# How To Force Close A Program On Windows Without Task Manager **URL:** \ **Category:** Tutorials & Methods\ **Tags:** tools, programming, freebies, tips-tricks\ **Created:** [May 8, 2021, 10:01pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/how-to-force-close-a-program-on-windows-without-task-manager/182049 "2021-05-08T22:01:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheStrength](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/thestrength/32/46753_2.png) [@TheStrength](https://onehack.st/u/TheStrength)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2021, 10:01pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/how-to-force-close-a-program-on-windows-without-task-manager/182049/1 "2021-05-08T22:01:42Z")
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 Shortcut To 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: 1. Right-click an empty space on your desktop and choose **New \> Shortcut**. 2. You’ll be asked to enter a location for the shortcut. In that box, paste the following command: ```auto taskkill /f /fi "status eq not responding" ``` This command is simple to understand when you break it down: - **taskkill** is the command to kill a process, which you should do when something is frozen. - **/f** tells the command to force-close the program. Without this, Windows just asks the process to terminate, which won’t work if it’s stuck. - **/fi** tells the command to run only on processes that meet the following filter criteria. - Finally, the text in quotes is the command criteria. You want it to only kill processes with a status equal to **Not Responding**. 1. The shortcut creation box will then ask you to name your new shortcut. Call it anything you like, then press **Finish**. Now you can force-close a program by double-clicking this shortcut at any time. This will kill any window that’s stuck. ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/d/a/dab52f4fde359ab4461dc90dd40931b6b26b10dd.png) ### How to Force-Close Apps Using a Keyboard Shortcut To 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: 1. Right-click on your new shortcut and choose **Properties**. 2. On the **Shortcut** tab, click in the **Shortcut key** box to set a custom keyboard shortcut. Windows will automatically add **Ctrl + Alt** to any letter you press, but you can change it to **Ctrl + Shift** if you like. 3. Because this shortcut will momentarily launch a Command Prompt window, you should set **Run** to **Minimized**. Doing so means you won’t see a disrupting flash when you press the shortcut. 4. Click **OK** to save changes. Now, just use your chosen shortcut to close apps whenever they lock up. ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/7/6/76ed2c7fb85d8a3b6c90351d4498f4ea2fe6009f.png) ## Alternative Methods to Force-Close in Windows The 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 First A 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 SuperF4 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/7/b/7b14f50e99dacf6e10855551ed5f0a554d2a36f5.png) [SuperF4](https://stefansundin.github.io/superf4/) 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 Alternative Technically, 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. ### How to Force-Close Programs With AutoHotkey You can also create a basic AutoHotkey script to force-close windows. You’ll need to [download AutoHotkey](https://www.autohotkey.com/), then create a script with this line: ```auto #!Q::WinKill,A ``` Move 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. ### Other Third-Party Apps for Force-Closing Programs If none of the above options work for you, you’ll find other third-party tools that can force-close Windows programs. [ProcessKO](https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/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 Easier Hopefully, 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! `(Source: makeuseof)` **Happy learning!** ---
**Author:** ![Griamos](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/griamos/32/87992_2.png) [@Griamos](https://onehack.st/u/Griamos)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/how-to-force-close-a-program-on-windows-without-task-manager/182049/2 "2021-05-10T13:18:48Z")
SuperF4 is amazing! Thx!