Does Htop Show Network Interface Bars on Ubuntu

This guide answers whether the htop process viewer can display graphical network bars on Ubuntu. It details the default capabilities, configuration options for network meters, and suggests superior alternatives for monitoring network traffic visually.

By default, htop does not display graphical bars for network interfaces. The standard view focuses on CPU usage, memory, swap, and process lists. However, newer versions of htop allow users to add network meters manually, though they often display text-based rates rather than graphical bars.

To enable network monitoring in htop, press F2 to open the Setup menu. Navigate to the Meters section and look for Network options. You can add these to the left or right columns. If your version supports it, you may change the display mode to a graph or bar. Note that this feature depends on the specific version installed from the Ubuntu repositories.

For users seeking dedicated graphical network bars, btop is a recommended alternative. Btop is a modern resource monitor that displays CPU, memory, disks, and network interfaces with detailed graphs by default. You can install it on Ubuntu using the command sudo snap install btop or via apt if available in your release. Other tools like iftop and nethogs provide specific network traffic details without the system resource overhead of a full monitor.