General

htop Cheatsheet

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Basic Usage

Start htop and limit the view when needed.

Command Description
htop Start htop with the default interactive view
htop -u username Show only processes owned by one user
htop -p 1234,5678 Monitor only the specified PIDs
htop -t Start in tree view
sudo htop Run with elevated privileges to manage more processes

Navigation and Search

Move around the process list and find what you need quickly.

Key Description
Arrow keys Move up and down through processes
Page Up / Page Down Scroll one page at a time
Home / End Jump to the top or bottom of the list
F3 or / Search for a process by name
F4 or \ Filter the process list
Space Tag or untag the selected process
U Clear all tags

Sorting and Views

Change how processes are grouped and sorted.

Key / Command Description
P Sort by CPU usage
M Sort by memory usage
T Sort by running time
F5 Toggle tree view
F6 Choose a sort column
htop -s PERCENT_MEM Start sorted by memory usage
H Toggle display of user threads
K Toggle display of kernel threads

Process Actions

Manage processes directly from inside htop.

Key Description
F7 Decrease nice value (raise priority)
F8 Increase nice value (lower priority)
F9 Send a signal to the selected process
15 SIGTERM Ask a process to exit cleanly
9 SIGKILL Force a process to stop immediately
2 SIGINT Interrupt a process, similar to Ctrl+C
q or F10 Quit htop

Startup Options

Useful options for changing the initial view.

Command Description
htop -d 20 Refresh every 2 seconds
htop -C Use monochrome mode
htop -H Highlight new and old processes
htop --readonly Disable process-kill and renice actions
htop --sort-key PERCENT_CPU Start sorted by CPU usage

Customization

Adjust the display and save the layout.

Key / Path Description
F2 Open the setup menu
Columns Add, remove, or reorder process columns
Meters Change header meters and display style
Display options Toggle tree lines, thread names, and other UI settings
~/.config/htop/htoprc Configuration file where settings are saved

Troubleshooting

Quick checks for common htop issues.

Issue Check
htop: command not found Install htop with apt or dnf first
Cannot renice a process Run htop with sudo to change priorities for other users’ processes
Cannot kill a process Confirm you have permission, then use F9 with SIGTERM first
Process list is too noisy Use F4 to filter or start with -u USER
Fast processes disappear Lower the update interval with -d

Related Guides

Use these guides for the full walkthroughs.

Guide Description
htop Command in Linux Full htop guide with examples
top Command in Linux Monitor processes in real time with top
ps Command in Linux List and inspect processes
kill Command in Linux Send signals to processes by PID
pstree Command in Linux View parent and child process relationships
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