Quick Tip

Tame `ps` Output: Focused Process Info with `awk`

Challenge: The output of the `ps aux` command can be overwhelmingly verbose, making it difficult to quickly find specific process information.

The Solution: Use `awk` to filter and format the `ps` output to display only the columns you need.

ps aux | awk '{print $1, $2, $3, $4, $11}'

Why it works: This command pipes the full output of `ps aux` to `awk`, which then prints only the specified columns (User, PID, %CPU, %MEM, and Command) for each process, dramatically simplifying the output.

Pro-Tip: You can customize the columns further. For example, to see just PID, %CPU, and Command, use: ps aux | awk '{print $2, $3, $11}'

Linux Tips & Tricks | © ngelinux.com | 5/16/2026