How to stop all processes in Windows 10

by Ivan Jenic

Troubleshooting Expert

October 9, 2018

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If you have multiple windows running on your PC, then your system might become slow, and you may face some errors. In order to solve this, you need to kill all those tasks. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to easily kill all the running tasks at once with just one click.

I know that first thing that comes to your mind when you’re in a situation like this is forceful restarting. But you definitely shouldn’t do that, because forcefully restarting your PC could damage your computer and its system files. So, forget about forceful restarting, and perform some of the following actions in this article.

How do I kill all processes in Windows 10?

Kill processes in Command Prompt
Kill unresponding processes in CMD
How to end all processes in Task Manager at once
Clean boot your computer

Solution 1: Kill processes in Command Prompt

If you think that Windows already has all you need to solve various problems, than you can try this solution. Command Prompt is very useful, and is one of the most powerful features of Windows, so killing a couple of unresponding processes should be a piece of cake for such a tool. To kill unresponding processes with the Command Prompt, do the following:

Go to Search, type cmd and open Command Prompt
In Command Prompt, enter the following line and press Enter
- taskkill /f /fi “status eq not responding”

This command should kill all processes recognized as unresponding, and you’ll be good to go.

RELATED: Fix: Critical_process_died csrss.exe on Windows 10

Solution 2: Use CloseAll

If you prefer to use third-party software to solve problems, CloseAll is probably the best task-killing tool out there. It automatically closes all running processes, leaving you on Desktop. All you have to do is to open it and press OK, and that’s the whole philosophy.

Some users recommend you to pin it to taskbar, in order to have easy, instant access to it every time you need it. You can download CloseAll from its official website, for free.

Solution 3: How to end all processes in Task Manager at once

In newer Windows 10 versions, related processes are grouped under one common cluster. As a result, you can end all the processes gathered under the same cluster by right-clicking on the respective cluster and selecting End Task.

Solution 4: Clean boot your computer

Another method to kill unnecessary processes is to clean boot your computer. This method allows you to start Windows using only a minimal set of drivers and programs. Of course, you’ll need to restart your computer for this solution to take effect.

Go to Start > type msconfig > hit Enter
Go to System Configuration > click on the Services tab > check the Hide all Microsoft services check box > click Disable all.
Go to the Startup tab > Open Task Manager.
Select each startup item > click Disable
Close Task Manager > restart the computer.

RELATED: Fix: STATUS SYSTEM PROCESS TERMINATED error on Windows 10

How to end particular processes

Now, if you want to stop only particular processes, apps and programs, there’s a solution for that as well.

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How to end all Internet Explorer processes?

If you want to stop all IE processes, you can use Command Prompt for this task. Simply open Command Prompt as an administrator, enter this command: taskkill /F /IM iexplore.exe and hit Enter.

How to end all Google Chrome processes?

Google Chrome processes may sometimes eat up much of your computer resources. To stop all Chrome processes, go to Settings > Show advanced settings… Now, you can uncheck the option ‘Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed’ to kill all Chrome processes.

How to end all background processes in Windows 10?

To to this, go to Settings > Privacy > Background apps > turn off the ‘Let apps run in the background‘ toggle.

So, this is how you can end all the processes on Windows 10 or only a specific category of processes.

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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 2015 and has been since updated for freshness, and accuracy.

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Editor's Note: This article was originally published in April 2015 and was revamped and updated in October 2018 for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.