---
name: "btop"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "btop"
version: "1.4.7-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/btop"
---

# btop(1)

Resource monitor that shows usage and stats for processor, memory, disks, network, and processes.

## NAME

btop - Resource monitor that shows usage and stats for processor, memory, disks, network, and processes.

## SYNOPSIS

**btop** \[**-c** *file*\] \[**-d**\] \[**-f** *filter*\] \[**-l**\] \[**-p** *id*\] \[**-t**\] \[**-u** *ms*\] \[**--force-utf**\] \[**--themes-dir** *dir*\]

**btop** \[**--default-config** \| {**-h** \| **--help**} \| {**-V** \| **--version**}\]

## DESCRIPTION

**btop** is a program that shows usage and stats for processor, memory, disks, network, and processes.

## OPTIONS

The program follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long options starting with two dashes (‘-’). A summary of options is included below.

- **-c**, **--config** ***file***

  Path to a config file.

- **-d**, **--debug**

  Start in debug mode with additional logs and metrics.

- **-f**, **--filter** ***filter***

  Set an initial process filter.

- **--force-utf**

  Force start even if no UTF-8 locale was detected.

- **-l**, **--low-color**

  Disable true color, 256 colors only.

- **-p**, **--preset** ***id***

  Start with a preset (0-9).

- **-t**, **--tty**

  Force tty mode with ANSI graph symbols and 16 colors only.

- **--no-tty**

  Force disable tty mode.

- **--themes-dir** ***dir***

  Path to a custom themes directory. When specified, this directory takes priority over the default theme search paths.

- **-u**, **--update** ***ms***

  Set an initial update rate in milliseconds.

- **--default-config**

  Print default config to standard output.

- **-h**, **--help**

  Show summary of options.

- **-V**, **--version**

  Show version of program.

## BUGS

The upstream bug tracker can be found at ⟨https://github.com/aristocratos/btop/issues⟩\\c .

## SEE ALSO

[**top**(1)](/top/1.md), [**htop**(1)](/htop/1.md)

## AUTHOR

**btop** was written by Jakob P. Liljenberg a.k.a. “Aristocratos”.