What is ControlCenter on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
Runs Control Center and most of Apple's menu bar icons: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sound, battery, clock.
ControlCenter powers the Control Center panel and most of Apple's own menu bar items, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Sound, Battery, Focus, Now Playing and the clock. It's always running while you're logged in. It usually uses little CPU, although it updates often as battery level, media playback and connections change.
- Category
- macOS system
- Made by
- Apple
- Safe to quit:
- With care
Shown in Activity Monitor as ControlCenter, ControlCenterHelper
Why is ControlCenter using so much CPU or memory?
- Now Playing or other live modules updating frequently
- A glitch after waking from sleep or changing displays
- Lots of menu bar items or Control Center modules
What to do
- 1Close the Control Center panel if it's open
- 2Force quit ControlCenter; it relaunches immediately and often clears glitches
- 3Restart your Mac
Safe to quit? With care.
It relaunches instantly; menu bar icons vanish for a moment and then come back.
Typical usage
Rough ranges on Apple Silicon Macs. Yours will vary.
- CPU
- 0–2% when idle
- Memory
- 50–200 MB
Related processes
Part of the Taskglass Process Library