Sometimes, a program on your computer may stop working or freeze. When that happens, it can make your computer slow or stop responding. This guide will show you simple ways to stop (or “kill”) these frozen programs in Windows 11.

Method 1: Using Windows Task Manager

Task Manager is a tool built into Windows that shows you all the programs and background tasks running on your computer. You can use it to stop a program that’s not working.

How to open Task Manager:

• Press CTRL + SHIFT + Esc keys together on your keyboard.
• OR 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. Then 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.

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Method 2: Using Command Prompt with taskkill

If you like using the keyboard and typing commands, you can stop a program using the Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell. Here’s how:

Step 1: Open Command Prompt or PowerShell:

• Search for Command Prompt or PowerShell in the Start menu and open it.

Step 2: Type this command and press Enter to see all running programs:

tasklist

This will show 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: To stop a program, 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 will forcefully close Microsoft Edge.

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

taskkill /PID 652 /F

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Method 3: Using PowerShell with Stop-Process

Another way is to use the PowerShell program with the Stop-Process command.

Step 1: Open Windows PowerShell (search for “PowerShell” in the Start menu).

Step 2: List all running processes by typing:

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: To stop a program by name, use:

Stop-Process -Name "ProcessName" -Force

Example:

Stop-Process -Name "msedge" -Force

Step 4: Or stop by process ID:

Stop-Process -ID 3440 -Force

You can stop several processes at once by listing their names or IDs separated by commas:

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

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Summary

• If a program freezes or slows down your computer, you can stop it using Task Manager, Command Prompt, or PowerShell.
• Task Manager is the easiest way for most users – just open it, find the program, and click End task.
• For keyboard lovers and advanced users, taskkill and Stop-Process commands give more control and let you stop processes quickly.
• 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 simple 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!