What does top memory mean?

What is memory in top?

Top is a very powerful command to periodically display a sorted list of system processes. The default sorting key is %CPU on Linux. Below we collect 3 ways to sort processes by memory.

How do you read top memory usage?

Viewing memory usage in top Hit Shift+M to see the list sorted by memory usage. Your display may look slightly different than this example from a running Fedora Workstation: There are three columns showing memory usage to examine: VIRT, RES, and SHR.

What does top MEM mean?

The “top” command provides a dynamic real-time view of a running system. The top command can display system summary information as well as a list of the process currently being managed by the Linux kernel. We will use free and top to understand the memory utilization of our operating system.

Does top show memory usage?

The top command provides a dynamic, real-time view of a running system. Included in that system summary is the ability to check memory usage on a per-process basis.