It’s frustrating when a program is not responding on your Windows computer. The first action you might take is to open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc and use it to force close the program. It’s a nice move. But what to do if Task Manager is not opening or responding in Windows 10/8/7? This post digs out 3 ways to force close a program without Task Manager. Show
Way 1. Force Close a Program with Alt + F4The easiest and fastest way you can try to force kill a program without Task Manager on Windows computer is to use Alt + F4 keyboard shortcut. You can click the program you want to close, press Alt + F4 key on the keyboard at the same time and don’t release them until the application is closed. After a while, the crashed program will be forced to close. Tip: If you lost some data on Windows computer due to various data loss causes, you can easily recover lost and mistakenly deleted files on Windows 10/8/7 with MiniTool Power Data Recovery. It also allows you to recover data from memory/SD card, USB, external HDD, SSD, etc.
Way 2. Force Kill a Program with TaskkillAnother way to help you force close a program without Task Manager is to use Taskkill command. Step 1. Open Command Prompt Windows 10. You can press Windows + R, type cmd, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open and run Command Prompt as Administrator. Step 2. Next type tasklist in Command Prompt window, and it will list all running processes on your Windows computer. Step 3. Use the Taskkill commands below to force close any program. You can kill any program by its name or process ID (PID). Here take closing Chrome browser as example. Taskkill /IM chrome.exe /F Taskkill /PID 1212 /F You can also force close multiple processes simultaneously with Taskkill command. You can add the PID numbers of all processes you want to close in the command line, and separate them by spaces. Taskkill /PID 1212 1280 1308 /F
Way 3. How to Force Close a Program with ShortcutIf you don’t want to bother to kill process using Taskkill in Command Prompt every time, you can create a shortcut to force close a program. Step 1. Right-click blank space of computer desktop and select New -> Shortcut to open Create Shortcut window. Step 2. Next type taskkill /f /fi "status eq not responding" in Create Shortcut window, and click Next. Step 3. Type a name for the shortcut and click Finish to create a shortcut on desktop. After that, you can double-click this shortcut any time you want to force close a program on Windows 10 PC. Final WordsBy using these three ways, you can then easily force kill a program that is not responding on Windows 10 computer without Task Manager, and use them to close programs which Task Manager can’t terminate. Tags :
Alisa Follow us Position: Columnist Alisa is a professional English editor with 4-year experience. She loves writing and focuses on sharing detailed solutions and thoughts for computer problems, data recovery & backup, digital gadgets, tech news, etc. Through her articles, users can always easily get related problems solved and find what they want. In spare time, she likes basketball, badminton, tennis, cycling, running, and singing. She is very funny and energetic in life, and always brings friends lots of laughs.
Closed. This question is off-topic. It is not currently accepting answers. I am working remotely on a Windows Server via Remote Desktop Connection and some process has hung the server. I looked up how to bring up the Task Manager remote (equivalent of locally doing CTRL+ALT+DEL) and I found CTRL+ALT+END and it doesn't seem to work. I tried logging off and logging back on and the system is still up (tried earlier seeing the properties of My Comptuer, FYI). Does anyone know how I can escape this 'hindrance' and star fresh?!? 1
It's frustrating when Windows programs freeze up. Everyone has clicked on something in an app, only to have the window gloss over and show the dreaded Not Responding text. Your first move to force-close frozen programs might be to open the Task Manager, which is fine. However, this isn't always the most efficient option. If you'd like to kill apps in Windows even faster, we'll show you the best ways to force-close without opening the Task Manager. How to Force Close Apps Using a Desktop ShortcutTo force close a program without the Task Manager, you can use the taskkill command. Typically, you would enter this command at the Command Prompt to kill a specific process. However, it's clumsy to open the command line window every time a program stops responding, and typing the command every time you want to kill an app isn't efficient. Instead, you can force-close app windows much easier with a shortcut that automatically closes any frozen apps. Here's how to create a shortcut that will close frozen processes:
Now you can force-close a program by double-clicking this shortcut at any time. This will kill any window that's stuck. How to Force-Close Apps Using a Keyboard ShortcutTo make this force-close process even faster, you can make a custom keyboard shortcut to run the task killer command you just made. Here's how:
Now, just use your chosen shortcut to close apps whenever they lock up. Alternative Methods to Force-Close in WindowsThe above method is the most straightforward way to force-close programs, without the Task Manager, when they lock up. However, there are some other methods and tools you might want to know for doing this. Try Closing With Alt + F4 FirstA basic troubleshooting step when programs freeze up is pressing Alt + F4. This is the Windows keyboard shortcut for closing the current window, equivalent to clicking the X icon in the upper-right corner of a window. Thus, it won't force-close a program that's really stuck, but you can give it a try if the app just had a minor hiccup. It's particularly useful if your mouse stops responding for a while. Force a Program to Close With SuperF4SuperF4 is a simple program that lets you force-kill any window, even if it's not responding. Like the taskkill command discussed above, it immediately forces programs to stop, instead of asking them nicely to close. Because of this, the program won't check to make sure that you've saved your work before it closes, so take care when using this app. SuperF4 also lets you move your cursor onto any window you want to kill.By default, it uses the Ctrl + Alt + F4 key combo for its closing action. Force-Close Programs With a Task Manager AlternativeTechnically, another way to force-close programs without the Task Manager is using a Task Manager alternative. For instance, if you're looking for something with more power, Process Explorer will definitely fill that need. If you're looking for a way to close a program because the Task Manager won't work, see our guide on fixing the "Task Manager has been disabled" error. How to Force-Close Programs With AutoHotkeyYou can also create a basic AutoHotkey script to force-close windows. You'll need to download AutoHotkey, then create a script with this line: #!Q::WinKill,AMove the finished file into your Startup folder (enter shell:startup into the File Explorer address bar to get there) so it runs every time you log on. Then simply press Win + Alt + Q to kill the current window. AutoHotkey is a powerful program that's capable of doing pretty much anything you dream up, so check out our AutoHotkey beginner's guide if you want to set up a more advanced script. Other Third-Party Apps for Force-Closing ProgramsIf none of the above options work for you, you'll find other third-party tools that can force-close Windows programs. ProcessKO is a good option for advanced users, as it offers extras like the ability to kill a specific process after a set time interval. Most other options are quite similar to the above, so we recommend checking them all out before you look for an alternative. Your last resort if you can't get a program to close is to reboot your computer. If you can't access the Power menu using Ctrl + Alt + Del, you'll have to do a hard shutdown by holding the Power button on your computer or pulling the plug/battery. Force-Closing Windows Has Never Been EasierHopefully, you don't have to deal with programs freezing up too often. If you have a regular problem with a specific piece of software, it might be worth checking for updates or looking for a replacement. Just like when Windows crashes, there's almost always a reason that a program is having issues. Despite this, the occasional crash is an unfortunate reality that every computer user deals with. Now you know how to close out stuck programs without even opening the Task Manager—just don't forget how useful of a tool the Task Manager is!
Visit MUO.com |