Can htop Monitor Multiple CPU Cores Individually on Ubuntu?

Yes, the htop process viewer allows users to monitor multiple CPU cores individually on Ubuntu systems. By default, the interface displays separate meters for every logical processor, providing real-time visualization of load distribution. This capability helps administrators identify performance bottlenecks, verify threading efficiency, and ensure hardware resources are being utilized correctly without requiring additional plugins or complex setup.

Viewing Core Usage

Upon launching htop, look at the top section of the terminal window. You will see a series of vertical or horizontal bars labeled with numbers such as 0, 1, 2, and so on. Each bar corresponds to a specific logical CPU core. If your system has hyperthreading enabled, you will see a bar for each thread available to the operating system.

Configuring the Display

If you see a single average meter instead of individual cores, you can change this setting easily. Press the F2 key to open the Setup menu. Navigate to the Display options section. Find the CPU meters setting and switch it to “All CPU cores” to ensure each core is listed separately. Press F10 to save and exit.

Understanding the Colors

Each core meter uses color coding to indicate activity types. Green represents normal user processes, red indicates system kernel processes, and blue shows low-priority nice processes. Orange bars denote hardware compression activity if supported. Monitoring these colors across individual cores helps pinpoint if a specific core is overloaded while others remain idle.

Installation Requirements

htop is not always installed by default on minimal Ubuntu installations. To install it, open your terminal and run the command sudo apt update followed by sudo apt install htop. Once installed, launch the tool by typing htop and pressing Enter. You may need to run it with sudo privileges to see processes owned by other users.