3 Ways to Force Quit a Program on Windows 11

Quick Tips

• The easiest way to terminate a program on Windows is by using the Alt + F4 keyboard shortcut.
• You can also force close apps on Windows through the taskbar, Task Manager, or Command Prompt.
• For quick access, you can set up a desktop shortcut to close any non-responding programs swiftly.

Method 1: Force Close an App or Program From the Taskbar

On computers running Windows 11 version 23H2 or later, you can terminate non-responsive apps and programs from the taskbar. To use this feature, you first need to enable the ‘End Task’ option on the taskbar. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Press the Windows + I keys on your keyboard to open the Settings app. Select the System tab from the left pane and click on For developers.

Step 2: Enable the toggle next to End Task.

After completing the above steps, right-click on the non-responsive app or program icon on the taskbar and select the End task option from the resulting menu.

Method 2: Force Close an App or Program via Task Manager

While the above methods work great for force-quitting programs on Windows, sometimes, you might need a more powerful alternative. That’s where Task Manager comes in. Here’s how you can use it to force-quit a program on Windows 11.

Step 1: Press the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut to open the Task Manager.

Step 2: In the Processes tab, select the program you wish to close and click the End task button.

Like apps and programs, Task Manager also lets you force-quit background processes or a sub-process of a program running on your PC.

Method 3: Force Close an App or Program With Command Prompt

Using Command Prompt is another way to force-quit a program or a process on your Windows 11 PC. Here’s how.

Step 1: Click the search icon on the taskbar and type in cmd. Select Run as administrator.

Step 2: In the console, type the following command and press Enter to view a list of programs and processes running on your PC.

tasklist

Step 3: Scroll through the list to note down the name of the program you want to force quit.

Step 4: Type the following command in the console and press Enter.

taskkill /im ProgramName.exe /t /f

Replace ProgramName in the above command with the actual name of the program noted earlier.

Alternatively, you can also kill a program using its PID (or ProcessID). You can find the ProcessID of a program next to its name on the Tasklist.

Once you have the PID of a program, use the command below to force close it.

taskkill /pid ProcessID /t /f

Replace ProcessID in the above command with the actual PID number noted earlier.

Bonus: Create a Shortcut to Force-Quit Non-Responding Apps on Windows 11

While the above methods are quite powerful for force-quitting programs on Windows 11, there’s also another option. You can set up a desktop shortcut on Windows to quickly close any non-responding programs. Here’s how.

Step 1: Right-click anywhere on the desktop. Go to New, and select the Shortcut option from the sub-menu.

Step 2: Paste the following command in the text field and hit Next.

taskkill /f /fi "status eq not responding"

Step 3: Give your shortcut a suitable name and click on Finish.

And that’s about it. Now, you can force quit programs that are not responding by double-clicking on this shortcut.