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Activity Monitor Process Percentages Taking Up Title Bar
Recently, much of the title bar on my iMac Pro running Monterey is filled up with 20 process percentages from Activity Monitor even if I don't have it running. How do I remove these percentages and keep them from loading again?
iMac Pro
Installing or reinstalling, the OS will not remove third-party system modifications.
You have to erase it completely, and then reinstall. Or, you can find what’s installed using EtreCheck pro and uninstall it.
can you click on the percentages in the title bar and does a menu pop down that gives you any hint?
Installing or reinstalling, the OS will not remove third-party system modifications.
You have to erase it completely, and then reinstall. Or, you can find what’s installed using EtreCheck pro and uninstall it.
can you click on the percentages in the title bar and does a menu pop down that gives you any hint?
Hello Lownote,
We would suggest starting up the system in what is called safe mode. Safe mode only loads what is needed to run the computer. This can help isolate what is causing issues.
To start in safe mode, follow these steps:
1. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.
2. Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac.
3. You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window.
More information is available here: How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support
The computer will take longer to start in safe mode, and the screen may have some distorted video as it starts up. This is normal. Once you are logged in, use the system and test to see if the issue continues.
If everything seems to work as expected, go ahead and restart the computer normally and test again. There are steps outlined on what to do if the issue does or does not continue in safe mode.
Starting in safe mode also forces the computer to run some disk checks similar to First Aid. This can actually resolve some issues.
Have a good day.
Hey, Lownote, since the Activity Monitor can be shown on the Desktop and Dock, have you installed any 3rd party apps that can do the same as what you’re seeing?
Get to know the Finder on your Mac - Apple Support -- Open Finder, select Applications looking for apps you don’t remember installing. If you find any and aren’t sure what it is, let us know the title of the app and we’ll see what we can find.
All the best.
Got it Lownote,
Just to confirm, have you opened Activity Monitor completely to see what apps are currently running? If not, let’s try that now. This will let you see not only the apps that show in finder but anything that is currently running. You may find an app here that is set up to show the CPU usage.
You can see how to use Activity Monitor here: Activity Monitor User Guide for Mac - Apple Support
If you are unable to find anything unusual there, we will want to check your start up items. Since this starts immediately, it is likely listed in the start up items. To look at and remove startup items, follow the steps found here: Remove login items to resolve startup problems on your Mac
If you are still unable to find the app that is displaying the CPU percentage at the top, the next step would be to reach out to Apple Support here: Contact - Official Apple Support
Kindest regards.
Thank you for this suggestion. Once in Safe Mode, the CPU core percentages disappeared from the application title bar and I was a happy camper. However, once I restarted, all of the percentages reappeared in my title bar of the top of my screen. This iMacPro evidently has 20 cores in its processor, and these are the percentages that are showing up. With 20 numbers at the top of the monitor, it takes up a lot of screen real estate. Since I don't find seeing the number particularly helpful/edifying, I would still love to find a way to shut them off. I've crawled through all of the menu items in Activity Monitor again but can't find anything that will allow me to stop it. It is particularly annoying that the percentage numbers show up even with Activity Monitor shut down.
Thanks for the suggestion. I just put this refurbished computer in service and basically loaded it up from the TM drive of my previous iMac. I don't have all that many app's on it, and have used very few of them. I've basically only used MS Word, Mail, Safari, VueScan, FaceTime, Contacts, Activity Monitor, Disk Utility, MS Excel, 1Password7, and Parallels running Windows 10. I don't see any unusual applications in my app folder that I don't recognize. Still hunting for a solution as I stare at 20 %'s running across the top of my screen. Making me a bit crazy as these sorts of things do.
Thank you for this suggestion. Once in Safe Mode, the CPU core percentages disappeared from the application title bar and I was a happy camper. However, once I restarted, all of the percentages reappeared in my title bar of the top of my screen.
That implies you have some third-party system modification running. Safe Mode prevents them from loading.
You can put an Activity Monitor display in the Dock, but not the menu bar.
You won't necessarily see any application.
Uggh. I sure don’t want to hear that, particularly since I just set this iMac Pro up from a refurbished model I bought from OWC. I did have to fiddle with it more than I should have, basically relying on the TM backup to load the computer. I’m waiting until I’m certain I have a fully functional alternative to a Drobo NAS device—which I’m taking out of service given their difficulties—before I update to Ventura. Hopefully updating to Ventura will clear out the system, but I guess only time will tell. I would obviously like to avoid a completely clean install since finding the installation programs for all of the app’s I have loaded will be a challenge. I’ve been on Macs for decades and things can get a bit chaotic as upgrades are installed. Thanks for your help.
Eureka--I found the problem and it was incredibly simple. I've used this funky program/process bundle called MenuMeter for years to watch upload and download network speeds in real time. Somehow I inadvertently turned on the CPU monitoring function which populated my title bar with 20 percentages that were driving me nuts. It did take running EtreCheck to focus my eye on the fact that MenuMeter was running and that sent me there to fix things. Thanks to everyone who piled in to help--very much appreciated.
Activity Monitor Process Percentages Taking Up Title Bar
