How to find which app is using your Mac's GPU

To find which app is using your Mac’s GPU, you need a list that shows graphics use per app. macOS does not put one in System Settings or the Force Quit window. Foreman has a GPU column on its Processes page: sort by it and the app at the top is the one using the graphics processor most. A per-app list like that is the practical route.

What the GPU is for

The GPU, or graphics processor, draws things. It is built to do many calculations at once, which suits anything with pictures: windows, video, 3D, photo effects, and web pages with animation. On Apple silicon it sits on the same chip as the processor and shares the Mac’s memory. On an Intel Mac with only integrated graphics, it shares memory with the processor too.

A busy GPU is not a fault. Playing a game or editing video is supposed to use it. It becomes a thing to look into when the Mac feels slow, the fans run, the battery drains fast, or the screen stutters while you are doing something ordinary.

How to see it per app in Foreman

1. Press Control-Shift-Escape (⌃⇧⎋) to open Foreman, or click its readout in the menu bar and choose Open Foreman.
2. Go to Processes in the sidebar. The GPU column sits among the columns, next to CPU, Memory, Disk, Network and Power usage.
3. Click the GPU header to sort by it.
4. Look at the top row. Open it to see the helper processes grouped under the app.

Above each column header is the whole Mac’s total, so you can compare one app against everything. Apps are grouped with their helpers, which matters for GPU because browsers do their drawing in helper processes, not in the main one.

For the bigger picture, the Performance page has a GPU entry in its list on the left. Select it for a large live graph with a minute of history, and underneath it are the apps using the most. The menu bar panel shows GPU too, with a live graph, so you can leave it in view while you work and watch what changes when you open something.

What usually uses the GPU

These are the common causes, roughly in order of how often they turn up.

Browsers. Web pages are drawn with the GPU: scrolling, video, animations, maps and anything that uses WebGL, the web’s 3D drawing standard. In Safari, the process Foreman calls “Web graphics” (com.apple.WebKit.GPU) draws web page graphics, video and WebGL for WebKit apps. A single tab with a looping animation or an embedded video can keep it busy. How to tell if one browser tab is slowing down your Mac shows how to find which tab.

Video. Playing, editing and exporting video all use the GPU, and so do video calls, which have to show everyone’s picture.

Design, photo and 3D apps. Apps that apply filters, handle large images or show a 3D view lean on the GPU, particularly while you drag a slider or move around a scene.

Games. These are the heaviest everyday users, and expected to be. Why your Mac stutters while you edit video or play games covers what to do when it is not smooth.

WindowServer. This is the part of macOS that draws every window. Foreman describes it as busy when many windows, displays or animations are active. It rises with more displays, high resolutions, lots of moving things on screen, and transparency effects. You cannot end it without logging out, and Foreman warns before it lets you. What is WindowServer on a Mac and why is it using CPU explains it in full.

What to do when the GPU is too busy

Start by asking whether the use is justified. If the top app is the game you are playing, the video you are editing or the 3D scene you are working on, the GPU is doing its job. If the Mac still feels bad, the limit is your hardware, and lowering the settings inside that app (resolution, quality, frame rate, effects) is the fix.

If the top app is something you are not actively using, treat it as a problem:

• Close the tab or window that is drawing. A web page with an animation you left open in another tab is the usual one.
• Quit the app if you do not need it. In Foreman, End Task asks it to quit normally, so it can offer to save.
• Pause video you are not watching. Video playing in a background window still has to be decoded and drawn.
• Use Efficiency Mode for an app you want open but do not need now. It holds the app to about a quarter of the processor time it would take while it is in the background, and gives it full speed again in front or while it plays sound. It works on processor time, so do not count on it to lower the GPU figure.
• Reduce what is on screen. Fewer displays, a lower resolution or fewer moving effects mean less for WindowServer to draw. In System Settings, Accessibility > Display has options such as Reduce transparency and Reduce motion, which can reduce some of this drawing work.

If one app keeps using the GPU while it appears to be idle, check for an update. Drawing bugs are a common cause, and they are often fixed.

GPU, heat and battery

A busy GPU produces heat and uses power, so it is often the answer when a MacBook gets warm or the battery drains while you are doing something that looks light. Why a Mac slows down when it gets warm explains what the Mac does about heat. For power, look at Foreman’s Power usage column on the Processes page, and at its App History page sorted by Energy, which shows what each app has used since it opened. Foreman does not show temperatures or fan speeds, so it tells you who is working hard, not how hot the Mac is.

A note on the numbers

Do not worry about an exact threshold. The GPU figure is most useful as a comparison: which app is highest, and does it rise when the problem appears? If a high GPU figure lines up with the moment the Mac feels slow, you have found something. If not, look at the processor, memory and disk columns next to it.

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