Pulsebar is a CPU/RAM meter designed to display system resource usage directly on the Windows 11 taskbar. Positioned just left of the notification area, it provides real-time monitoring with minimal impact on system resources.
Key Features:
Dual bars for CPU (top) and RAM (bottom) usage, offering clear visual feedback.
Single executable file (~130 KB) with no runtime dependencies.
Automatically adapts to light/dark themes, DPI changes, andExplorer restarts.
Hover for exact values (CPU percentage, RAM in GB).
Left-click opens Task Manager; right-click provides a menu for startup registration or exit.
Bars turn yellow at 80% usage and red at 90%, alerting to high resource consumption.
Available via winget for easy installation.
Target Audience and Benefits:
Ideal for system administrators, power users, and developers who need real-time CPU and RAM monitoring without performance overhead. Pulsebar provides seamless integration into the Windows taskbar, ensuring always-available insights while maintaining minimal resource usage. Install via winget to quickly deploy this lightweight monitoring tool across systems.
README
Pulsebar
Windows 11 のタスクバー上に CPU / メモリ使用率のミニメーターを表示する超軽量ユーティリティです。
Pulsebar — a tiny CPU / RAM meter overlay for the Windows 11 taskbar. — English below
Rust(stable)と Visual Studio Build Tools(MSVC)が必要です。
cargo build --release
target\release\pulsebar.exe が生成されます。
English
Pulsebar is a tiny CPU / RAM meter that sits directly on the Windows 11
taskbar, just left of the notification area. Top bar = CPU, bottom bar = RAM —
your system's pulse, always visible.
Ultra lightweight: ~4 MB RAM, ~0% CPU (1 s updates via GetSystemTimes / GlobalMemoryStatusEx; no WMI, no perf counters)
Single dependency-free exe (~130 KB), no runtime required
Left-click opens Task Manager, right-click shows a menu (run at startup / exit), hover shows exact values
Follows light/dark theme, DPI changes, and Explorer restarts
Bars turn yellow at ≥80% and red at ≥90%
Install: grab either flavor from Releases —
pulsebar-setup-x.y.z.exe (installer; per-user, no admin rights, optional
run-at-sign-in, uninstall via Settings → Apps) or the portable pulsebar.exe
(just run it; to uninstall, right-click → Exit and delete the exe). The
binaries are unsigned, so SmartScreen may warn on first launch — choose
"More info" → "Run anyway".
How it works: Windows 11 removed the official DeskBand API, so Pulsebar
finds Shell_TrayWnd, attaches its own layered window via SetParent, and
renders with per-pixel alpha through UpdateLayeredWindow (the same
technique used by TrafficMonitor).
Limitations: this is an unofficial technique — a Windows update that
changes the taskbar internals may break it, in which case the app falls back
to a small always-on-top window near the bottom-right corner. Primary
monitor only. Not supported alongside shell mods such as ExplorerPatcher.
