winget install --id=faratech.htop-win -e A native Windows clone of htop - the beloved interactive process viewer, rebuilt from the ground up in Rust. Features real-time per-core CPU usage, memory and swap meters, D3DKMT GPU and Copilot+ NPU meters matching Task Manager, 27 sortable columns, tree view, search and filter, EcoQoS (Efficiency Mode), and full mouse navigation.
A native Windows clone of htop - the beloved interactive process viewer, rebuilt from the ground up in Rust.
> Inspired by the original htop by Hisham Muhammad and contributors.
Windows Task Manager is fine, but power users deserve better. htop-win brings the beloved Unix htop experience to Windows with:
A dedicated tab focused on disk I/O activity:
%APPDATA%\htop-win\configDownload the latest release for your architecture:
| Architecture | Download |
|---|---|
| x64 (Intel/AMD) | htop-win-amd64.exe |
| ARM64 | htop-win-arm64.exe |
All release binaries are signed with Azure Trusted Signing and verified with GitHub artifact attestation. Verify downloaded binaries using the GitHub CLI:
gh attestation verify htop-win-amd64.exe --repo faratech/htop-win --signer-workflow faratech/htop-win/.github/workflows/release.yml
gh attestation verify htop-win-arm64.exe --repo faratech/htop-win --signer-workflow faratech/htop-win/.github/workflows/release.yml
Run the downloaded executable as your normal user:
.\htop-win-amd64.exe --install
This performs a per-user install to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\htop.exe,
which is already on the user's PATH. Administrator privileges and UAC elevation
are not required.
Check for updates and install automatically:
htop --update
Or force reinstall the current version:
htop --update --force
Updates (manual and automatic) are installed only if the downloaded binary
carries a valid Authenticode signature from Fara Technologies LLC through
Microsoft Trusted Signing, identifies itself as htop-win, and has exactly the
release's version, newer than the one running (--force may reinstall the
same version, never an older one). Anything else is rejected and nothing is
replaced.
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/faratech/htop-win.git
cd htop-win
# Build optimized release (~930KB binary)
cargo build --release
# Run
.\target\release\htop-win.exe
Requirements: Rust 1.99.1+ (2024 edition), Windows 10/11. The repository pins Rust 1.99.1 via rust-toolchain.toml.
htop-win [OPTIONS]
Options:
-d, --delay Refresh rate in milliseconds [default: 1500]
-u, --user Show only processes from this user
-p, --pid Show only these PIDs (comma-separated)
-s, --sort Sort by: pid, ppid, cpu/cpu%, mem/mem%/memory, time,
command/cmd, user, threads/thr
-t, --tree Start in tree view mode
-F, --filter Initial filter string
-H, --highlight-changes
--highlight Highlight new processes for N seconds
-n, --max-iterations
--iterations Exit after N updates (for scripting)
--benchmark[=] Run N iterations and print timing stats [default: 20]
--benchmark-iterations
Run benchmark mode with N iterations
--inefficient Disable Efficiency Mode / EcoQoS
--no-color Monochrome mode
--no-mouse Disable mouse support
--no-meters Hide header meters
--readonly Disable process mutation operations
--install Install per-user to PATH (no administrator required)
--update Check for and install updates
--gpu-debug Print GPU/NPU adapter diagnostics and exit
--cpu-debug Print CPU / processor-group diagnostics and exit
-f, --force Force install/update
-h, --help Show help
-V, --version Show version
# Monitor with 500ms refresh rate
htop -d 500
# Show only processes from current user
htop -u $env:USERNAME
# Start in tree view, sorted by memory
htop -t -s mem
# Filter to show only Chrome processes
htop -F chrome
# Monitor specific PIDs
htop -p 1234,5678,9012
# Benchmark with the default or an explicit iteration count
htop --benchmark
htop --benchmark=50
htop --benchmark-iterations 50
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
↑ / k | Move selection up |
↓ / j | Move selection down |
PgUp / PgDn | Page up / down |
Home / g | Jump to first process |
End / G | Jump to last process |
Tab / Shift+Tab | Switch screen tabs |
1 / 2 | PID prefix search |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
F1 / ? | Help screen |
F2 / S | Setup menu |
F3 / / | Search processes |
F4 / \ | Filter processes |
F5 / t | Toggle tree view |
F6 / < > | Change sort column |
F7 / ] | Raise priority (opens dialog one class higher, Enter to apply) |
F8 / [ | Lower priority (opens dialog one class lower, Enter to apply) |
F9 | Force terminate process |
F10 / q | Quit |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Enter | View process details |
Space | Tag/untag process |
c | Tag process and all children |
U | Untag all processes |
Ctrl+T | Tag all with same name |
Ctrl+A | Toggle tag all visible |
e | Environment inspection unavailable |
w | Wrap executable path |
a | Set CPU affinity |
F | Toggle follow mode |
During normal viewing, the selection bar and scroll position stay in place as
processes change sort order. Press F to follow a particular process instead.
Process actions capture the selected process when the action key is pressed;
an open kill, priority, or affinity dialog keeps that target even if the list
reorders. The process identity is verified before applying the action to guard
against PID reuse.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
+ / = | Expand branch |
- | Collapse branch |
* | Toggle expand/collapse all |
Backspace | Collapse to parent |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
# | Toggle header meters |
p | Toggle program path display |
H | Toggle user threads |
K | Toggle kernel threads |
Z | Pause/resume updates |
I | Invert sort order |
| Key | Sort By |
|---|---|
P | CPU% |
M | Memory% |
T | Time |
N | PID |
htop-win saves settings to %APPDATA%\htop-win\config\config.json. Configure via the Setup menu (F2) or edit directly:
{
"refresh_rate_ms": 1500,
"tree_view_default": false,
"color_scheme": "Default",
"show_kernel_threads": false,
"show_program_path": false,
"highlight_new_processes": true,
"highlight_large_numbers": true,
"cpu_meter_mode": "Bar",
"memory_meter_mode": "Bar",
"visible_columns": ["PID", "USER", "PRI", "CLASS", "THR", "VIRT", "RES", "SHR", "S", "CPU%", "MEM%", "TIME+", "Command"],
"mouse_enabled": true,
"confirm_kill": true
}
Access via Setup (F2) → Color Scheme:
| Column | Description | Width |
|---|---|---|
PID | Process ID | 7 |
PPID | Parent Process ID | 7 |
USER | Process owner | 10 |
PRI | Priority (0-31) | 4 |
CLASS | Priority class (Idle/Normal/High/Realtime) | 7 |
THR | Thread count | 4 |
VIRT | Virtual memory | 8 |
RES | Resident (physical) memory | 8 |
SHR | Shared memory | 8 |
S | Status if known; ? when Windows native process query does not expose htop-style state | 3 |
CPU% | CPU usage percentage | 6 |
MEM% | Memory usage percentage | 6 |
GPU% | GPU utilization % (max across all GPU engines) | 6 |
GPU-MEM | GPU committed memory across all adapters | 8 |
NPU% | NPU utilization % | 6 |
NPU-MEM | NPU dedicated + shared memory | 8 |
TIME+ | Cumulative CPU time | 10 |
START | Process start time | 8 |
Command | Executable path/name (no arguments) | Flexible |
ELEV | Elevated/Admin status | 4 |
ARCH | Architecture (x86/x64/ARM64) | 5 |
ECO | Efficiency Mode status | 4 |
> New default configs include GPU% / GPU-MEM and NPU% / NPU-MEM when relevant hardware is detected. Existing custom column layouts are preserved; enable these columns from Setup if you want to add them later.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
PID | Process ID |
USER | Process owner |
IO_RATE | Combined read + write rate (bytes/sec) |
IO_R/s | Read rate |
IO_W/s | Write rate |
IO_RD | Cumulative bytes read |
IO_WR | Cumulative bytes written |
HNDL | Open handle count |
Command | Executable path/name (no arguments) |
Minimal dependency set optimized for small binary size:
| Dependency | Purpose |
|---|---|
| crossterm | Cross-platform terminal I/O |
| windows-rs | Native Windows API bindings |
| unicode-width | Unicode character width calculation |
| bitflags | Terminal modifier flags |
| lexopt | Lightweight argument parsing |
No heavy frameworks: Custom terminal UI library (replaces ratatui), custom JSON parser (replaces serde).
htop-win is designed for efficiency:
| Feature | htop-win | Task Manager | Process Explorer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-based | Yes | No | No |
| Keyboard-driven | Yes | Limited | Limited |
| Tree view | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Process search | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CPU affinity | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GPU/NPU monitoring | Yes | Yes | No |
| Efficiency Mode | Yes | Yes | No |
| I/O per-process | Yes | No | Yes |
| Custom columns | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| Color themes | 8 themes | No | No |
| Binary size | ~930KB | N/A | ~2MB |
| Auto-update | Yes | N/A | No |
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')git push origin feature/amazing-feature)This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
Star this repo if you find it useful! https://github.com/faratech/htop-win