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ps aux: A Full Snapshot of Running Processes

Use the classic ps aux command to list every process on the system with owner, CPU, memory, and command columns.

LinuxprocessmonitoringTerminalLow risk
Run ps aux (or ps aux | less) to print every process with its USER, PID, %CPU, %MEM, and COMMAND columns; sort with ps aux --sort=-%cpu | head.

01Command

Command
$ ps aux

02What it does

The three letters combine to remove the default filtering: a shows processes of all users, x includes processes without a controlling terminal (daemons), and u selects the user-oriented format. The output columns are USER (owner), PID (process ID), %CPU (CPU share), %MEM (physical memory share), VSZ/RSS (virtual/resident memory), STAT (state), and COMMAND (the command line). ps is a snapshot, not live monitoring — for a continuously updating view use top or htop.

03Risk

RiskLow risk

04Undo

✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.

05Sources

  • Ubuntu Manpage: ps - report a snapshot of the current processes
    manpages.ubuntu.com · technical · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: "ps displays information about a selection of the active processes"; the u option selects the user-oriented format with USER, %CPU, %MEM, and COMMAND headers.
  • ps - report a snapshot of the current processes
    man7.org · technical · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: The ps page documents the a, u, and x options ("u Display user-oriented format" including USER, %CPU, %MEM, and COMMAND columns) and describes ps as reporting "a snapshot of the current processes".

Last verified: 2026-09-19 · Category: System & Settings

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