Task Manager

Windows 11's Task Manager, native to macOS.

Live process list, CPU/memory/disk graphs, and a configurable global shortcut — default ⌘⇧⎋ (Cmd+Shift+Esc) — to open it from anywhere, just like Ctrl+Shift+Esc on Windows.

Screenshots · Install · What's included · Requirements · Build · Structure

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Screenshots

Follows the system's light/dark theme automatically (System Settings > General > Appearance on macOS):

Dark mode	Light mode

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Installation

The easiest way, via Homebrew:

brew tap NspxMiguel/tap                              # adds my personal package repo to Homebrew
brew trust --cask NspxMiguel/tap/task-manager        # trusts the tap (a safety gate for third-party taps — since this one is mine, it's safe to trust)
brew install --cask task-manager                    # downloads the source code and builds the app on your machine

This builds the app on your own machine instead of downloading a prebuilt binary:

• Detects whether you have the Xcode Command Line Tools (free, no paid license/account needed)
• If you don't, it kicks off the install and waits for it to finish on its own
• Once ready, it builds and installs the app in /Applications — no manual step

Building locally also means no Gatekeeper warning ("unidentified developer"), since that warning only shows up for prebuilt binaries downloaded from elsewhere.

Open it from Spotlight or directly at /Applications/TaskManager.app. Done — ⌘⇧⎋ already works out of the box.

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What's included

Processes	Live list (refreshes every 2s), sortable by name / PID / CPU / memory, search by name or PID, End task with confirmation, Force quit in the context menu. CPU usage above 50% shows in red.
Performance	CPU with a real-time graph, memory and disk — read directly via native system APIs (Mach/Darwin), no shell out.
Settings	Global shortcut you can record live (click and press the desired combination), default ⌘⇧⎋. Option to launch automatically at login. Toggle to show/hide the app icon in the Dock — when off, the app stays available only from the menu bar and the global shortcut.
Menu bar	Persistent icon: click to open/close the window, right-click for Show/Hide or Quit.
Appearance	Automatic light/dark, pulled from the system.

Focused on the essentials (Processes, Performance, Settings) — doesn't cover Windows tabs like App history, Startup, Users, or Services.

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Requirements

• macOS 13 (Ventura) or later
• Apple Silicon or Intel

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Build from source

Requires the Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install).

git clone https://github.com/NspxMiguel/mac-task-manager.git  # download the source code
cd mac-task-manager                                           # enter the project folder
./build_app.sh                                                # builds and packages into TaskManager.app (locally signed)
open TaskManager.app                                          # opens the freshly built app

The build_app.sh script builds in release mode, packages it into TaskManager.app, and signs it locally (ad-hoc) so Gatekeeper doesn't block it.

To iterate quickly without packaging (builds and runs directly, without producing the .app):

swift run

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Structure

Sources/TaskManager/
├── AppDelegate.swift        # main window, menu bar icon, wires up the global shortcut
├── HotKeyManager.swift      # global shortcut via Carbon Event Manager (no Accessibility permission needed)
├── ProcessMonitor.swift     # process snapshot via `ps`
├── SystemStats.swift        # CPU / memory / disk via Mach/Darwin
├── SettingsStore.swift      # persists the chosen shortcut
└── Views/                   # SwiftUI screens (Processes, Performance, Settings)

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Made by @NspxMiguel