{"id":7209,"date":"2025-09-12T11:11:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T11:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/haydenjames.io\/?p=7209"},"modified":"2025-09-14T15:34:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T15:34:23","slug":"linux-top-customize-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/linux-top-customize-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Linux top: Here&#8217;s how to customize it"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <code>top<\/code> command (referred to below as Linux top)\u00a0is a command on Unix and Unix-like systems such as Linux, which provides a dynamic real-time overview of a running system. It can display system summary information and a list of processes or threads currently managed by the Linux kernel.<\/p><div class=\"hayden-after-paragraph hayden-entity-placement\" id=\"hayden-579060221\"><div data-nosnippet id=\"hayden-2755769521\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/www.manageengine.com\/it-operations-management\/infrastructure-observability\/server-observability.html?utm_source=linuxblog&#038;utm_medium=bannerad&#038;utm_campaign=ServerObservability\" data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" rel=\"noopener nofollow sponsored\">\r\n  <img fetchpriority=\"high\" src=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/static.linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/868\u00d7300V3_x1.png\"\r\n       srcset=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/static.linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/868\u00d7300V3_x1.png 1x,\r\n               https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/static.linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/868\u00d7300V3.png 2x\"\r\n       alt=\"ManageEngine Site24x7 - Fix Linux issues in minutes, not hours!\"\r\n       width=\"868\" height=\"300\"\r\n       loading=\"eager\"\r\n       style=\"display:block;\">\r\n<\/a><\/div><div align=\"center\" style=\"font-style: italic; font-size: 0.85em; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 4px;\">\r\n\tAdvertisement\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>The types of system summary information shown by the Linux top command and the order and size of information displayed are all user-configurable, and configuration changes can be made persistent across restarts.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linux_top_toprc_customized_for_desktop.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-21124 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linux_top_toprc_customized_for_desktop-868x952.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"868\" height=\"952\" srcset=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linux_top_toprc_customized_for_desktop-868x952.png 868w, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linux_top_toprc_customized_for_desktop-273x300.png 273w, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linux_top_toprc_customized_for_desktop-560x614.png 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 868px) 100vw, 868px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>Update: My current customized top command.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Linux top command provides an interactive interface for process manipulation and a much more extensive interface for personal configuration that encompasses almost every aspect of its operation.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\"><div class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">In This Article<\/div>\n<\/div><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/linux-top-customize-it\/#Customizing_Linux_top_command_Getting_started\" >Customizing Linux top command: Getting started<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/linux-top-customize-it\/#Additional_Linux_top_customization_options\" >Additional Linux top customization options<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/linux-top-customize-it\/#How_to_revert_reset_to_default_Linux_top\" >How to revert (reset) to default Linux top<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/linux-top-customize-it\/#Linux_top_alternatives\" >Linux top alternatives<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/linux-top-customize-it\/#My_customized_top_2025_update\" >My customized top 2025 update<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/linux-top-customize-it\/#Conclusion\" >Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Customizing_Linux_top_command_Getting_started\"><\/span>Customizing Linux top command: Getting started<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16216 size-full\" title=\"Linux top customization\" src=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/customize-linux-top.png\" alt=\"Linux top customization\" width=\"868\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/customize-linux-top.png 868w, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/customize-linux-top-300x194.png 300w, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/customize-linux-top-560x362.png 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 868px) 100vw, 868px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">To run Linux top, type <strong>top\u00a0<\/strong>from the command line. The Linux top command will, by default, look similar to the above screenshot. To customize, let&#8217;s begin with the memory scale by pressing <strong>E<\/strong>\u00a0(shift + e) and <strong>e,<\/strong>\u00a0then save changes using <strong>W<\/strong> (shift + w) and continue from there:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong>E<\/strong>: Extend-Memory-Scale in Summary Area &#8211; With this command, you can cycle through the available summary area memory scaling, which ranges from KiB (kibibytes or 1,024 bytes) through EiB (exbibytes or 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes). If you see a `+&#8217; between a displayed number and the following label, it means that top was forced to truncate some portion of that number. By raising the scaling factor, such truncation can be avoided.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong>e<\/strong>: Extend-Memory-Scale in Task Windows &#8211; With this command, you can cycle through the available task window memory scaling, which ranges from KiB (kibibytes or 1,024 bytes) through PiB (pebibytes or 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes). While top will try to honor the selected target range, additional scaling might still be necessary to accommodate current values. If you wish to see a more homogeneous result in the memory columns, raising the scaling range will accomplish that goal. However, raising it too high is likely to produce an all zero result, which cannot be suppressed with the <strong>0<\/strong> (numeric not the letter) interactive command.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Next, when monitoring MySQL, Apache (or Nginx), and other threaded software. It can be helpful to add a column for the number of threads (nTH). You can do this using <strong>Fields-Management<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong>f<\/strong> | <strong>F<\/strong>: Fields-Management &#8211; These keys display a separate screen where you can change which fields are displayed, their order and also designate the sort field. I&#8217;ve added <strong>PPID<\/strong> (Parent Process Id), <strong>SWAP<\/strong>, and <strong>nTH.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Additional_Linux_top_customization_options\"><\/span>Additional Linux top customization options<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16214 size-full\" title=\"Linux top - after customization\" src=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/customize-top-linux.png\" alt=\"Linux top - after customization\" width=\"868\" height=\"568\" srcset=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/customize-top-linux.png 868w, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/customize-top-linux-300x196.png 300w, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/customize-top-linux-560x366.png 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 868px) 100vw, 868px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong>c<\/strong>: Command-Line\/Program-Name toggle<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"> <em> This command will be honored whether or not the COMMAND column is currently visible. Later, should that field come into view; the change you applied will be seen.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong>f<\/strong> | <strong>F<\/strong>: Fields-Management<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"> <em> These keys display a separate screen where you can change which fields are displayed, their order and also designate the sort field. For additional information on these interactive commands,<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"> <em> see topic 3b. MANAGING Fields.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong>1<\/strong>: Single\/Separate-Cpu-States toggle<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"> <em> This command affects how the `t&#8217; command&#8217;s Cpu States portion is shown. Although this toggle exists primarily to serve massively-parallel SMP machines, it is not restricted to solely SMP environments. When you see `%Cpu(s):&#8217; in the summary area, the `1&#8242; toggle is On, and all CPU information is gathered in a single line. Otherwise, each CPU is displayed separately as: `%Cpu0, %Cpu1, &#8230;&#8217; up to the available screen height.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong>b<\/strong>: Bold\/Reverse toggle<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"> <em> This command will impact how the `x&#8217; and `y&#8217; toggles are displayed. It may also affect the summary area when a bar graph has been selected for CPU states or memory usage via the <strong>t\u00a0<\/strong>or\u00a0<strong>m<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><em>toggles.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong>x<\/strong>: Column-Highlight toggle<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"> <em> Changes highlighting for the current sort field. If you forget which field is being sorted, this command can serve as a quick visual reminder, providing the sort field is being displayed. The sort field might not be visible because <\/em><em>1) there is insufficient Screen Width\u00a0<\/em><em>2) the `f&#8217; interactive command turned it Off. <\/em><em>Note: Whenever searching or other Filtering is active in a window, column highlighting is temporarily disabled. See the notes at the end of topics 5d. SEARCHING and 5e. FILTERING for an <\/em><em>explanation why.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong>y<\/strong>: Row-Highlight toggle<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"> <em> Changes highlighting for &#8220;running&#8221; tasks. For additional insight into this task state, see topic 3a. DESCRIPTIONS of Fields, the `S&#8217; field (Process Status). Use of this provision provides important insight into your system&#8217;s health. The only costs will be a few additional TTY escape sequences.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong>z<\/strong>: Color\/Monochrome toggle<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"> <em> Switches the `current&#8217; window between your last used color scheme and the older form of black-on-white or white-on-black. This command will alter both the summary area and task area but does not affect the state of the `x,&#8217; `y,&#8217; or `b&#8217; toggles.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong>i<\/strong>: Idle-Process toggle<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"> <em> Displays all tasks or just active tasks. When this toggle is Off, tasks that have not used any CPU since the last update will not be displayed. However, due to the granularity of the %CPU and TIME+ fields, some processes may still be displayed that appear to have used no CPU. If this command is applied to the last task display when in alternate-display mode, it will not affect the window&#8217;s size, as all prior task displays will have already been painted.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong>Z<\/strong>: Change-Color-Mapping<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"> <em> This key will take you to a separate screen where you can change the colors for the `current&#8217; window or all windows.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong> W<\/strong>: Write-the-Configuration-File<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"> <em> This will save all of your options and toggles plus the current display mode and delay time. By issuing this command just before quitting top, you will be able to restart later in exactly that<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #333333;\"> <em> same state.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">You can continue to customize by reading the full Linux top man page using the command: <strong>man top, <\/strong>where you will find additional tips such as filtering Linux top command output by user. You can start top with <strong>top -u enteruser<\/strong>. You can also press <strong>h<\/strong> while viewing top to open the &#8220;Help for Interactive Commands&#8221; screen.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This post should serve as a quick guide to encourage you to explore customization, allowing you to get the most out of the Linux top command! Below, or at the very top of this post (using color), you can see the result of Linux top tweaks:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16217\" src=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/customize-top-linux-example.png\" alt=\"Customize Linux top - example\" width=\"868\" height=\"568\" srcset=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/customize-top-linux-example.png 868w, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/customize-top-linux-example-300x196.png 300w, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/customize-top-linux-example-560x366.png 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 868px) 100vw, 868px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_revert_reset_to_default_Linux_top\"><\/span>How to revert (reset) to default Linux top<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div>When you save using\u00a0<b>W<\/b>, notice top will display the path to the file it creates to save custom settings. You can either empty, move or delete that file to start over. For example, in my case:<\/div>\n<pre>mv ~\/.toprc ~\/.toprc_bk<\/pre>\n<div>If you don&#8217;t care to restore that, you can delete it with:<\/div>\n<pre>rm ~\/.toprc<\/pre>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Linux_top_alternatives\"><\/span>Linux top alternatives<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Of course, you&#8217;ll sometimes need to dig deeper than Linux top command. Especially for application performance monitoring, log analytics, etc. In which case, have a look at some more in-depth solutions in my <a href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/50-top-server-monitoring-application-performance-monitoring-apm-solutions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">100 Top Server Monitoring &amp; Application Performance Monitoring (APM) Solutions<\/a> list. Also, check out these alternatives to Linux top: <a href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/use-atop-linux-server-performance-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">atop<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/alternatives-top-htop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">glances<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/alternatives-top-htop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">htop<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"My_customized_top_2025_update\"><\/span>My customized <code>top<\/code> 2025 update<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s been several years since this original write-up on customizing <code>top<\/code>, and my setup has evolved quite a bit since then. Below is my current four-pane layout as of 2025. This configuration highlights memory, CPU, disk I\/O, and waiters\/scheduler in a way that\u2019s useful to power users and sysadmins.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve also included which column to sort by in each pane, along with alternative sort choices better suited for server workloads.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-21124\" src=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linux_top_toprc_customized_for_desktop-868x952.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"868\" height=\"952\" srcset=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linux_top_toprc_customized_for_desktop-868x952.png 868w, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linux_top_toprc_customized_for_desktop-273x300.png 273w, https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linux_top_toprc_customized_for_desktop-560x614.png 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 868px) 100vw, 868px\" \/><br \/>\n<em>I&#8217;ve also shared my toprc config: read details in the <a href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxcommunity.io\/t\/linux-top-heres-how-to-customize-it\/917\/9?u=hydn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">comments section<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>If you\u2019d like to copy or adapt it, here\u2019s an overview:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pane 1 \u2014 Memory<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fields to show (left to right): PID, PPID, USER, VIRT, RES, SHR, OOMs, PSS, RSS, SWAP, USED, COMMAND, %MEM<br \/>\nDesktop sort column: %MEM<br \/>\nServer sort column:\u00a0 USED<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pane 2 \u2014 CPU<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fields to show (left to right): PID, USER, PR, NI, S, %CPU, %CUC, TIME+, P, nTH, COMMAND<br \/>\nDesktop sort column: %CPU<br \/>\nServer sort column: TIME<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pane 3 \u2014 Disk I\/O<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fields to show (left to right): PID, PPID, USER, nMaj, nMin, nDRT, RSan, RSfd, ioRop, ioWop, ioR, ioW, COMMAND<br \/>\nDesktop sort column: ioW<br \/>\nServer sort column: ioR<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pane 4 \u2014 Waiters\/Scheduler<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fields to show (left to right): PID, PPID, USER, S, TIME, P, ELAPSED, nTH, NI, PR, COMMAND, WCHAN<br \/>\nDesktop sort column: WCHAN<br \/>\nServer sort column: ELAPSED<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The Linux top command is a powerful tool for system monitoring and process management. Its ability to provide real-time data on system performance and running processes makes it indispensable for both system administrators and regular users.<\/p>\n<p>The extensive customization options, as detailed in this article, allow users to tailor the command to their specific needs, enhancing its utility. Whether it\u2019s changing the memory scale, adding new columns for thread count, or adjusting the display of CPU states, these customizations ensure that the Linux top command can provide the exact data needed in the most accessible way.<\/p>\n<p>Remember, if ever you need to revert to the default settings, simply move or delete the configuration file as shown. Have fun and share your screenshots.<\/p><div class=\"hayden-end-of-article hayden-entity-placement\" id=\"hayden-621254057\"><div data-nosnippet id=\"hayden-2755769521\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/www.manageengine.com\/it-operations-management\/infrastructure-observability\/server-observability.html?utm_source=linuxblog&#038;utm_medium=bannerad&#038;utm_campaign=ServerObservability\" data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" rel=\"noopener nofollow sponsored\">\r\n  <img fetchpriority=\"high\" src=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/static.linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/868\u00d7300V3_x1.png\"\r\n       srcset=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/static.linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/868\u00d7300V3_x1.png 1x,\r\n               https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/static.linuxblog.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/868\u00d7300V3.png 2x\"\r\n       alt=\"ManageEngine Site24x7 - Fix Linux issues in minutes, not hours!\"\r\n       width=\"868\" height=\"300\"\r\n       loading=\"eager\"\r\n       style=\"display:block;\">\r\n<\/a><\/div><div align=\"center\" style=\"font-style: italic; font-size: 0.85em; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 4px;\">\r\n\tAdvertisement\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>Reference:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/www.kernel.org\/doc\/man-pages\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">man top<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Published: September 8th, 2017 | <\/em><em>Last updated: September 12th, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The top command (referred to below as Linux top)\u00a0is a command on Unix and Unix-like systems such as Linux, which provides a dynamic real-time overview of a running system. It can display system summary information and a list of processes or threads currently managed by the Linux kernel. The types of system summary information shown [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"45","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"1","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"2243","discourse_permalink":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxcommunity.io\/t\/linux-top-heres-how-to-customize-it\/917","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,11],"tags":[73,45,46,49],"class_list":["post-7209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-linux","tag-apm","tag-performance","tag-server","tag-sysadmins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7209"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21129,"href":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7209\/revisions\/21129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/linuxblog.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/round-lake.dustinice.workers.dev:443\/https\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}