How to Kill a Process in Windows 11

Sometimes, a program on your computer stops working or freezes. When this happens, it can slow down your computer or make it stop responding. This guide shows you simple ways to stop (or “kill”) these frozen programs in Windows 11.

Method 1: Using Windows Task Manager

Why use this? Task Manager is a built-in Windows tool that shows all programs and background tasks running on your computer. You can use it to stop a program that’s not working.

What happens when you do this? The frozen program closes immediately.

How to open Task Manager:

1. Press CTRL + SHIFT + Esc keys together on your keyboard.

OR

1. Press CTRL + ALT + DELETE, then click Task Manager on the screen.

Once Task Manager opens:

1. Click More details at the bottom if it looks simple.
2. Go to the Processes tab at the top.
3. Look through the list and find the program that’s frozen or using a lot of memory.
4. Select the program name.
5. Do one of these:
   • Press the Delete key on your keyboard, OR
   • Right-click the program and choose End task, OR
   • Click the End task button at the bottom right.

You might see a pop-up asking if you’re sure you want to stop the program. Click End process to confirm.

Tip: If a program has smaller tasks under it (called child processes), you can click the little arrow next to the main program name to expand and stop only those smaller parts if you want.

Method 2: Using Command Prompt with taskkill

Why use this? If you like typing commands, you can stop a program using the Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell. This method gives you more control.

What happens when you do this? The program closes immediately without any pop-ups.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt or PowerShell

1. Search for Command Prompt or PowerShell in the Start menu and open it.
2. Flag: If you need to close system processes, right-click and choose Run as administrator.

Step 2: See all running programs

Type this command and press Enter:

tasklist

You’ll see a list like this:

Image Name PID Session Name Session# Mem Usage
========================= ======== ================ =========== ============
System Idle Process 0 Services 0 8 K
System 4 Services 0 144 K
msedge.exe 652 Console 1 26,528 K
winlogon.exe 740 Console 1 12,280 K

Step 3: Stop a program by name

Use this command and replace ImageName with the program you want to stop (for example, msedge.exe):

taskkill /IM ImageName /F

Example:

taskkill /IM msedge.exe /F

This forcefully closes Microsoft Edge.

Tip: You can also stop a program using its PID (the number in the list). For example:

taskkill /PID 652 /F

Method 3: Using PowerShell with Stop-Process

Why use this? PowerShell is a more powerful command tool. It lets you stop one or many programs at the same time.

What happens when you do this? The program or programs close immediately.

Step 1: Open Windows PowerShell

1. Search for PowerShell in the Start menu and open it.
2. Flag: To stop system processes, right-click and choose Run as administrator.

Step 2: List all running programs

Type this command and press Enter:

Get-Process

You’ll see a list like this:

Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) CPU(s) Id SI ProcessName
------- ------ ----- ----- ------ -- -- -----------
...
466 18 4544 23592 2.25 3440 1 msedge
...

Step 3: Stop a program by name

Use this command and replace ProcessName with the program name:

Stop-Process -Name "ProcessName" -Force

Example:

Stop-Process -Name "msedge" -Force

Step 4: Stop a program by process ID

Use this command:

Stop-Process -ID 3440 -Force

Bonus tip: You can stop several programs at once by listing their IDs separated by commas:

Stop-Process -ID 3440,652,740 -Force

Summary

When a program freezes or slows down your computer, you have three easy ways to stop it:

• Task Manager is the easiest way for most users. Just open it, find the program, and click End task.
• taskkill command works when you like using the keyboard. Type a command and press Enter.
• Stop-Process command in PowerShell gives you the most control and lets you stop multiple programs at once.

Learning these methods helps keep your computer running smoothly and lets you fix problems when apps don’t respond.

If you want to learn more about using Task Manager, check out this guide: How to Use Task Manager in Windows 11

For more about opening Command Prompt and PowerShell, see these guides:

How to Open Command Prompt in Windows 11

How to Open PowerShell in Windows 11

Good luck managing your Windows 11 processes!