How to Display Memory Usage in a Dock Icon - Mac OS X

January 27, 2007 | Posted in OS X |

This is a quick way to have easy visual access to your memory usage without having to rely on a Dashboard Widget, or even have Dashboard running for that matter. And you don’t have to download anything. This comes standard with every new Mac running OS X.

Being involved with web design, and design in general, I find myself needing to monitor my memory usage on a daily basis. (mostly because of heavy Adobe Apps) If you are like me, you want to know how much of your precious memory you have left, so as not to launch that one extra application that crashes your machine and causes you to lose unsaved work. Mac OS X ships standard with an application called “Activity Monitor,” Located in your Applications > Utilities folder. By keeping this application in your dock, you can simply Control + click on it’s dock icon and display a number of different charts to visualize the data, without keeping the application window itself open!

The Activity Monitor Dock Icon can display any of the following options, but only 1 at a time.

CPU Usage, CPU History, Network Usage, Disk Activity, or Memory Usage.

Set Up:

1. First, navigate to your Applications > Utilities folder, find the Activity Monitor application, and drag it’s icon onto your dock and release. This is what the Activity Monitor Icon looks like:

Activity Monitor Icon

2. Control Click (right click) on the Activity Monitor Dock Icon and select the Data Set you would like it to display, “Memory Usage” in my case. Note: Not all of the options display a pie chart. If you choose CPU Usage, it shows a bar that animates in real time similar to a band equalizer on stereo equipment.

Select the Data you want to be displayed

3. You should then see the icon display a chart

You should then see the icon display a chart

4. The Colors: These categories change depending on which set of data being displayed, but here is what the colors stand for, as far as Memory Usage goes.

What the colors stand for

I hope this simple tip makes your life a little “Bitt” easier. :)

Related Posts:

  1. Found Freeware: Dock Dividers (OS X)
  2. How to get your Applications Folder in your Dock - Mac OS X
  3. OS X: Convert Any Application Icon to 512 x 512 Image File
  4. 3 lines of code every Flash user needs to know
  5. How to set the default program to open a certain type of file in Mac OS X
  6. Found Freebie: Function Icon Set

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 27th, 2007 at 10:49 pm and is filed under OS X. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us

Did you like this post?

Digging and sharing is a great way to say thanks!

31 Responses to “How to Display Memory Usage in a Dock Icon - Mac OS X”

  1. oli Said... May 29th, 2007 at 12:05 pm

    hi.

    sorry, but when i right-click i can’t select data sets… am i doing something wrong? i use mac os x 10.4.9. thanks for ur help, greets oli

  2. kc Said... June 1st, 2007 at 12:53 pm

    oli, you need to first run the application before you can see the display data

  3. Umesh Said... August 4th, 2007 at 12:55 am

    How can i increase memory usage for Adobe creative suit option. presently it is showing 45 mb but its greyed and can not be edited. any help would be appreciated.

  4. thanksadsad Said... December 2nd, 2007 at 3:07 pm

    Thanks.

    http://www.mytescil.net/

  5. Clara-ui Said... January 11th, 2008 at 7:16 am

    self winding mechanical benrus patriot 25j

  6. Estetik Said... January 22nd, 2008 at 6:35 pm

    Thanks

  7. Kanal Temizleme Araçlar? Said... March 5th, 2008 at 7:12 am

    thanks

  8. aSk Blogcu Said... April 1st, 2008 at 5:34 am

    Thank You …

  9. smfciyiz ödüllü seo yar??mas? Said... April 7th, 2008 at 3:13 am

    thanks..

  10. investment tips Said... April 7th, 2008 at 10:24 am

    thnx.

  11. Cool Pictures Said... April 7th, 2008 at 10:24 am

    thnaks ? l?ke it.

  12. eglence Said... April 11th, 2008 at 8:44 am

    thanks very:=)

  13. haydar dumen Said... May 6th, 2008 at 3:21 pm

    you need to first run the application before you can see the display data

  14. Su Aritma Cihazlari Said... May 12th, 2008 at 1:34 am

    Su Aritma Cihazlari

    thanks very:=)

  15. Aritma Cihazlari Said... May 12th, 2008 at 1:35 am

    Aritma Cihazlari

    you need to first run the application before you can see the display data

  16. asansör Said... May 21st, 2008 at 8:31 am

    thanks

  17. pazarlama Said... May 23rd, 2008 at 5:47 am

    thanks :)

  18. hit Said... May 23rd, 2008 at 5:47 am

    thanks :)

  19. matbaa Said... May 23rd, 2008 at 5:48 am

    thanks…

  20. zayiflama Said... May 24th, 2008 at 6:13 am

    thanks

  21. rako Said... June 3rd, 2008 at 5:44 pm

    ads

  22. pr yuksek blog Said... June 4th, 2008 at 9:49 am

    thanks

  23. istanbul evden eve Said... June 6th, 2008 at 9:28 am

    thanks you :)

  24. internette reklam Said... June 9th, 2008 at 6:20 am

    thanks you

  25. çanakkale evden eve Said... June 19th, 2008 at 6:49 am

    thanks

  26. ?apka Said... July 23rd, 2008 at 11:33 pm

    oli, you need to first run the application before you can see the display data

  27. Filippo Said... July 29th, 2008 at 9:21 am

    Thanks

  28. ?zle Bir ?eyler Said... September 3rd, 2008 at 7:32 am

    thanks

  29. Program ve Oyun ?ndir Said... September 3rd, 2008 at 7:33 am

    thanks.good

  30. Arabalar Burada Said... September 3rd, 2008 at 7:34 am

    thanks…thanks..

  31. Program Mp4 Film Said... September 30th, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    Thakss.Very Nice Post.

LEAVE A COMMENT




Message: