{"id":9240,"date":"2026-06-01T09:43:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T07:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/?post_type=manual_kb&#038;p=9240"},"modified":"2026-06-01T09:43:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T07:43:19","slug":"what-is-htop","status":"publish","type":"manual_kb","link":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/what-is-htop\/","title":{"rendered":"What is htop?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"translation-block translation-block-merged\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">htop is an interactive system monitoring tool used on Linux and Unix-based operating systems. It allows users to view, manage, and control running processes in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is considered an improved version of the classic <code>top<\/code> command, offering a more user-friendly interface and additional features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_86 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/what-is-htop\/#What_htop_is_used_for\" >What htop is used for<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/what-is-htop\/#Key_features\" >Key features<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/what-is-htop\/#Interactive_interface\" >Interactive interface<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/what-is-htop\/#Process_management\" >Process management<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/what-is-htop\/#System_resource_monitoring\" >System resource monitoring<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/what-is-htop\/#Advantages_over_top\" >Advantages over top<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/what-is-htop\/#How_it_is_used\" >How it is used<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/knowledgebase\/what-is-htop\/#Summary\" >Summary<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_htop_is_used_for\"><\/span>What htop is used for<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n<div id=\"mybox-1373814648\" class=\"mybox-content mybox-entity-placement\"><div class=\"early-access-banner-inpost\">\r\n  <div class=\"banner-left-inpost\">\r\n    <div class=\"icon-box-inpost\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/square-info-icon.svg\" alt=\"Info\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"text-box-inpost\">\r\n      <span class=\"label-inpost\"><span class=\"translation-block translation-block-banner-text\">Early access<\/span><\/span>\r\n      <h4><span class=\"translation-block translation-block-banner-text\">Still need help?<\/span><\/h4>\r\n      <p><span class=\"translation-block translation-block-banner-text\">Contact our customer service team.<\/span><\/p>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <div class=\"banner-right-inpost\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/panel.mybox.com\/helpdesk2\/v\/list\/\" class=\"banner-button-inpost\"><span class=\"translation-block translation-block-banner-text\">Message us<\/span><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"translation-block translation-block-merged\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">htop is commonly used for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>monitoring CPU and memory usage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>viewing active system processes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>managing running services<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>identifying resource-heavy applications<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Key_features\"><\/span>Key features<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Interactive_interface\"><\/span>Interactive interface<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unlike the standard <code>top<\/code> command, htop provides a visual and interactive display where users can scroll and navigate easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Process_management\"><\/span>Process management<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Users can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>search for processes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>sort processes by CPU or memory usage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>change process priority (nice value)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>terminate processes directly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"System_resource_monitoring\"><\/span>System resource monitoring<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">htop shows real-time information about:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>CPU usage per core<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>memory and swap usage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>load average<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>system uptime<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Advantages_over_top\"><\/span>Advantages over top<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">htop offers several improvements over <code>top<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>easier navigation with keyboard and mouse<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>color-coded interface for better readability<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>tree view of processes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>faster and more intuitive interaction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_it_is_used\"><\/span>How it is used<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To start htop, simply run:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>htop\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This opens the interactive monitoring interface in the terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Summary\"><\/span>Summary<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">htop is a powerful interactive process monitoring tool that helps users analyze system performance and manage running processes more efficiently than traditional tools like <code>top<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","manualknowledgebasecat":[54],"manual_kb_tag":[5430,5714,5715,5716,5717,5718,5719,5720,5721,5722],"class_list":["post-9240","manual_kb","type-manual_kb","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","manualknowledgebasecat-ssh","manual_kb_tag-process-management","manual_kb_tag-htop","manual_kb_tag-htop-tutorial","manual_kb_tag-system-monitoring","manual_kb_tag-process-monitoring","manual_kb_tag-process-viewer","manual_kb_tag-interactive-interface","manual_kb_tag-terminal-monitoring","manual_kb_tag-linux-system-monitoring","manual_kb_tag-unix-system-monitoring"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb\/9240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/manual_kb"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb\/9240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9241,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb\/9240\/revisions\/9241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"manualknowledgebasecat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manualknowledgebasecat?post=9240"},{"taxonomy":"manual_kb_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybox.com\/help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/manual_kb_tag?post=9240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}