How to Change htop Update Delay on Ubuntu

This guide explains how to adjust the screen update delay in htop on Ubuntu. You will learn the keyboard shortcuts and configuration steps required to customize the refresh rate. Changing this setting helps reduce CPU usage or makes reading process data easier.

Using the Interactive Setup Menu

The most common way to change the refresh rate is through the built-in setup menu within the application.

1. Open your terminal and launch htop by typing htop.
2. Press the F2 key to open the Setup menu.
3. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the Delay field at the top of the menu.
4. Press Enter to edit the value.
5. Type the desired delay time in seconds (e.g., 0.5 for half a second or 2 for two seconds).
6. Press Enter to save the change.
7. Press F10 to exit the Setup menu and return to the main view.

Using Command Line Arguments

You can also set the update delay when starting htop from the terminal using flags.

1. Open your terminal.
2. Run the htop command with the -d option followed by the delay in deciseconds (tenths of a second).
3. For a 1-second delay, type: htop -d 10
4. For a 0.5-second delay, type: htop -d 5
5. Press Enter to launch htop with the specified update rate.