Blog
macOS process monitoring, debugging guides, and developer tools.
Mac Running Hot and MacBook Fan Loud: How to Find the Process Behind the Heat
Your MacBook fan won't stop and the chassis feels too hot to touch? Heat comes from one or more processes burning CPU or GPU — this guide shows how to identify the real culprit and stop it without resorting to fan-control hacks.
Chrome Helper Eating Memory on Mac: How to Find the Tab or Extension Behind It
Eight Google Chrome Helper entries each eating gigabytes of RAM? Same on Safari Web Content? Each helper holds one tab, cross-site frame, extension, or browser service — learn how to identify the right one and close it.
mds_stores High CPU on Mac: When to Wait and When to Fix It
mds_stores eating CPU and disk? It is Spotlight's per-volume indexer. Most spikes are real work that resolves on its own — learn how to tell legitimate indexing from a stuck process, and what actually fixes it.
WindowServer High CPU on Mac: What It Is and How to Fix It
WindowServer at 100%+ CPU? It is the macOS process that draws every pixel on your screen. Learn why it spikes, when to worry, and how to find the app actually causing the load.
Task Manager for Mac: The Real Equivalent (and What's Better)
Looking for Task Manager on a Mac? macOS uses Activity Monitor and the Force Quit window instead. Learn the Windows-to-Mac equivalents, how to open them, and a more powerful alternative.
kernel_task High CPU on Mac: What It Is and How to Fix It
kernel_task using high CPU on your Mac is a thermal safeguard, not a bug. Learn what kernel_task does, why you should not kill it, and how to find the process actually causing the heat.
Process Explorer for Mac: What It Is and How to Get the Same Power on macOS
Windows Process Explorer doesn't exist on Mac — but you can get the same deep process inspection. Learn what Process Explorer does, why Activity Monitor falls short, and how to get full process visibility on macOS.
How to Check Loaded Modules and Libraries of a Process on macOS
Learn how to inspect dynamic libraries (dylibs) and frameworks loaded by a running process on macOS using vmmap, otool, lsof, dyld_info, and ProcXray.
How to Find Which Process Owns a Window on macOS
Learn the fastest ways to identify which macOS process owns a specific window using Activity Monitor, Quartz window APIs, Terminal, and ProcXray.
Mac Running Slow? How to Find and Kill Resource-Hogging Processes
Step-by-step guide to diagnosing a slow Mac — find processes causing high CPU, memory pressure, and disk I/O, then kill or manage them with the right tool.
Getting Started with ProcXray: A Step-by-Step Tutorial
Learn how to install and use ProcXray on macOS — process trees, regex search, environment variables, code signatures, and network inspection in one tutorial.
Best macOS Developer Tools in 2026: The Essential Toolkit
A curated list of the best macOS developer tools in 2026 — from terminals and editors to process monitors, API clients, and Git GUIs that actually improve your workflow.
What Is Process Monitoring on macOS? A Developer's Explanation
Process monitoring on macOS means tracking running programs, their resource usage, and relationships. Learn what processes are, how PIDs and process trees work, and why developers need more than Activity Monitor.
How to Check What Processes Are Running on Mac
Learn three ways to see all running processes on macOS — Activity Monitor, Terminal commands like ps and top, and ProcXray for advanced process inspection.
How to Detect Suspicious Processes on macOS
Learn to identify malware and suspicious processes on your Mac using code signature verification, Gatekeeper checks, and process inspection techniques.
How to Debug Memory Leaks on Mac Using ProcXray
Step-by-step guide to finding and fixing memory leaks on macOS. Use ProcXray's real-time memory charts and process inspection to identify the root cause fast.
ProcXray vs Activity Monitor: Why Developers Are Switching
A detailed feature-by-feature comparison of ProcXray and Apple's Activity Monitor — process trees, regex search, environment variables, dylib inspection, and more.
How to Monitor Processes on macOS: A Complete Developer Guide
Learn how to monitor, inspect, and manage macOS processes beyond Activity Monitor — from process trees and PIDs to environment variables and code signatures.