PlayInfoBox

Home /Utilities /How to Use Task Manager on Windows

How to Use Task Manager on Windows

When a program freezes or your whole computer suddenly feels sluggish, Task Manager is the tool that tells you what's actually going on β€” and lets you shut down the culprit without restarting anything.

  1. Open Task Manager with Ctrl+Shift+Esc

    This shortcut opens Task Manager instantly. You can also search for it from the Start menu.

  2. Check running apps in the "Processes" tab

    See every currently running app and background process, along with each one's CPU and memory usage.

  3. Select an unresponsive program and click "End task"

    Click the frozen-looking program to select it, then click "End task" in the bottom right to force it to close.

  4. Check CPU and memory usage in the "Performance" tab

    See at a glance, in graph form, which resource is running low when your computer feels slow.

  5. Why this is worth knowing

    It's the essential tool for force-closing a program that has stopped responding, or for tracking down whatever is dragging your whole system down.

When a program stops responding entirely

A frozen window that won't close normally, no matter how many times you click it, is exactly what "End task" is for. It forces the program to shut down immediately, even if it's completely unresponsive to normal input.

Finding what's actually slowing your computer down

When your whole system feels sluggish rather than just one app, clicking the "CPU" or "Memory" column header in the Processes tab sorts everything by usage, instantly surfacing whichever process is consuming the most resources.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I end a task, will I lose unsaved work?

Yes β€” "End task" force-closes a program, so any unsaved changes in it are likely to be lost. Try to save your work through the program itself first whenever the program can still respond at all.

How do I see which program is using the most CPU?

In the "Processes" tab, click the "CPU" column header to sort every running process by usage, from highest to lowest.