Keyboard Shortcuts¶

Global shortcuts¶

These work from any tab:

Key	Action
`1`	Switch to Overview tab
`2`	Switch to Processes tab
`3`	Switch to Power tab
`4`	Switch to Network tab
`5`	Switch to Disk tab
`6`	Switch to System tab
`Tab`	Next tab
`Shift+Tab`	Previous tab
`q`	Quit
`Ctrl+C`	Quit (always works, even in overlays)
`Space`	Pause / resume data collection
`t`	Cycle color theme
`?`	Toggle help overlay

Processes tab¶

These shortcuts are only active when the Processes tab (tab 2) is selected:

Key	Action
`j` or `Down`	Move selection down
`k` or `Up`	Move selection up
`s`	Cycle sort column (CPU% -> MEM -> PID -> Name -> User)
`K`	Kill selected process (shows confirmation)

Kill confirmation¶

When the kill confirmation prompt is active:

Key	Action
`y`	Confirm kill (sends SIGTERM)
`n` or `Esc`	Cancel

Help overlay¶

When the help overlay is open:

Key	Action
`?` or `Esc`	Close help
`j` or `Down`	Scroll down
`k` or `Up`	Scroll up

Stress testing¶

These shortcuts are only available when pitop was launched with --stress:

Key	Action
`Ctrl+S`	Toggle stress test on/off
`Ctrl+Up`	Add one worker thread
`Ctrl+Down`	Remove one worker thread

Note

Ctrl+S toggles the stress test between running and stopped. Ctrl+Up/Down adjusts the worker count only while the stress test is running. The worker count is clamped between 1 and 2x the initial count.

Quick reference¶

Navigation     1-6 / Tab / Shift+Tab
Quit           q / Ctrl+C
Pause          Space
Theme          t
Help           ?
Process nav    j/k / arrows
Process sort   s
Process kill   K -> y/n
Stress toggle  Ctrl+S
Stress workers Ctrl+Up / Ctrl+Down