htop

What is htop?

htop was created in 2004 by H. J. P. van der Linde as a fork of top with added features like color coding and mouse support. Over the years it has become the default choice for many Linux admins and developers, with regular updates across major distributions.

It is aimed at users who need real-time insight into CPU, memory, and process usage without the clutter of the classic top. It works on all major distros—Arch, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Ubuntu—making it a reliable cross‑distribution tool.

Compared to Windows Process Explorer, htop offers a comparable overview but in a terminal. It lacks the deep registry view of Process Explorer, but its color scheme and ability to kill or renice processes with simple key presses make it feel intuitive for those used to GUI tools.

Best for: System administrators and power users who need a terminal‑based, real‑time process manager.

Key features of htop

• Real‑time CPU, memory, swap usage
• Color‑coded process tree
• Mouse support for navigation
• Kill/renice processes via key presses
• Filter and search processes
• Sortable columns
• Tree view of process hierarchy
• Customizable display options

Tips for Windows users

If you come from Process Explorer, note that htop shows processes in a tree rather than a flat list. Use F3 to search, F4 to filter, and F9 to kill a process. The default key bindings are similar to top: 'k' to kill, 'r' to renice. There are no file formats to import; all data comes from /proc. The workflow is linear: view, filter, act—no right‑click menus. Use the mouse by enabling mouse support with the 'M' key or by adding '-m' to the command line.

For those used to Process Explorer’s detailed handles view, htop cannot show that level of detail; instead, use 'lsof' or 'strace' for deeper inspection.

Remember that htop runs in the terminal; you can open multiple terminals or use tmux to keep it running in the background.