Depending on what applications you opened, the CPU usage can vary quite a lot. That’s why you always want to know more about the CPU usage, but also what apps require the most resources. Based on that, you can eliminate any issues, while also ensuring that everything is running smoothly. We always recommend studying the CPU usage and seeing what leads to an increase in CPU requirements.

Enter the Activity Monitor

Maybe one of the best ways to check the current CPU usage is via the Activity Monitor. It’s a great tool for everyone because it can offer you the necessary info about CPU requirements. You can see the CPU percentage required by apps, but also the CPU time, the number of threads used and other relevant info. The more you know, the easier it will be to figure out if there are any culprits.

What you will notice for the most part is that the Activity Monitor can help you identify malicious software and malware. Those software tools can end up requiring a lot of resources. When that happens, you open the Activity Monitor and see the overall CPU usage, then you know what apps you need to keep an eye out for.

Use a CPU monitor

Some apps known as CPU monitors can help you figure out if your CPU is under a lot of stress. The best thing that you can do here is to use a CPU monitoring tool. It will show you what’s putting the CPU under pressure, what’s the current CPU health, but also the current temperature. There are a variety of things you can learn aside from the CPU usage.

What leads to high CPU usage?

It depends on what you are doing on the computer. But there are lots of different things that can bring a high CPU usage. Large downloads can increase the CPU requirements, to the point where you can have a very high CPU usage. And on top of that, not restarting your Mac will increase the amount of CPU being used. Even resource-intensive apps and system updates can lead to an increase in CPU usage.

Lowering the CPU usage

If you have a very high CPU usage, then a great idea is to restart your Mac. You can also update your Mac, that might solve any software problems that might bring in a high CPU usage as well. Plus, if you check the top CPU consumers on your device, you will be able to lower the CPU usage too, so try to keep that in mind.

Aside from that, you can also perform regular maintenance with a Mac cleanup tool. And yes, removing unnecessary login items or freeing up RAM can also help quite a lot. All these tools and ideas are great if you want to lower the GPU usage, so try to give those a shot for yourself, it will help deliver a better and more cohesive experience.