage gets reduced. Please follow the steps given below to turn off automatic graphics switching on Mac:

01. On your Mac, open Apple Menu.

02. Select “System Preferences” tab.

03. In System Preferences window, select “Energy Saver” icon.

04. You will see “Automatic Graphics Switching” option at the top of the Energy Saver settings window.

05. Un-check the Automatic Graphics Switching option to turn it off.

06. Close the Energy Saver settings window.

When you turn off Automatic Graphics Switching option, the Mac System will always use the high graphics processor for all apps. So you should check the WindowServer Process in Activity Monitor when Automatic Graphics Switching is turned off and turned on. If the WindowServer uses more CPU when auto graphics switching is off, you should turn it on again. You should keep the graphics switching mode which consumes less CPU usage by WindowServer.

03. Hide the Dock

On your Mac, Dock is situated at the bottom of the desktop screen. The dock contains many app icons. The WindowServer has to draw and show up those icons on your Mac display. Sometimes you don’t have any use of those icons still they are appearing on screen and using high CPU. Therefore we request you to turn on automatically hide dock option by following the steps given below:

01. On your Mac, open Apple Menu.

02. Select “System Preferences” option.

03. Find out “Dock” icon and click on it to open Dock Settings.

04. On Dock Settings Window, find out “Automatically hide and show the Dock.”

05. Check that box to turn on Auto Hide/Show the Dock feature.

06. Close the Dock Settings Window.

After the Dock is hidden from your Mac desktop, the WindowServer Process CPU Consumption will be reduced by a few percentage. You can check that change in your Mac’s Activity Monitor.

04. Disable Automatic Rearrange of Spaces

Virtual Desktop Environment is a feature provided in Mac System. If you are using Spaces, they may get rearranged by themselves. Because of this setting in Mission Control, WindowServer takes high CPU usage. You can get your CPU usage back to normal by disabling the automatic rearrange of spaces on Mac. Please follow the simple steps mentioned below:

01. On your Mac, go to Apple Menu.

02. Select “System Preferences” to open a new window.

03. Click on “Mission Control” icon to open its settings window.

04. Find out the option “Automatically rearrange spaces based on most recent use.”

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05. Disable Auto Rearrange of Spaces in Mission Control Settings.

When you disable Automatically rearrange spaces option, it will make a little reduction in WindowServer Process CPU usage on Mac.

05. Turn Off Separate Spaces for Displays

Mac Computer allows the user to setup multiple displays for one system. But it can be the cause of WindowServer Process high CPU usage if each display has a separate space. Every space takes some amount of CPU and memory. As a result, WindowServer takes high CPU usage for multiple displays have separate spaces. That’s why you should turn off this feature on your Mac. Kindly follow the steps given below to turn off separate spaces for displays in Mac system:

01. On your Mac desktop, open Apple Menu.

02. Select “System Preferences” tab.

03. Find and Select “Mission Control” icon in System Preferences.

04. On Mission Control Settings Window, find out “Display have separate spaces” option.

05. Un-check (remove the tick from) Display have separate spaces.

06. This setting requires log out to take effect on your Mac.

Reduce Memory Usage On Mac

07. Log out from your Mac and Log in again.

Now the multiple displays don’t have separate spaces on Mac. Therefore the WindowServer Process will take less CPU usage than earlier.

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Some Other Techniques to prevent WindowServer Process from taking High CPU Usage on Mac

You need to take some tiny steps to prevent the WindowServer Process high CPU usage on Mac. Here we provide important instructions for the Mac users as follows:

How To Reduce Memory Usage On Mac

• When you see WindowServer High CPU Usage without any specific reason, just Restart your Mac System. It will fix the issue.
• You should open Mac App Store and Update the Mac OS to the Latest Version.
• You should check Update section in Mac App Store and Update All Apps in your Mac System.
• Close all those apps and games which you are currently not using or working on.
• Close Finder Windows to clean up the desktop and speed up your Mac. Open File menu in Finder and select “Close All” option to close all windows.

Final Words:

All the information mentioned above about What is WindowServer Process on Mac is true and fair. The methods we have shared here are completely working on every Mac system. For more queries regarding how to prevent WindowServer Process high CPU usage on Mac, kindly contact the Apple Helpline Number at 1-800-MY-APPLE (800-692-7753) or visit Apple Support Website at support.apple.com.