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htop-dev/htop

htop is an interactive terminal process viewer for Linux, BSD and macOS, with scrolling, sorting, filtering and process control.

Open-source alternative to:Windows Task ManagerActivity Monitor

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What is it?

htop is a cross-platform interactive process viewer that runs in the terminal. It lists running processes with their full command lines, CPU and memory usage, and shows system-wide figures such as load average and swap usage. The list can be scrolled both vertically and horizontally.

The displayed columns and meters are configurable through a built-in setup screen, and processes can be searched, filtered and sorted interactively. Actions like killing or renicing a process can be performed on the selected row without typing its PID. Tree view groups processes by parent-child relationship.

Building htop requires a C99 compiler, autotools and the ncurses library. Optional features such as temperature readout via libsensors, CPU affinity via hwloc, and Linux capabilities or delay accounting can be enabled at configure time. The project is maintained by a team after its original author stepped back in 2019.

Key features

  • 01Scroll the process list vertically and horizontally to view full command lines.
  • 02Show per-process CPU and memory usage along with system load and swap.
  • 03Search, filter and sort processes interactively.
  • 04Display a tree view of parent and child processes.
  • 05Kill or renice processes directly from the list.
  • 06Configure displayed columns and meters through a setup screen.

Use cases

  • Checking which process is consuming CPU or memory on a Linux or BSD server.
  • Finding and killing a runaway process without looking up its PID.
  • Monitoring system load from a remote terminal session over SSH.
  • Inspecting process hierarchies when debugging a service that spawns children.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Install build dependencies (Debian/Ubuntu example)

    sudo apt install libncursesw5-dev autotools-dev autoconf automake build-essential
  2. 2

    Download the source from the Git repository or GitHub releases

  3. 3

    Compile from source

    ./autogen.sh && ./configure && make
  4. 4

    Install on the local system

    make install

Things to know

  • Requires building from source with autotools and ncurses, not a single package-manager install in the README.
  • Licensed under GPL-2.0 (copyleft), which may restrict use in some proprietary projects.
  • Supports Linux, BSD and macOS only, with no Windows support mentioned.

In collections

CLI & terminal toolsOpen-source Mac apps

Topics

#terminal#process-monitor#system-monitoring#linux#macos#bsd#cli#console#hacktoberfest#process

FAQ

What is htop?
htop is an interactive terminal process viewer for Linux, BSD and macOS, with scrolling, sorting, filtering and process control. htop is a cross-platform interactive process viewer that runs in the terminal. It lists running processes with their full command lines, CPU and memory usage, and shows system-wide figures such as load average and swap usage. The list can be scrolled both vertically and horizontally.
Is htop free to use? What license does it have?
htop is open source under the GPL-2.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is htop still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to htop was on Nov 4, 2026.
What can I use htop for?
Checking which process is consuming CPU or memory on a Linux or BSD server. Finding and killing a runaway process without looking up its PID. Monitoring system load from a remote terminal session over SSH. Inspecting process hierarchies when debugging a service that spawns children.
How do I install htop?
Install build dependencies (Debian/Ubuntu example): sudo apt install libncursesw5-dev autotools-dev autoconf automake build-essential Download the source from the Git repository or GitHub releases Compile from source: ./autogen.sh && ./configure && make Install on the local system: make install
Where can I get htop?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/htop-dev/htop

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