How to Check Computer Specifications

Co-authored by Luigi Oppido and Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: August 17, 2021 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to view your computer's hardware specifications, such as the processor speed or amount of memory. It's important to know things like your computer's amount of RAM, processor speed, and storage capacity before upgrading to a new computer or downloading a processing-intensive application (e.g., a video game).

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Using System Information on Windows

1
Open Start
. Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen. The Start menu will pop up.
2
Open Settings
. Click the gear-shaped icon in the bottom-left corner of the Start menu. This will open the Settings window.

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3
Click System. This laptop-shaped icon is in the upper-left side of the window.
4
Click the About tab. It's in the lower-left corner of the window, though you may have to place your cursor on the left-hand sidebar and scroll down to see it.
5
Scroll down to the "Device specifications" heading. This option is near the bottom of the page.
6
Review your computer's specifications. The "Device specifications" section contains information about your computer's processor, RAM, and system type.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using Device Manager on Windows

1
Understand when to use Device Manager. If you want an advanced, in-depth list of all of the hardware that your computer uses, you can use Device Manager. This is useful when attempting to find out what type of proprietary hardware your computer uses.
2
Open the advanced Start menu. Either right-click the Start
icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen or press ⊞ Win+X. You should see a pop-up menu appear on the left side of the screen.
3
Click Device Manager. It's in the pop-up menu. Doing so opens the Device Manager window.
4
Find a hardware category to review. Scroll through the different categories of hardware until you find one that you want to open.
- For example, if you wanted to find out more about your computer's processor, you would double-click the Processors heading.
- Depending on who built your computer, what you see in Device Manager may vary slightly.
5
Expand the hardware category. Double-click the hardware category, or click the "expand"
icon to the left of the category. You should see at least one indented item appear below the category heading.
- If you see a list of indented options below the hardware category, the category is already expanded.
6
Review the list of hardware components. Depending on your selected category, you may see anywhere from one hardware item to upward of 10; double-click an item to view its properties.
- Make sure you don't uninstall or disable anything in Device Manager without explicit instruction on how to do so, as accidental uninstallation can cause your computer to stop working.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Using the Apple Menu on Mac

1
Click the Apple menu. It's the apple-shaped icon in the top-left corner of the screen.
2
Click About This Mac. This option is near the top of the drop-down Apple menu. Doing so will open the About This Mac window.
3
Review your Mac's information. You'll find information about your Mac's processor, RAM, and graphics unit in the About This Mac window.
4
Click System Report…. It's at the bottom of the About This Mac window. This will open the System Report window.
5
Open the "Hardware" menu. Click the right-facing arrow to the left of the "Hardware" heading that's in the left-hand pane of the System Report window.
- If the arrow to the left of "Hardware" is facing down, the menu is already open.
6
Select a hardware item to check. You will see a list of your Mac's hardware components below the Hardware heading; clicking on will display its specifications in the System Report window's right-hand pane.
- For example: if you want to check your graphics card's model, click Graphics/Displays.
- You'd click Memory to get a better look at your Mac's RAM.
- To view the processor's specifications, click the Hardware heading.

Expert Q&A

Question

How do I get to the system command center?

Luigi Oppido
Computer & Tech Specialist
Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years.

Luigi Oppido

Computer & Tech Specialist

Expert Answer

You can either hold the Windows key and hit the pause break button, or press Command-Shift-Escape all at once.
Question

What hardware specifications would I focus on to determine performance/reliability?

Community Answer

Ram amount, processor speed, video card, and motherboard would be a good start.
Question

What do I have to look for in the system specification while trying to download a new program?

Sujan Shrestha

Community Answer

Look for processor speed and type, RAM, storage and graphics.

Warnings

Impressive computer specifications don't necessarily mean that your computer will be able to run intensive programs.

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