What is a process in computing?
The short answer
A process is simply a program that is currently running on your computer — every open app, background service, and system tool is a separate process.
How does it work?
When you double-click an app, your computer creates a process for it. That process gets its own little workspace in memory and a share of your processor’s attention. Your computer is running dozens or even hundreds of processes at the same time, constantly switching between them so fast that everything feels simultaneous.
A single app can actually create multiple processes. For example, modern web browsers like Chrome create a separate process for each tab. That way, if one tab crashes, the others keep working.
How to see your processes
You can see every process running on your device right now:
- Windows: press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager
- Mac: open Activity Monitor from Applications > Utilities
- Linux: run
toporhtopin a terminal
You’ll see a list of process names, how much memory each one uses, and how much of your processor (CPU) it’s consuming.
When should you worry?
Most of the time, processes just do their thing quietly. But there are a few situations worth knowing about:
- A process is using 100% CPU — this usually means an app is stuck or working extremely hard. If your fans are spinning loudly, check your task manager for the culprit.
- A process is eating up memory — some apps slowly use more and more memory over time. Closing and reopening the app usually fixes it.
- You see a process you don’t recognize — this is usually a normal background service, but if your computer is acting strange, an unfamiliar process could be worth investigating with a quick web search.
Quick fix for a frozen process
If an app stops responding, you don’t need to restart your whole computer. Just open Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (Mac), find the stuck process, and click End Task or Force Quit. This closes only that one process and leaves everything else running.