- The Task Manager is usually our great ally when it comes to closing processes in Windows
- It almost never fails, but in some cases it will be impossible to stop those software
- What are the other three tricks that we have to conclude conflicting processes?
As you probably already know, the Task Manager allows us, among other things, to close open programs. But if you can’t even get rid of any running processes this way, here’s how to force quit without Task Managertaking advantage of the various options that Windows offers for this.
Basically, this makes sense in those moments when our PC stops, freezes, unable to respond to the commands we give it because there is a conflicting application running.
If you are not entirely clear on what occasions you should use the tricks that we are going to show you, they are basically those opportunities in which the computer screen shows you the message “Not responding” for some software.
How to force close Windows without Task Manager?
The most common solution, as we said, is to open the Task Manager, and in the Processes window, close those that are causing the PC to freeze and later, eventually, reopen them.
But if that doesn’t work for you, you’ll want to know what other alternatives to closing programs are out there, and that’s the goal of this article, to give you some answers to unresponsive processes on your computer.
Alt+F4
The most obvious plan B to Task Manager to close a conflicting application is the combination Alt + F4. By pressing these keys at the same time, a request will be sent to close the problem software.
You have to use the Windows function “WM_CLOSE”, which closes the current window you are working on. It is therefore essential that you press the keys simultaneously while you’re at the frozen window.
Keep in mind that the closing of the window may not be immediate but may take a while, so better wait for a few seconds to see if the combination of the keys has actually given results, or not.
The TASKKILL Command
If Alt + F4 doesn’t do the trick either, it’s time to force quit without Task Manager with TASKKILL. We talk about a specific command, developed by Microsoft for its operating system, that you should set as a shortcut to avoid having to launch it from the command line itself with these steps:
- Right click on the desktop, select New and then Shortcut
- In the window type the command taskkill /f /fi “status eq not responding”, as seen in the image
- Give the shortcut a name to recognize it later, and make sure it is set to Finish
From then on, whenever you need to call the TASKKILL command, you will only have to double click on the given icon on the desktop, so it is worth the trouble to create the shortcut.
Restart your PC
It goes without saying that if none of the above procedures were able to get rid of the problem, Only restarting your PC will remain as an escapesomething you can do from Start or with the dedicated button.
In general, you will have to resort to the dedicated button because it is unlikely that if the computer has not been able to respond until then, it will do so when you try to shut it down from Start, so press it for a few seconds.
Once the device is turned off, we advise you to disconnect the power supply for a while. After a few minutes, reconnect it and turn on your PC, which will work as it should.
conclusions
As is evident, Task Manager is not the only way to force close a program.
Sooner or later we all have the unpleasant experience of having to deal with a frozen program.
And while the Task Manager is usually enough to fix problems, from time to time it will be useless. Both the Alt + F4 key combination and the Windows TASKKILL are two very interesting outputs. We even recommend adding a desktop shortcut to the TASKKILL command if you use it often.
Have you been able to force shutdown Windows without Task Manager? With which of these three tricks?
