How to Open Task Manager in Windows 10

Windows Task Manager is an advanced utility tool that helps you manage your apps that are running.

Task Manager lets you see which apps are open and which you're using. You can also see which apps are running in the background that you didn't open yourself.

One important reason that you might want to open Task Manager is to stop apps that are making windows unresponsive.

There are a few different ways to open Task Manager. So in this article, I will walk you through 7 ways you can open Task Manager on Windows 10.

1. How to Open Task Manager with Windows Search

The easiest way to find anything on a Windows machine is to search for it. Task Manager is not an exception.

  • Click on the search icon then type "Task Manager" in the search bar.
  • Task Manager will pop up as a search result, and you can open it from there.

search

2. How to Open Task Manager with Keyboard Shortcuts

Some apps might go rogue and stop Windows from responding, so you might not have access to Windows Search in such situations.

Windows has two different key combinations with which you can open up Task Manager in case you want to see running apps or stop an app.

  • You can open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc all together. This opens Task Manager straightaway
  • You can also open Task Manager from the GINA screen by pressing and holding Ctrl + Alt + Del .

Some apps might prevent you from accessing Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc, but pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del will always open up the Graphical Identification and Authentication (GINA) screen for you so you can select and open Task Manager from there.

gina-screen

3. How to Open Task Manager through the Control Panel

You can use the Control Panel search option to open Task Manager.

Type "Task Manager" in the search bar and you will see a link to Task Manager under "System".

ControlPanel

4. How to Open Task Manger through the Start Menu

A lot of people prefer opening apps from the start menu. You can open Task Manager from there too.

  • Click on the Windows icon, or press the WIN Key on the keyboard.
  • Scroll to the bottom and open up the Windows system folder
  • Task Manager will be shown alongside some other apps – just select it there to open it.

startMenu

5. How to Open Task Manager with the Run Command

Many apps and folders can be opened with the run dialogue on Windows 10. There's a command for opening Task Manager from there too.

  • Press the WIN + R keys on the keyboard to open the run dialogue
  • Type "taskmgr" and click "Ok" to open the Task Manager.

runCommand

6. How to Open Task Manager from the Taskbar

You can open the Task Manager from Taskbar too.

Right-click on an empty space in the taskbar then select "Task Manager".

taskbar

7. How to Open Task Manager from the Windows Power User Menu

In addition to the 6 methods we've already seen, you can open Task Manager by right-clicking in the Windows logo and then selecting "Task Manager" from the menu that pops up.

You can also get there by pressing and holding the Win + X keys on the keyboard and then selecting “Task Manager” from the menu.

powerUser

Windows Task Manager is a very powerful tool that can greatly increase your productivity. With it, you can see which apps are running and stop those that are causing issues.

In this article, you've learned about several ways to open Task Manager on Windows 10 so you can have a better experience using it.

Thank you for reading, and have a nice time.

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How to open Task Manager on Windows

Here's how to open Task Manager on Windows 10 and Windows 11

A laptop running Windows 11, representing an article about how to use task scheduler on windows

PC newbie or veteran, you may not know how to open Task Manager on Windows. Why would you want to open the Windows Task Manager anyway? Well, this feature does a lot more than its name suggests.

Task Manager not only lets you manage tasks (who'd have guessed?) — but also shows a whole bunch of useful information, such as your computer’s current performance or which apps are taking up the most resources on startup.

Even if you have one of the best Windows laptops or best gaming PCs , this info can still come in handy.

There are a few ways to open Task Manager on Windows 11 and Windows 10, as we cover in our simple guide below.

Ready? Here's how to open Task Manager on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

1. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + Esc

It requires some finger gymnastics, but this is the easiest and quickest way to open Task Manager on Windows. 

2. You can also right-click the taskbar , then click Task Manager . 

This is a useful method if you don't have a working keyboard to hand. Unfortunately, this only works in Windows 10 as it was removed from Windows 11 for some reason. If anyone from Microsoft is reading this: bring back this feature, please! 

3. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete , then click Task Manager .

The third, and probably most familiar, way to open the task manager is through the Ctrl + Alt + Delete menu. This is the classic way to get to the task manager that most of us will recognize, though step 1 above is a much more efficient alternative. 

4. Press Win + R to open a command prompt, then type in "taskmgr" and hit enter .

You can even open the Task Manager from a command prompt. This is the best choice if you want to impress your friends by appearing like a hacker or character from The Matrix.

And there we are. Now you can summon Task Manager in four different ways. With this knowledge, you’re invincible. Now you know how to open Task Manager on Windows, take a look at how to enable God Mode in Windows 11 or 10 or how to change the Windows 11 Start menu back to Windows 10 . Or for another Windows guide, check out how to factory reset on Windows 10 .

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Dale Fox

Dale Fox is a freelance journalist based in the UK. He's been a tech nerd ever since childhood, when he used the money from his first job as a paperboy to buy a subscription to GamesMaster magazine. Dale was previously a presenter and editor in China, where he also worked as a copywriter for OnePlus at its Shenzhen HQ.  

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Task Manager

How to open the Windows Task Manager, what it's used for, and lots more

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In This Article

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What Is Task Manager Used For?

  • Open Task Manager

Task Manager Availability

Task manager walkthrough.

Task Manager shows you what programs are running on your Windows computer and offers some limited control over those running tasks.

For an advanced tool that can do an incredible number of things, most of the time the Windows Task Manager is used to do something very basic: see what's running right now .

Open programs are listed, of course, as are programs that are running "in the background" that Windows and your installed programs have started.

Task Manager can be used to forcefully end any of those running programs , as well as to see how much individual programs are using your computer's hardware resources and which programs and services are starting when your computer starts.

See the Task Manager Walkthrough section at the bottom of this article for every detail about this tool. You'll be amazed at how much you can learn about the software that's running on your computer with this utility.

How to Open Task Manager

There is no shortage of ways to open Task Manager, which is probably a good thing considering that your computer may be suffering some kind of problem when you need to open it.

Let's start with the easiest way first: Ctrl + Shift + Esc . Press those three keys together at the same time and Task Manager will launch.

CTRL + ALT + DEL , which opens the Windows Security screen, is another way. In Windows XP, this shortcut opens Task Manager directly.

Another easy way to open Task Manager is to right-click or tap-and-hold on any empty space on the taskbar, that long bar at the bottom of your Desktop. Choose Task Manager (Windows 11, 10, 8, & XP) or Start Task Manager (Windows 7 & Vista) from the pop-up menu.

You can also start the Task Manager directly using its run command. Open a Command Prompt window , or even just Run ( Win + R ), and then execute taskmgr .

Task Manager is also available on the Power User Menu in Windows 11, 10, and 8.

In Windows 10 and Windows 8, Task Manager defaults to a "simple" view of the running foreground programs. Select More details at the bottom to see everything.

Task Manager is included with Windows 11 , Windows 10 , Windows 8 , Windows 7 , Windows Vista , and Windows XP , as well as with Server versions of the Windows operating system .

Microsoft improved Task Manager, sometimes considerably, between each version of Windows. Specifically, the Task Manager in Windows 11/10/8 is very different from the one in Windows 7 & Vista, and that one very different from the one in Windows XP.

A similar program called Tasks exists in Windows 98 and Windows 95, but doesn't offer near the feature set that Task Manager does. That program can be opened by executing taskman in those versions of Windows.

There's a mind-boggling level of information available in Task Manager about what's going on in Windows, from overall resource usage down to minute details like how many seconds each individual process has used of the CPU's time.

Every little bit, tab by tab, is fully explained below. Right now, however, let's look at your menu options and what features and choices you have access to there:

Most of what's discussed in these first three menu groups do not apply to Windows 11 version 22H2 and newer. Exceptions are called out.

  • Run new task — opens the Create new task dialog box. From here you can browse to, or enter the path of, any executable on your computer and open it. You also have the option to Create this task with administrative privileges , which will run the executable with "elevated" permissions.
  • Exit — will close the Task Manager program. It will not end any apps, programs, or processes you're viewing or have selected.

Settings/Options Menu

This menu is called Settings in Windows 11 22H2 and newer, and is located in the bottom-left corner of Task Manager. In older versions, Options is located along the top of Task Manager.

  • Always on top — if selected, will keep Task Manager in the foreground at all times.
  • Minimize on use — if selected, will minimize Task Manager when you choose the Switch to option, available in several areas throughout the tool.
  • Hide when minimized — if selected, will prevent Task Manager from showing up in the taskbar like a normal program. It will, in either case, always appear in the taskbar notification area (the space next to the clock with the little icons).
  • Default Start Page — sets which tab is in focus when Task Manager is first launched. This is called Set default tab in some versions of Windows.
  • Show full account name — if selected, displays a user's real name next to the user's username where applicable.
  • Show history for all processes — if selected, shows data for non-Windows Store apps and programs in the App History tab.
  • Refresh now — when tapped or clicked, instantly update all the regularly updated hardware resource data found throughout Task Manager.
  • Update speed — sets the rate at which resource data is updated throughout Task Manager. Choose High for 2 updates per second, Normal for 1 update per second, and Low for an update every 4 seconds. Paused freezes updates.
  • Group by type — when checked, groups processes in the Processes tab by App , Background process , and Windows process .
  • Expand all — will instantly expand any collapsed entries but only on the tab in which you're viewing at the moment.
  • Collapse all — will instantly collapse any expanded entries but only on the tab in which you're viewing at the moment.
  • Status values — sets whether a process' suspended status is reported in the Status column, available in the Processes and Users tabs. Choose Show suspended status to show it or Hide suspended status to hide it.

Update speed is called Real time update speed in Windows 11, and it's located in Settings.

Check out the next 10 sections for every detail imaginable on the Processes, Performance, App History, Startup apps, Users, Details, and Services tabs in the Windows Task Manager!

Microsoft has improved this utility considerably from early versions of the Windows operating system, incrementally adding features with every new Windows release. This walkthrough covers elements found in Task Manager for Windows 11, Windows 10, and Windows 8, and can also be used to understand the more limited Task Manager versions available in Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.

The Processes Tab

The Processes tab in Task Manager is like "home base" in a way—it's the first tab you see by default, gives you some basic information about what's running on your computer right now, and lets you do most of the common things people do in Task Manager.

This tab contains a list of all the running programs and apps on your computer (listed under Apps ), as well as any Background processes and Windows processes that are running. From this tab, you can close running programs, bring them to the foreground, see how each is using your computer's resources, and more.

Processes is available in Task Manager as described here in Windows 8 and newer, but most of the same functionality is available in the Applications tab in Windows 7, Vista, and XP. The Processes tab in those older versions of Windows most resembles Details , described below.

Right-click or tap-and-hold on any listed process, and you'll be presented with several options, depending on the type of process:

  • Expand/Collapse — just another way to collapse or expand any grouped processes or windows - the same as using the little arrows to the left of the app or process name.
  • Switch to and Bring to front options — available via right-clicking on the window results under the Apps , both bring up the selected window. Minimize and Maximize do what you'd guess, only they don't necessarily bring the window to the foreground.
  • Restart — available for some processes in control of Windows, like Windows Explorer , and will close and automatically restart that process.
  • End task — no matter where you find it, does just that — it closes the task. If you End task from a process that has child windows or processes, they will close as well.
  • Resource values — has nested menus within it of Memory , Disk , and Network . Choose Percents to show resources as a percent of total available on your system. Choose Values (the default) to show the actual level of resource being used. Resource values are also available from the individual column options (more on this in the section below).
  • Create dump file — generates what's called a "dump with heap" — an often very large file, in DMP format, that contains everything going on with that program, usually helpful only to a software developer trying to fix an unknown problem.
  • Go to details — switches you to the Details tab and preselects the executable responsible for that process.
  • Open file location — opens the folder on your computer that contains the executable responsible for that process and preselects it for you.
  • Search online — opens up a search results page in your default browser for the executable file and the common name, hopefully serving up something useful.
  • Properties — opens the Properties of the processes' executable. This is the same Properties window you have access to from the file if you were to go there manually via the right-click menu in any file list in Windows.

By default, the Processes tab shows the Name column, as well as Status , CPU , Memory , Disk , and Network . Right-click or tap-and-hold on any column heading and you'll see additional information you can choose to view for each running process:

  • Name — the program or process's common name, or file description , if it's available. If it's not, the file name of the running process is shown instead. In 64-bit versions of Windows, 32-bit program names are suffixed by (32-bit) when they're running. This column can not be hidden.
  • Type — shows the type of process in each row—a standard App , a Background process , or a Windows process . Task Manager is usually configured to Group by type already, so this column isn't usually helpful to have open.
  • Status — will note if a process is Suspended , but only if Task Manager is configured to Show suspended status from the View > Status values menu.
  • Publisher — shows the running file's author, extracted from the file's copyright data. Nothing is shown if no copyright was included when the file was published.
  • PID — shows each process's process id, a unique identifying number assigned to each running process.
  • Process name — displays the actual file name of the process, including the file extension . This is exactly how the file appears if you were to traditionally navigate to it in Windows.
  • Command line — shows the full path and exact execution of the file that resulted in the running of the process, including any options or variables.
  • CPU — a continuously updated display of how much of your central processing unit's resources each process is using at the given moment. Total percentage of total CPU utilization is shown in the column header and includes all processors and processor cores.
  • Memory — is a continuously updated display of how much of your RAM is being used by each process at the given moment. Total memory usage is shown in the column header.
  • Disk — a continuously updated display of how much read and write activity each process is responsible for, across all of your hard drives, at the given moment. The percentage of total disk utilization is shown in the column header.
  • Network — a continually updated display of the bandwidth being utilized by each process. The percentage utilization of the primary network as a whole is shown in the column header.
  • GPU — a continuously updated display of the GPU utilization across all engines at the given moment. The percentage of total GPU utilization is shown in the column header.
  • GPU engine — which GPU engine each process is using.
  • Power usage — a continually updated display of the CPU, disk, and GPU impact on power consumption. Value can toggle between Very low, Low, Moderate, High, and Very high .
  • Power usage trend — CPU, disk, and GPU impact on power consumption over time.

The button at the bottom-right of this tab changes depending on what you have selected. On most processes, it becomes End task but a few have a Restart ability.

The Performance Tab (CPU)

The Performance tab, available in all versions of Windows, gives you an overview of how your hardware is being utilized by Windows and whatever software you're running right now.

This tab is further broken down by the individual hardware categories that are most important to your system's performance — CPU , Memory , Disk , and GPU , plus either Wireless or Ethernet (or both). Additional hardware categories might also be included here too, like Bluetooth .

Let's look at CPU first and then Memory , Disk , and Ethernet over the next several parts of this walkthrough:

Above the graph, you'll see the make and model of your CPU(s), along with the maximum speed , also reported below.

The CPU % Utilization Graph operates as you'd probably expect, with time on the x-axis and total CPU utilization, from 0% to 100%, on the y-axis.

The data at the far right is right now , and moving left, you're seeing an increasingly older look at how much of your CPU's total capacity was being utilized by your computer. Remember, you can always change the rate at which this data is updated via Settings > Real time update speed (Windows 11) or View > Update Speed .

Right-click or tap-and-hold anywhere on the right to bring up some options for this graph:

  • Change graph to — gives you the options of Overall utilization (one graph representing the total utilization across all physical and logical CPUs), Logical Processors (individual graphs, each representing a single CPU core), and NUMA nodes (each NUMA node in an individual graph).
  • Show kernel times — adds a second layer to the CPU graph that isolates CPU utilization due to kernel processes—those executed by Windows itself. This data appears as a dotted-line so you don't confuse it with the overall CPU utilization, which includes both user and kernel processes (i.e., everything).
  • Graph summary view — hides all the data in Task Manager, including the menus and other tabs, leaving only the graph itself. This is particularly helpful when you need to keep an eye on CPU utilization without the distractions of all that other data.
  • View — gives you a right-click method of jumping to the other Memory , Disk , Network , and GPU areas of the Performance tab.
  • Copy — will copy all of the non-graph information on the page (more on all of that below) to the Windows clipboard, making it really easy to paste anywhere you like... like that chat window where you're getting help from tech support.

There's lots of other information on this screen, all located below the graph. The first set of numbers, which are displayed in a larger font and that you'll no doubt see change from moment to moment, include:

  • Utilization — shows the current Overall utilization of the CPU, which should match where the data line meets the graph's y-axis, on the far right.
  • Speed — shows the speed at which the CPU is operating at right now.
  • Processes — a total count of all processes running at the moment.
  • Threads — the total number of threads running in the processes at this time, including one idle thread per processor installed.
  • Handles — the total number of object handles in the tables of all running processes.
  • Up time — the total time the system has been running in DD:HH:MM:SS (e.g., 2:16:47:28 means 2 days, 16 hours, 47 minutes, and 28 seconds). This count resets to zero when the computer is restarted or powered on.

The remaining data you see is static data about your CPU(s):

  • Base speed — the listed maximum speed for your CPU. You may see the actual speed go a bit higher and lower than this as you use your computer.
  • Sockets — indicates the number of physically distinct CPUs you have installed.
  • Cores — reports the total number of independent processing units available across all installed processors.
  • Logical processors — the total number of non-physical processing units available across all installed processors.
  • Virtualization — reports the current status, either Enabled or Disabled , of hardware-based virtualization.
  • Hyper-V support — indicates whether or not Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization is supported by the installed CPU(s).
  • L1 cache — reports the total amount of L1 cache is available in the CPU, a small but super-fast pool of memory the CPU can use exclusively for its own purposes.
  • L2 cache , L3 cache , and L4 cache — are increasingly larger, and slower, stores of memory that the CPU can use when the L1 cache is full.

Finally, at the very bottom of every Performance tab you'll see a shortcut to Resource Monitor, a more robust hardware monitoring tool included with Windows.

The Performance Tab (Memory)

The next hardware category in the Performance tab in Task Manager is Memory , tracking and reporting on various aspects of your installed RAM.

Above the topmost graph, you'll see the total amount of memory, likely in GB, installed and recognized by Windows.

Memory has two different graphs:

The Memory Usage Graph , similar to the CPU graph, operates with time on the x-axis and total RAM utilization, from 0 GB to your maximum usable memory in GB, on the y-axis.

The data at the far right is right now , and moving left you're seeing an increasingly older look at how much of your RAM's total capacity was being utilized by your computer.

The Memory Composition Graph is not time-based, but instead a multi-section graph, some parts of which you may not always see:

  • In use — memory in use by "processes, drivers , or the operating system."
  • Modified — memory "whose contents must be written to disk before it can be used for another purpose."
  • Standby — memory in memory that contains "cached data and code that is not actively in use."
  • Free — memory that "is not currently in use, and that will be repurposed first when processes, drivers, or the operating system need more memory."

Right-click or tap-and-hold anywhere on the right to bring up some options:

  • Graph summary view — hides all the data in Task Manager, including the menus and other tabs, leaving only the two graphs themselves. This is particularly helpful when you need to keep an eye on memory usage without all that extra data in the way.
  • View — gives you a right-click method of jumping to the other CPU , Disk , Network , and GPU areas of the Performance tab.
  • Copy — will copy all of the non-graph memory use and other information on the page (more on all of that below) to the clipboard.

Below the graphs are two sets of information. The first, which you'll notice is in a larger font, is live memory data which you'll probably change every so often:

  • In use — the total amount of RAM in use at this moment, which matches where the data line crosses the graph's y-axis, on the far right of the memory usage graph.
  • Available — the memory that's available to be used by the operating system. Adding the Standby and Free amounts listed in the Memory Composition Graph will get you this number as well.
  • Committed — has two parts, the first being the Commit Charge , a lower number than the second, the Commit Limit . These two amounts are related to virtual memory and the paging file; specifically, once the Commit Charge reaches the Commit Limit , Windows will attempt to increase the size of the pagefile.
  • Cached — the memory being passively used by the operating system. Combining the Standby and Modified amounts listed in the Memory Composition Graph will get you this number.
  • Paged pool — reports the amount of memory used by important operating system processes ( kernel mode components) that can be moved to the pagefile if physical RAM starts to run out.
  • Non-paged pool — reports the amount of memory used by kernel-mode components that must be kept in physical memory and can't be moved to the virtual memory pagefile.

The remaining data, in smaller font and on the right, contains static data about your installed RAM:

  • Speed — the speed of the installed RAM, usually in MHz.
  • Slots used — reports the physical RAM module slots on the motherboard that are used and the total available. For example, if this is 2 of 4 , it means that your computer supports 4 physical RAM slots but only 2 are currently being used.
  • Form factor — reports the form factor of the installed memory, almost always DIMM .
  • Hardware reserved — the amount of physical RAM reserved by hardware devices. For example, if your computer has integrated video hardware , without dedicated memory, several GB of RAM may be reserved for graphics processes.

The slots used, form factor, and speed data are particularly helpful when you're looking to upgrade or replace your RAM , especially when you can't find information about your computer online or a system information tool isn't more helpful.

The Performance Tab (Disk)

The next hardware device to be tracked in the Performance tab in Task Manager is Disk , reporting on various aspects of your hard drive and other attached storage devices like external drives .

Above the topmost graph, you'll see the make model number of the device, if available. If you're looking for a specific hard drive, you can check the other Disk x entries on the left.

Disk has two different graphs:

The Active Time Graph , similar to the CPU and main Memory graphs, this one operates with time on the x-axis. The y-axis shows, from 0 to 100%, the percentage of time that the disk was busy doing something.

The data at the far right is right now , and moving left you're seeing an increasingly older look at the percentage of time this drive was active.

The Disk Transfer Rate Graph , also time-based on the x-axis, shows the disk write speed (dotted line) and disk read speed (solid line). The numbers on the top-right of the graph are showing peak rates over the time frame on the x-axis.

Right-click or tap-and-hold anywhere on the right to show some familiar options:

  • Graph summary view — hides all the data in Task Manager, including the menus and other tabs, leaving only the two graphs themselves.
  • View — gives you a right-click method of jumping to the other CPU , Memory , Network , and GPU areas of the Performance tab.
  • Copy — will copy to the clipboard all of the non-graph disk use and other information on the page.

Below the graphs are two different sets of information. The first, shown in a larger font, is live disk usage data which you'll certainly see change if you watch:

  • Active time — shows the percentage of time, within the units of time on the x-axis, that the disk is busy reading or writing data.
  • Average response time — reports the average total time it takes for the disk to complete an individual read/write activity.
  • Read speed — the rate at which the drive is reading data from the disk, at this moment, reported in either MB/s or KB/s.
  • Write speed — the rate at which the drive is writing data to the disk, at this moment, reported in either MB/s or KB/s.

The rest of the data about the disk is static and reported in TB, GB, or MB:

  • Capacity — the total size of the physical disk.
  • Formatted — the total of all formatted areas on the disk.
  • System disk — indicates whether or not this disk contains the system partition .
  • Page file — indicates whether or not this disk contains a pagefile.
  • Type — indicates the disk type, such as SSD , HDD , or Removable .

Much more information about your physical disks, the drives they make up, their file systems , and lots more, can be found in Disk Management .

The Performance Tab (Ethernet)

The final major hardware device to be tracked in the Performance tab in Task Manager is Ethernet , reporting on various aspects of your network, and ultimately internet, connection.

Above the graph, you'll see the make and model of the network adapter you're viewing the performance of. If this adapter is virtual, like a VPN connection, you'll see the name provided for that connection, which may or may not look familiar to you.

The Throughput Graph has time on the x-axis, like most graphs in Task Manager, and the total network utilization, in Gbps, Mbps, or Kbps, on the y-axis.

The data at the far right is right now , and moving left you're seeing an increasingly older look at how much network activity was taking place via this particular connection.

  • Graph summary view — hides all the data in Task Manager, including the menus and other tabs, leaving only the graph, a fantastic choice if you want to dock this window in the corner of your desktop to keep an eye on things.
  • View — gives you a right-click method of jumping to the other CPU , Memory , Disk , and GPU areas of the Performance tab.
  • View network details — will bring up the Network Details window, a data-only, fine-grained, down-to-the-byte view the different types of information passing in and out of each adapter on your system.
  • Copy — will copy to the clipboard all of the non-graph network utilization data and other information on the page.

Below the graph is live send/receive data:

  • Send — shows the current rate by which data is being sent via this adapter, in Gbps, Mbps, or Kbps, and reported on the graph as a dotted line.
  • Receive — shows the current rate by which data is being received via this adapter, in Gbps, Mbps, or Kbps, and reported on the graph as a solid line.

...and next to that, some helpful static information on this adapter:

  • Adapter name — the name, in Windows, given to this adapter.
  • SSID — the wireless network name that you're connected via this adapter.
  • DNS name — the DNS server that you're currently connected to. This is not the same thing as the DNS servers that your connection to the internet is using!
  • Connection type — shows the general type of connection this is, like Ethernet , 802.11ac , Bluetooth PAN , etc.
  • IPv4 address — lists the current IPv4 IP address tied to this adapter's current connection.
  • IPv6 address — lists the current IPv6 address tied to this adapter's current connection.
  • Signal strength — shows the current wireless signal strength.

The data you see in this "static" area varies greatly depending on the type of connection. For example, you'll only see signal strength and SSID on non-Bluetooth wireless connections. The DNS name field is even more rare, usually only showing up on VPN connections.

The App History Tab

The App History tab in Task Manager shows CPU and network hardware resource usage on a per-app basis. To also see data for non-Windows Store apps and programs, choose Show history for all processes from the Settings or Options menu.

This tab is only available in Task Manager in Windows 11, 10, and 8.

The date app-specific resource tracking started is shown at the top of the tab, after Resource usage since ... . select Delete usage history to remove all the data recorded in this tab and immediately start the counts over at zero.

By default, the App History tab shows the Name column, as well as CPU time , Network , Metered network , and Tile updates . Right-click or tap-and-hold on any column heading, and you'll see additional information you can choose to view for each app or process:

  • Name — the program or process's common name, or file description , if it's available. If it's not, the file name of the running process is shown instead. This column can not be removed.
  • CPU time — the amount of time spent by the CPU executing instructions initiated by this app or process.
  • Network — the total network activity (downloads + uploads), in MB, this process or app is responsible for.
  • Metered network — reports, in MB, the total network activity by this app that occurred over a metered network connection.
  • Notifications — reports, in MB, the total network usage of this app's notifications.
  • Tile updates — the total download and upload activity, in MB, used by this app's tile updates and notifications.
  • Non-metered network — reports, in MB, the total network activity by this app that occurred over a non-metered network connection
  • Downloads — reports the total download activity, in MB, this process or app is responsible for.
  • Uploads — reports the total upload activity, in MB, this process or app is responsible for.

Right-click or tap-and-hold on any row with a non-app process, and you'll get two options:

  • Search online — opens a search results page in your default browser, using the executable file and the common name as the search terms.
  • Properties — opens the Properties of the processes' executable. This is the same Properties window you'd see if you were to choose this option after right-clicking on the file anywhere else in Windows.

In some versions of Windows, you can right-click or tap-and-hold any app to Switch to that app. The switch to wording on the apps is a little disingenuous here because the app, even if running, won't be switched to at all. Instead, a completely new instance of the app is started.

The Startup Apps Tab

The Startup Apps tab (called just Startup before Windows 11) in Task Manager shows you all the processes that are configured to start automatically when Windows starts. Previously disabled startup processes are listed, too.

This is only available in Task Manager in Windows 11, Windows 10, and Windows 8.

In versions of Windows that have it, this Task Manager tab replaces, and expands upon, the data in the Startup tab found in the System Configuration (msconfig) tool.

Above the table is a Last BIOS time indication which is a measurement, in seconds, of the last system startup time. Technically, this is the time between BIOS handing booting  off to Windows and when Windows has fully started (not including you signing on). Some computers may not see this.

Right-click or tap-and-hold on any listed process and you'll be presented with several options, depending on the type of process:

  • Expand/Collapse — just another way to expand or collapse grouped processes. This is no different from using the little arrows to the left of the process name.
  • Disable/Enable — will disable a currently enabled, or enable a previously disabled, process from starting automatically with Windows.
  • Open file location — opens the folder on your computer that contains the executable responsible for that process and selects it for you.
  • Search online — opens up a search results page in your default browser, using the file and common names as search terms. This is a great way to investigate a startup item you're not sure what to do with.
  • Properties — opens the Properties of the processes' executable. This is the same Properties option available from the file's right-click menu in other parts of Windows.

By default, the Startup Apps tab shows the Name column, as well as Publisher , Status , and Startup impact . Right-click or tap-and-hold any column heading, and you'll see additional information you can choose to view for each startup process:

  • Name — the program or process's common name, or file description , if it's available. If it's not, the file name of the running process is shown instead. You can't remove this column from the table.
  • Publisher — shows the running file's author, extracted from the file's copyright data. If the file doesn't contain copyright data, then this field is left blank.
  • Status — will note if a process is Enabled or Disabled as a startup item.
  • Startup impact — the impact on CPU and disk activity that this process had the last time the computer started. Possible values include High , Medium , Low , or None , and is updated after each startup. You'll see Not measured if Windows wasn't able to determine the resource impact for some reason.
  • Startup type — indicates the source of the instruction to start this process at startup. Registry is referring to the Windows Registry (at SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER ) and Folder to the Startup folder in the Start Menu.
  • Disk I/O at startup — the total read/write activity, measured in MB, that this process engaged in during the Windows startup process.
  • CPU at startup — the total CPU time, measured in milliseconds, that this process used during the Windows startup process.
  • Running now — indicates if the listed process is currently running.
  • Disabled time — lists the day of the week, month, day, year, and local time that a disabled startup process was disabled.
  • Command line — shows the full path and exact execution, including any options or variables, of this startup process.

In lieu of right-clicking or tap-and-holding a process to disable or enable it from starting up, you can choose to tap or click the Disable or Enable button, respectively, to do the same.

The Users Tab

The Users tab in Task Manager is a lot like the Processes tab, but processes are instead grouped by signed-in user. At a minimum, it's a convenient way to see which users are currently signed in to the computer and what hardware resources they're using.

To see real names in addition to account usernames, choose Show full account name from the Settings or Options menu.

Right-click or tap-and-hold on any user and you'll be presented with several options:

  • Expand/Collapse — just another way to collapse or expand the grouped processes running under that user. It works the same as the arrows to the left of the user.
  • Disconnect — will disconnect the user from the system but will not sign that user off. Disconnecting usually only has value if the user you disconnect is using the computer remotely, at the same time you are.
  • Manage user accounts — just a shortcut to User Accounts applet in Control Panel .

Right-click or tap-and-hold on any listed process under a user (expand the user if you don't see these) and you'll be presented with several options:

  • Switch to — if available, brings this running program to the foreground.
  • Restart — available for some Windows processes, like Windows Explorer , and will close and automatically restart the process.
  • End task — unsurprisingly, ends the task.
  • Resource values — the top level menu of a series of nested menus: Memory , Disk , and Network . Choose Percents to show resources as a percent of total resources. Choose Values (the default) to show the actual resource level being utilized.
  • Provide feedback — launches Feedback Hub where you can send feedback to Microsoft with suggestions or problems you have with that app.
  • Efficiency mode — turns on Efficiency mode for the selected process to lower process priority and improve power efficiency (but it might also cause instability).
  • Create dump file — generates a "dump with heap" in DMP format. This often very large file contains everything involved with that process.
  • Go to details — switches you to the Details tab and selects the executable responsible for that process.
  • Open file location — opens the folder on your computer that contains the executable responsible for the particular process.
  • Search online — automatically searches online for information about the process. The page that opens is in your default browser, but always uses Microsoft's Bing search engine.
  • Properties — opens the Properties data available for this processes' executable.

By default, the Users tab shows the User column, as well as Status , CPU , Memory , Disk , Network , and, in some Windows versions, GPU . Right-click or tap-and-hold on any column heading, and you'll see additional information you can choose to view for each user and running process:

  • User — shows the user's account name along with an updated number, in parentheses, indicating the number of processes running under that user at this moment. The expanded view of the User shows those running processes.
  • ID — shows the number assigned to the session that the user became a part of when signing in. Certain types of software, as well as Windows itself, may be a part of a session so a sole user of a computer may not be assigned Session 0 .
  • Session — describes the type of session this user is using on the computer. When using your computer normally, you'll see Console . If you're connecting remotely, like via Remote Desktop, you'll see RDP-Tcp#0 or something similar.
  • Client name — displays the hostname of the client computer that the user is using to connect to this computer. You'll only see this when there's an active remote connection, like a Remote Desktop connection to your PC.
  • Status — will note if a process is Suspended , but only if Task Manager is configured to report this, via View > Status values > Show suspended status .
  • CPU — a continuously updated display of how much of your CPU's resources each process, as well as each user as a whole, is using at the given moment. Total percentage of total CPU utilization is shown in the column header and includes all processors and processor cores.
  • Memory — a continuously updated display of how much of your RAM is being used by each process and each user at the given moment. Total memory usage is shown in the column header.
  • Disk — a continuously updated display of how much read and write activity each process, and user, is responsible for, across all of your hard drives, at the given moment. The percentage of total disk utilization is shown in the column header.
  • Network — a continually updated display of the bandwidth being utilized by each process and each user. The percentage utilization of the primary network as a whole is shown in the column header.

The button at the bottom-right of this tab (not available in Windows 11) changes depending on what you have selected. On a user, it becomes Disconnect and on a process, it becomes End task or Restart , depending on the process selected.

The Details Tab

The Details tab in Task Manager contains what can only be interpreted as the mother lode of data on each process running on your computer right now. It shows every individual process that's running right now—no program grouping, common names, or other user-friendly displays here. This tab is very helpful during advanced troubleshooting, when you need to easily find something like an executable's exact location, its PID, or some other piece of information you haven't found elsewhere in Task Manager.

This tab is what the Processes tab was in Windows 7 and earlier, with a few extras.

Right-click or tap-and-hold on any listed process, and you'll be presented with several options:

  • End task — ends the process. Assuming the ending was successful, the process will disappear from the list in the tab.
  • End process tree — ends the process, as well as any child processes that the process was responsible for starting.
  • Provide feedback — starts Feedback Hub where you can send feedback to Microsoft with suggestions or problems you have with the selected process.
  • Efficiency mode — enables Efficiency mode for the process to lower priority and improve power efficiency.
  • Set priority — allows you to set the base priority of a process which, depending on what threads are seeking the same priority at the same time, may improve the process' ability to utilize the CPU by giving it access to it before other processes. Options are Realtime , High , Above normal , Normal , Below Normal , and Low .
  • Set affinity — allows you to choose which CPU cores the process is allowed to utilize. Options include or any combination of CPU cores available on your computer. At least one core must be chosen.
  • Analyze wait chain — shows, in a new Analyze wait chain window, what other processes the process in question is using... or waiting to use. If one of those processes this one is waiting on is frozen/hung, it will be highlighted in red. You can then end that process, via the End process button, and potentially prevent any data loss that may have occurred by ending the original process.
  • UAC virtualization — toggles UAC virtualization on or off for the process, assuming it's allowed for it.
  • Create dump file — generates a "dump with heap"—a file, DMP format, that contains everything going on with that process.
  • Open file location — opens the folder on your computer that contains the executable responsible for that process.
  • Search online — opens up a search results page in your default browser, using the executable file and the common name as search terms.
  • Properties — opens the Properties of the processes' executable. This is the same Properties window you'd see if you opened Properties from the file directly.
  • Go to service(s) — switches you to the Services tab and preselects the service(s) associated with the process. If no service is associated, then no preselection takes place, but you'll still be switched to that tab.

By default, the Details tab shows the Name column, as well as PID , Status , User name , CPU , Memory (active private working set) , Architecture , and Description . Right-click or tap-and-hold any column heading and choose Select columns . From this list are a number of additional columns of information you can choose to view for each running process:

  • Name — the actual file name of the running process, including the file extension. This is exactly how the file appears if you were to navigate to it in Windows.
  • Package name — another descriptive field available for apps. These processes are typically located in the \Windows\SystemApps or \Program Files\WindowsApps folders.
  • PID — shows the process's process id, a unique identifying number assigned to each running process.
  • Status — will note if a process is currently Running or Suspended .
  • User name — shows the account name of the user that started the process, even if it was automatic. Aside from signed-in users (like you), you'll also see LOCAL SERVICE , NETWORK SERVICE , SYSTEM , and possibly a few others.
  • Session ID — shows the number assigned to the session that the process was started in. Windows itself may be a part of a session, probably 0 , and then other users, like you, will be part of different sessions, likely 1 or 2 .
  • Job Object ID — shows the "job object in which the process is running."
  • CPU — live display of how much of your central processing unit's resources the process is currently using and includes all processors and cores.
  • CPU time — the total processor time, in HH:MM:SS format, that the process has utilized since it started.
  • Cycle — reports the current percent of CPU cycle time consumption by the process, which includes all processors and cores. Usually, the System Idle Process will be utilizing most of the cycle time.
  • Working set (memory) — a live display of how much of your computer's physical memory is in use by the process at this time. This is a combination of the memory reported in the private and shared working set.
  • Peak working set (memory) — the maximum amount of physical memory this process used at one time since the process started. Think of this as the "record high memory use" for this process.
  • Working set delta (memory) — the change in the process' physical memory usage between each test. In other words, it shows the change in the Working set (memory) value each time that value is tested.
  • Memory (active working set) — the physical memory in use by the process.
  • Memory (private working set) — the physical memory in use by the process that no other process is able to use.
  • Memory (shared working set) — the physical memory in use by the process that is available for sharing with other processes.
  • Commit size — the "amount of virtual memory reserved by the operating system for the process."
  • Paged pool — the "amount of pageable kernel memory allocated by the kernel or drivers on behalf of the process."
  • NP pool — the "amount of non-pageable kernel memory allocated by the kernel or drivers on behalf of the process."
  • Page faults — the "number of page faults generated by the process since it was started." A page fault occurs when the process accesses memory that's not part of its working set. Here's how to fix a page fault error .
  • PF Delta — the "change in the number of page faults since the last update."
  • Base priority — the "ranking that determines the order in which threads of a process are scheduled." Possible values include Realtime , High , Above normal , Normal , Below Normal , Low , and N/A . Base priority for a process can be set via Set priority , available when right-clicking or tap-and-holding on the process.
  • Handles — reports the "current number of handles open by the process."
  • Threads — reports the number of active threads the process is running right now.
  • User objects — the "number of window manager objects (windows, menus, cursors, keyboard layouts, monitors, etc.) used by the process."
  • GDI objects — the "number of GDI (Graphics Device Interface) objects used by the process."
  • I/O reads — the count of "read I/O operations generated by the process since it was started." This includes file, device, and network I/Os.
  • I/O writes — the count of "write I/O operations generated by the process since it was started." This includes file, device, and network I/Os.
  • I/O other — the count of "non-read/non-write I/O operations generated by the process since it was started." Control functions are a common other example.
  • I/O read bytes — reports the actual amount of I/O reads, in bytes, that this process is responsible for generating since it started.
  • I/O write bytes — reports the actual amount of I/O writes, in bytes, that this process is responsible for generating since it started.
  • I/O other bytes — reports the actual amount of I/O operations (other than reads and writes), in bytes, that this process is responsible for generating since it started.
  • Image path name — reports the full location, including the drive, folders, and file name with extension, where this process can be found on the hard drive.
  • Command line — shows the full image path name , plus any options or variables used to execute the process.
  • Operating system context — reports the "operating system context in which the process is running." If you see an older version of Windows in this field, it does not indicate that you're running an outdated process. It's simply reporting the level of compatibility, and only if provided by the manifest in the process executable.
  • Platform — reports if the process is running as 64-bit or 32-bit . This notation can also be seen, in parentheses, after the process' name back on the Processes tab.
  • Architecture — reports the same information as Platform , but expressed as x86 or x64 for 32-bit or 64-bit, respectively.
  • Elevated — indicates whether the process is running "elevated" (i.e. as an administrator) or not. This is the same "elevated" as in running a command via an elevated Command Prompt .
  • UAC virtualization — "specifies whether User Account Control (UAC) virtualization is enabled, disabled, or not allowed in the process."
  • Description — the process's common name, or file description , if available. If it's not, the file name of the running process is shown instead.
  • Data Execution Prevention — "specifies whether Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is enabled or disabled for the process."
  • Hardware-enforced Stack Protection — specifies the status (enabled or disabled) of Hardware-enforced Stack Protection (a security feature using shadow stacks) for the process.
  • Extended Control Flow Guard — specifies the status (enabled or disabled) of Extended Control Flow Guard (XFG, a security feature) for the process.

With all selected processes, the button on the top-right (in Windows 11) or bottom-right will End task — the same as the End task right-click/tap-and-hold option.

The Services Tab

The Services tab in Task Manager is a stripped-down version of Services, the tool in Windows that's used to manage Windows services. Most services will be  Running  or  Stopped . This tab serves as a quick and convenient way to start and stop major Windows services. 

This tab is available in Task Manager in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, and Vista. The full Services tool can be found in Windows/Administrative Tools , via Control Panel. It can also be launched by the Open Services link here in Task Manager.

Right-click or tap-and-hold on any listed service, and you'll be presented with a few options:

  • Start — will start a currently stopped service.
  • Stop — will stop a currently running service.
  • Restart — will restart a currently running service (i.e., stop it and then automatically start it again).
  • Open Services — no matter which service you choose this option from, opens the Services tool. It does not preselect the service in Services.
  • Search online — opens up a search results page in your default browser, using the service name and description as the search terms.
  • Go to details — switches you to the Details tab and auto-selects the executable responsible for that service. This option is only available if the service is running.

Unlike with other tabs in Task Manager, the columns in the Services tab are preset and can not be changed:

  • Name — the name of the service and comes from the Service name field in the Services tool.
  • PID — shows the unique process id for the service's associated process.
  • Description — the listed description for the service and comes from the Display name field in the Services tool.
  • Status — will note if a process is currently Running or Stopped .
  • Group — displays the group the service is a part of, if it is part of one.

While they can't be changed , the columns in the Services tab can be rearranged . Just click or hold and drag around as you like.

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How to use Windows 10 Task Manager to kill processes that drain resources

If your PC is slowing down or apps stop responding, this guide can help find and terminate the processes that are causing the problem, using Task Manager on Windows 10.

task manager laptop

The Task Manager is an advanced tool that comes with Windows 10 , and it provides a number of tabs that allow you to monitor the applications, processes and services running on your computer. However, you'll likely find yourself using the Processes tab more than anything else, because it lets you quickly see how system resources are utilized, which can be very helpful when trying to troubleshoot applications or find out why your computer is suddenly slow.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to use Task Manager to identify and stop processes that use excessive system resources, to keep your computer at top speeds.

How to use Task Manager to manage high-resource processes

Opening task manager.

If you want to use Task Manager to view and stop processes with high-resource usage, you first need to know how to open the tool. Here are a few ways to open Task Manager:

  • Right-click the Taskbar and click on Task Manager .
  • Open Start , do a search for Task Manager and click the result.
  • Use the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut.
  • Use the Ctrl + Alt + Del keyboard shortcut and click on Task Manager .
  • Use the Windows key + X keyboard shortcut to open the power-user menu and click on Task Manager .

If this is your first time opening Task Manager, the tool will probably open in compact mode, which only lists running applications. Click the More details button to access Task Manager in advanced mode.

Understanding the Processes tab

When you're in advanced mode, you'll see a number of tabs, including "Performance", "App history", "Startup", "Users", "Details", "Services", and the one we're interested in, the "Processes" tab. Typically, the Processes tab is the first place you want to go to detemine which process is draining your computer's resources. This tab lists all the running processes in a single view grouped by "Apps", "Background processes" and "Windows Processes". On Windows 10, you can also find multiple instances or other processes under the same process, which helps you to better understand how they're organized and how they use system resources.

You can always expand a group to see all the processes by clicking the chevron-right icon or by right-clicking the item and selecting Expand . Usually, you'll see groups for Windows processes when opening multiple tabs on your web browser or multiple File Explorer windows, for example.

Identifying processes with high-resource usage

If an application is not responding, a website is taking a long time to load, or your system fan starts getting loud, you can quickly use Task Manager to troubleshoot the problem. In the Processes tab, the first thing you want to look at is the percentage of the total resource use for the processor, memory, hard drive and network. You can click the column names to sort the list and bring to the top the ones using the most resources. If you see any of these resources running high (90 percent or higher), you might have found the problem.

Task Manager also uses colors to highlight processes that use the most resources. You'll notice that as a process starts to consume more resources, the color begins to change from a light- to a dark-shade of orange, making it easier to tell which one is causing the problem.

Typically, when you're not actively using applications and your computer isn't working on anything specific, such as maintenance, your total CPU usage should be less than 30 percent . Applications that are running, even if you're not using them, and processes use part of your computer's memory, and that usage will increase as you use or launch more applications. Memory usually won't be an issue unless you run out of it, in which case your computer will start using virtual memory, and that can cause your PC to slow down. Generally speaking, depending on your system configuration, your total memory usage should be below 60 percent . If you're not copying files or rendering videos, disk usage should be below 5 percent .

Network connectivity is almost never the reason your system is slow, but there could be a problem in the network causing web content to take a long time to load. If you're having problems downloading files, and you see "Network" stuck at 0 percent , you may have an idea of what's going on.

Stopping processes with high-resource usage

After you identify the problem, right-click the process, and select End task to terminate it. Alternatively, you can simply select the item and click the End task button in the bottom-right corner.

While stopping a process using the Task Manager will most likely stabilize your computer, ending a process can completely close an application or crash your computer, and you could lose any unsaved data. It's always recommended to save your data before killing a process, if possible.

If you're not sure about how the process you're trying to terminate affects your PC, you can right-click it, and select the Search online option. This action opens your web browser and displays a search result with more information about the process. Windows 10 is also smart enough to let you know if you're about to end an essential system process that can crash your computer.

Wrapping things up

Although there are many other ways to troubleshoot system performance, Task Manager gives you an easy way to find out at a glance why your computer is slow or if an app is not responding, and then quickly act on it. You can end an application that isn't responding using Task Manager in compact mode, but the advanced view gives you more information about processes that are acting up in Windows 10.

More Windows 10 resources

For more help articles, coverage, and answers to common Windows 10 questions, visit the following resources:

  • Windows 10 on Windows Central – All you need to know
  • Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks
  • Windows 10 forums on Windows Central

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Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is technical writer for WindowsCentral.com. His primary focus is to write comprehensive how-tos to help users get the most out of Windows 10 and its many related technologies. He has an IT background with professional certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, and CompTIA, and he's a recognized member of the Microsoft MVP community.

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How to Enable Task Manager in Windows

Last Updated: June 3, 2023 Tested

Using a Keyboard Shortcut

Using the registry, using group policy editor.

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA . Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 243,536 times. Learn more...

The Windows Task Manager provides info and tools relating to your PC's performance, including memory handling, CPU usage, and network stats. You can also use the tool to manage processes, perform maintenance, and implement quick fixes for problem apps. This wikiHow teaches you how to open the Task Manager in any version of Windows, plus what to do if you see the error "Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator" when trying to launch the tool.

Step 1 Press Ctrl+Alt+Del on the keyboard.

  • You may also be able to launch the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Esc .
  • If you're using Windows 10, you can also launch the Task Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Task Manager .

Step 2 Click Task Manager on the menu.

  • If you see an error that says "Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator" or the option is grayed-out, your account doesn't have permission to use the tool. If the PC is maintained by someone else, ask the admin to adjust your permissions.
  • If you are the admin of the PC and can't open the Task Manager, it's likely been disabled in the registry. This usually happens when your computer is infected with malware. [1] X Research source Scan your computer for malware and then see the Enabling Task Manager in the Registry method to re-enable it.

Step 3 Click More details to expand the full Task Manager view.

  • See How to Remove Malware to learn more about removing viruses and other malware.

Step 2 Press ⊞ Win+S to open the Windows search bar.

  • Follow the on-screen instructions to grant permission for the Registry Editor to run and enter your admin password if prompted.

Step 4 Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.

  • If you don't see the System option, skip to step 6.

Step 5 Right-click DisableTaskMgr in the right panel and select Delete.

  • DisableTaskMgr only appears when the Task Manager is disabled in the registry for this user. If you don't see it, just continue to the next step.

Step 6 Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.

  • If you don't see the System option, skip to step 8.

Step 7 Right-click DisableTaskMgr in the right panel and select Delete.

  • DisableTaskMgr only appears when the Task Manager is disabled in the registry for the PC. If you don't see it, just continue to the next step.

Step 8 Go to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.

  • If you haven't found the System at any of these paths, see the Enabling Task Manager in Group Policy Editor method.

Step 9 Right-click DisableTaskMgr in the right panel and select Delete.

  • If you didn't find DisableTaskMgr at any of these paths, see the Enabling Task Manager in Group Policy Editor method.

Step 10 Restart your PC.

  • The Group Policy Editor is not usually found on Home editions of Windows.

Step 3 Go to User Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Ctrl+Alt+Del Options.

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Video . by using this service, some information may be shared with youtube..

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  • ↑ https://techjourney.net/how-to-enable-or-disable-windows-task-manager/

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[Windows 11/10] How to use Task Manager to check computer performance

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Please go to the corresponding instruction based on the current Windows operating system on your computer:

Windows 11 operating system

Use Task Manager to check applications with the occupied computer resource

task manager laptop

  • If you would like to check  the used status of other resources (such as Disk, Network, or GPU),  please follow the above steps 3-6. 

End any malfunctioning processes

While you observe some  applications occupy a larger percentage of the resource , and you are not using them, if you want to end these processes, please try to normally close them first. (For example, open this application and click close.)

If it cannot be closed normally or the resource is still occupied in Task Manager after closing it, you can use Task Manager to force it to close.

Right-click on the process ① , then select  [End task] ② , this process will be forced to close.

Note :  If the type is not “App”  (such as Windows process), we don’t recommend that you force to close it to prevent any abnormal system operation.

task manager laptop

Windows 10 operating system

task manager laptop

  • If you would like to check  the used status of other resources (such as Disk, Network, or GPU), please follow the above steps 3-6. 

While you observe some applications occupy a larger percentage of the resource , and you are not using them, if you want to end these processes, please try to normally close them first. (For example, open this application and click close.)

Right-click on the process ① , then select [End task] ② , this process will be forced to close.

Note : If the type is not “App” (such as Windows process), we don’t recommend that you force to close it to prevent any abnormal system operation.

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How-To Geek

Seven ways to open the windows task manager.

Bringing up  Task Manager is not much of a task itself, but it's always fun knowing different ways of doing things.

Quick Links

Press ctrl+alt+delete, press ctrl+shift+esc, press windows+x to access the power user menu, right-click the taskbar, run "taskmgr" from the run box or start menu, browse to taskmgr.exe in file explorer, create a shortcut to task manager.

Bringing up  Task Manager is not much of a task itself, but it's always fun knowing different ways of doing things. And some of them might even come in handy if you can't open Task Manager the way you're used to.

Related: How to Use the New Task Manager in Windows 8 or 10

You're probably familiar with the three-finger salute---Ctrl+Alt+Delete. Up until Windows Vista was released, pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete brought you directly to Task Manager. Since Windows Vista, pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete now brings you to the Windows Security screen, which provides options for locking your PC, switching users, signing out, and running Task Manager.

task manager laptop

The quickest way to bring up Task Manager---assuming your keyboard's working---is to just press Ctrl+Shift+Esc. As a bonus, Ctrl+Shift+Esc offers a quick way to bring up Task Manager while using Remote Desktop or working inside a virtual machine (since Ctrl+Alt+Delete would signal your local machine instead).

Related: Beginner Geek: How to Create and Use Virtual Machines

Windows 8 and Windows 10 both feature a Power User menu that you can access by pressing Windows+X. The menu features quick access to all kinds of utilities, including Task Manager.

task manager laptop

If you prefer mouse to keyboard, one of the fastest ways to bring up Task Manager is to right-click any open space on your taskbar and choose "Task Manager." Just two clicks and you're there.

task manager laptop

The name of the executable file for Task Manager is "taskmgr.exe." You can launch Task Manager by hitting Start, typing "taskmgr" in the Start menu search box, and hitting Enter.

task manager laptop

You can also run it by hitting Windows+R to open the Run box, typing "taskmgr," and then hitting Enter.

task manager laptop

You can also launch Task Manager by opening its executable directly. This is definitely the longest way of opening Task Manager, but we're including it for the sake of completeness. Open up File Explorer and navigate to the following location:

C:\Windows\System32

Scroll down and look (or search) for taskmgr.exe, and then double click it.

task manager laptop

And last on our list is creating a nice, accessible shortcut to Task Manager. You can do this in a couple of ways. To pin a shortcut to your taskbar, go ahead and run Task Manager using any of the methods we've covered. While it's running, right-click the Task Manager icon on the taskbar and choose "Pin to Taskbar." After that, you'll be able to click the shortcut to run Task Manager anytime.

task manager laptop

If you want to create a shortcut on your desktop (or in a folder), right-click any empty space where you want to create the shortcut, and then choose New > Shortcut.

task manager laptop

In the Create Shortcut window, enter the following location into the box and then press "Next."

Type a name for the new shortcut, and then click "Finish."

Related: Make a Shortcut to Start Task Manager in Minimized Mode

That's the end of our list! Some methods are obviously more efficient than others, but if you're in a tough situation---keyboard or mouse not working, battling pesky malware virus, or whatever---any method that works is a good one. You can also check out our guide on how to start Task Manager in minimized mode during startup, so it will always be open when you turn your computer on.

Image by moonstar909

10 Windows Task Manager Tricks You Probably Didn't Know

Here are handy Task Manager tricks every Windows user should know, including how to bring up the Task Manager quickly and more!

Most Windows users only pull up the Task Manager when a program is frozen and they need to kill it. While it's perfectly fine to use the Task Manager this way, you're also overlooking some handy features if you never look deeper.

The Task Manager has seen some serious improvements since the days of Windows 7. Let's look at the best Task Manager tricks for Windows 10 that you should know.

1. How to Bring Up the Task Manager Quickly

Even if you know how to get to the Task Manager, you might not be aware of the different methods for doing so. While you can press Ctrl + Alt + Del to open the security screen and launch the Task Manager that way, this is a slow method.

Here's how to pull up the Task Manager quickly: use the Ctrl + Shift + Esc shortcut. This will instantly launch the app with no additional clicks needed. This is also how you bring the Task Manager to the front when it's minimized.

If you want to use the mouse instead, you can right-click on an empty spot of your Taskbar and choose Task Manager .

Finally, you'll find a shortcut to the Task Manager on the Power User menu. Right-click on the Start button or hit Win + X to open this. It's a handy Windows Task Manager shortcut because it works well whether your hands are on the mouse or keyboard.

Once you've opened the Task Manager, be sure to click More details to show the full interface, if it's not already active.

2. Find Out Why Apps Are Frozen

Task Manager Analyze Wait Chain

As mentioned before, the most common reason to open the Task Manager is to kill a frozen program (though you can force-close apps without the Task Manager ). But the next time you're in that situation, you can do more analysis first. It's possible that the program isn't frozen, but just taking a while to process a task.

Prematurely killing an active application could result in lost data, so it makes sense to wait and see if a frozen process resolves itself. This is where the Analyze Wait Chain feature in the Task Manager comes in handy. It can tell you when a process is stuck waiting on another process, which can help you identify why an app isn't responding.

To see which process is the real culprit, switch to the Details tab and find the process you want to look into. Right-click on it and choose Analyze wait chain to see the details. If that app is waiting on any other processes, you'll see them in the resulting window.

3. Restart Windows Explorer

Task Manager Restart File Explorer

The Windows Explorer process is responsible for many of the UI elements of Windows, such as the Taskbar, File Explorer, Start menu, and similar. If you have an issue with these elements, your first thought may be to restart your PC. While this will solve the issue, it's more convenient to restart Windows Explorer instead.

To do this, find Windows Explorer on the Processes tab of the Task Manager. Right-click it and choose Restart to kill the task and run it again. You'll see your Taskbar and other elements disappear for a moment, which is normal. After they come back, everything should be back to normal.

4. Monitor Performance and Resources

Task Manager Performance Tab

While the Task Manager provides an overview of all running processes and apps, it also has several tools for effectively monitoring the performance of your system and resource allocation.

Jump to the Performance tab to see these. Once you're there, have a look at the following tips.

Viewing Graphs

Along the left sidebar, you'll see fields for CPU , Memory , Disk , and other resources in your computer. Click one to view a real-time graph of its usage.

If you want to keep an eye on this information without keeping the full Task Manager open, right-click anywhere in the left sidebar and choose Summary View to display only that sidebar. You can instead right-click anywhere in the right panel and select Graph Summary View to display just the current graph.

Copy Diagnostic Info

Task Manager Copy Memory Info

With any resource type selected on the left, right-click anywhere and select Copy to place a diagnostic snapshot on your clipboard. You can then paste this into Notepad to save as a baseline or share it on a forum online to get troubleshooting help.

Access Useful Details

Each resource type has some interesting details that might come in handy. Under CPU , you'll find Up time , which shows how long it's been since the computer restarted.

In Memory , you can check the number of Slots used to figure out if you have room to add more. The Read speed and Write speed under Disk give you an idea of how fast your storage media performs, too.

Open Resource Monitor

If you want even more details that the Task Manager doesn't show you, click Open Resource Monitor at the bottom of the window. This utility is an advanced way to view real-time data about your system, including threads used, disk response times, exact breakdowns of RAM used by processes, and more.

5. Search Online for Suspicious Processes

Task Manager Search Online

Sometimes, you might find suspicious-looking process names in Task Manager. Most of the time they're legitimate, but it's always wise to double-check on ones you've never seen or heard of before.

Windows can help with this: just right-click on any process and select the Search online action. This will launch a Bing search in your browser with the process and app names. The results should help you determine whether it's safe or not. For more help, see our list of important processes you should never kill .

6. Add Extra Columns for More Details

By default, the Task Manager only shows a few columns in the Processes tab. While these cover the most important details, you can actually add several more columns just by right-clicking the header area.

These include:

  • Type , which tells you if the process is an App , Background process , or Windows process .
  • Publisher , which shows the developer of the program.
  • Process name , which is often the executable file. These will look familiar if you've used the Task Manager in Windows 7 or earlier.

Task Manager Add Columns

While you may find some or all of them useful at times, Process Name is particularly handy. It's easier to spot suspicious applications by their process name than their application name, and they're often easier to research too.

Note that you can also add extra columns on the Startup tab. Use these for troubleshooting purposes (like CPU at Startup to measure impact) or just to see which startup processes are still running (with the Running Now column).

7. Toggle Between Values and Percentages

Task Manager Change Values

When browsing the Processes list, the CPU column only shows in percentages. However, you can change the other three default columns between absolute values and percentages.

Percentages are better when you need a sense of how resource usage compares to the total amount available. It's nice to know an app is using 50MB of RAM, but seeing this is only two percent of all the RAM in your system puts it into perspective.

To toggle these, just right-click on any process, navigate to the Resource values submenu, pick the resource type you want to change, and select either Values or Percents .

8. Manage App Windows

Task Manager Switch To

Task Manager is far from the best window management tool available, but it does have a few actions that you might find useful. To access them, you must click the arrow next to an item you want to manage in order to show all its processes. This only works for items listed under the Apps section of the Processes tab, and it didn't work for all apps in our testing.

Once you've expanded an item to show all processes, right-click the indented entry and you'll see these window actions for that app:

  • Switch to: Brings the app into focus and minimizes the Task Manager.
  • Bring to front: Puts the app in focus, but doesn't minimize the Task Manager.
  • Minimize: Minimizes the program.
  • Maximize: Maximizes the application.
  • End Task: Kills the process.

9. Open App File Locations

Task Manager Open File Location

Do you often find yourself needing to navigate to the installed location of a certain program? Maybe you want to tweak some configuration files, or need to copy its file path for some reason.

Crawling through File Explorer is one way to do that, but it requires a lot of clicking. If the program is already running, Task Manager can help you get there a lot faster.

Just right-click on any process and select Open File Location . This will take you directly to the folder that contains the process's executable file. It's quite convenient, especially since software can live all across your file system.

This works for Apps , Background Processes , and Windows Processes , allowing you to quickly access pretty much anything that shows up under the Processes tab.

10. Adjust Task Manager Options

Task Manager Options

The Task Manager has a few preferences you can adjust to make the experience smoother. Under Options , you can enable Always on top to keep the Task Manager above other windows unless you manually minimize it. Also on this menu, select Set default tab to choose what the Task Manager should show when you open it.

Look under the View menu to make the Update speed faster or slower. You can even pause it if you need to examine a snapshot in time.

The Task Manager Is a Valuable Resource

For the average user, the Task Manager is more than enough to provide you with the system information you need to keep everything in check. Whether you want to keep an eye on resource usage or easily track down process locations, the Task Manager has you covered.

If you're a power user, check out some Task Manager alternatives for something with more options, as well as the open source PowerToys for Windows 10 .

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Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try

Before resorting to reinstalling Windows

Author avatar

If you notice anything unusual with your PC, the first thing you probably do is open the Windows Task Manager . You can then quickly shut down CPU-intensive apps or stuck processes and get things working correctly again. But what if you can’t get to it?

If you attempt to open the Task Manager, but it doesn’t show up, crashes, or you see a “Task Manager not responding” or “Task Manager has been disabled by the Administrator” message, you’ve got a potentially severe problem that needs fixing. We will show you how to do that in Windows 10 and 11.

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 1

Try Other Ways to Open Task Manager

You’ve got multiple ways to open the Task Manager in Windows . Suppose you have trouble getting it to show up via the Power User menu or taskbar. In that case, you may want to open it via the Ctrl + Alt + Delete screen (press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and select Task Manager ) or use the dedicated Task Manager shortcut (press Ctrl + Shift + Esc ) instead. If the problem persists, it’s time to start troubleshooting.

Tip : Have you tried restarting your computer? It sounds like a simple thing to do, but it does help resolve unexpected issues with Windows. Open the Start menu and select Power > Restart to perform a system reboot.

1. Scan for Malicious Activity

Given the Task Manager’s importance to the user, computer viruses often attack and disable it to stop you from interacting with it. So, it’s best to kick things off by scanning your computer for malware.

We recommend that you use Malwarebytes . It’s incredibly effective at malware removal, and the free version is more than enough for the task at hand.

1. Download, install, and open Malwarebytes.

2. Select Scanner .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 2

3. Select Advanced scanners .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 3

4. Select Configure scan .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 4

5. Select the primary partition on your computer— C . Then, leave the rest of the default selections in place and select Scan .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 5

Sometimes, malware infections can be widespread and prevent you from installing or using an antivirus utility. In that case, check out our guide to removing stubborn malware from your PC .

2. Check the Registry Editor

If you see a “Task Manager has been disabled by the Administrator” error despite scanning your computer for malware, run through the Registry Editor-related fix below.

1. Press Windows + R to open the Run box.

2. Type regedit and press Enter .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 6

3. Copy and paste the following path into the top of the Windows Registry Editor window and press Enter :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 7

4. Select the System folder on the left navigation pane.

5. Double-click the registry entry labeled DisableTaskmgr .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 8

5. Enter a value of 0 and select OK .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 9

If you don’t see the registry entry in step 5, try creating it yourself. Right-click a vacant area on the right side of the Registry Editor window and select New > DWORD (32-BIT) Value . Then, name it as DisableTaskMgr , and set it up with a value of 0 .

3. Check Group Policy Editor

If the issue with the Task Manager persists, you must check the Group Policy Editor on your computer and reconfigure a specific policy. Skip this fix if you use the Home edition of Windows 10 or 11.

1. Open the Run box.

2. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 10

2. Navigate to the following location on the left sidebar:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Ctrl + Alt + Del Options

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 11

3. Right-click the Remove Task Manager policy and select Edit .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 12

4. Select Not configured or Disabled .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 13

5. Select Apply > OK to save your changes.

4. Re-Enable Task Manager

Re-Enable is a third-party applet that can quickly re-activate system-related apps after a malware attack. Here’s how to use it.

1. Download, install, and open Re-Enable.

2. Select the radio button next to Task Manager and select Re-Enable .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 14

3. Select Yes to reboot your computer.

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 15

5. Run System File Checker and DISM Tool

Next up, run the System File Checker (SFC) and the DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) tool to fix stability issues with the operating system. To do that:

1. Right-click the Start button and select Windows PowerShell (Admin) or Windows Terminal (Admin) .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 16

2. Select Yes on the User Account Control (UAC) pop-up.

3. Type the following command and press Enter :

sfc /scannow

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 17

4. Wait until the System File Checker scans for and resolves any integrity violations in Windows.

5. Follow that by running the DISM tool:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

Alternatively, you can run both command-line tools via the Command Prompt console. Type cmd into the Start menu and select Run as administrator to open it.

6. Create New Windows Account

A corrupt Windows user profile can also create issues with various system-related apps and services. Create a new account on your computer, sign into it, and check if the Task Manager opens as usual.

1. Open the Start menu and select Settings .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 18

2. Select Accounts .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 19

3. Select Family & other users .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 20

4. Under Other users , select Add account .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 21

5. Select I don’t have this person’s sign-in information .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 22

6. Select Add a user without a Microsoft account .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 23

7. Insert a username and create a local account.

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 24

8. Open the Start menu , select your profile portrait, and sign into the new account.

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 25

9. Try opening the Task Manager. If you can, here’s what you can then do to migrate your data into the new user account .

7. Update the Operating System

Updating Windows is another fix that can help, especially if the Task Manager freezes at launch or you run into the “Task Manager not responding” error message.

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Select Windows Update .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 26

3. Select Check for updates > Download & install .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 27

You can also uninstall any recent Windows updates if your problems with the Task Manager occurred right after installing them.

8. Restore Windows

If none of the fixes above help, you can choose to restore Windows to an earlier state. However, that’s only possible if you already have System Restore set up.

1. Open the Start menu , type System Protection into the Search box, and press Enter .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 28

2. Under the System Protection tab, select System Restore .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 29

3. Select Next .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 30

4. Pick a restore point from a time when you didn’t have issues opening the Task Manager.

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 31

5. Select Finish .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 32

9. Factory-Reset Windows

If System Restore is not active on your computer, consider resetting Windows to factory defaults . Although it’s possible to do that without losing personal files, it’s still a good idea to create a backup of your data before proceeding.

1. Open the Settings app on your PC.

2. Select Update & Security .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 33

3. Select Recovery .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 34

4. Select Reset this PC .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 35

5. Select Keep my files .

Windows Task Manager Won’t Open? 10 Fixes to Try image 36

If you have trouble initiating a factory reset from within Windows, you can choose to do that after booting into the Windows Recovery Environment at startup.

10. Install a Task Manager Alternative

If you don’t want to reset Windows to factory defaults, you can always use Task Manager alternatives such as Process Monitor and Process Explorer . These third-party programs are just as good, if not better.

However, not being able to open the Task Manager can indicate a much larger problem (such as a serious malware infestation that could put your data at risk), so you may still want to reset or reinstall Windows as soon as possible.

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Dilum Senevirathne is a freelance tech writer and blogger with three years of experience writing for online technology publications. He specializes in topics related to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Google web apps. When he isn't hammering away at his Magic Keyboard, you can catch him binge-watching productivity hacks on YouTube. Read Dilum's Full Bio

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3 ways to lock your Windows 11 laptop — easily secure your PC

It's a good idea to lock your laptop whenever you leave it

windows 11 on laptop

Whether you're studying with friends in the library and quickly step away to use the restroom, or you're working in a coffee shop and leave your laptop at a table while you order a refill, it's better to be safe than sorry and lock your laptop before you leave. This might seem like overkill when you're at home, but it's a good practice to get into for when you're using your laptop in public.

Locking your laptop won't protect against someone physically stealing your laptop, but it'll make it more difficult for someone to access your personal, private data. But it only takes a few seconds to lock your Windows 11 laptop with one of these three methods, and that's at least one additional layer of protection between your laptop and someone with malicious intent.

1. Use a keyboard shortcut to quickly lock your PC

The easiest and fastest way to lock your Windows 11 PC is by using keyboard shortcut. Press the Windows key, and then press the L key. This will immediately bring up the lockscreen that prompts you for your password, if you have one.

Alternatively, you can use the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keyboard shortcut if your computer is acting up. Select Lock from the menu that pops up.

2. Lock your Windows 11 PC via the Start menu

Another easy way to lock your Windows 11 laptop is through the Start menu. 

1. Click on the Start button by the Search bar at the bottom of your screen, or press the Windows key on your keyboard.

2. Click on your user name in the bottom left corner of the menu that pops up

3. Select Lock from the available options.

3. Use Task Manager to lock a Windows 11 PC

If one of the two options above don't work for you, there's a third easy way to lock a computer running Windows 11: Task Manager.

1. Open Task Manager using the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut, or by typing "Task Manager" into the Search box at the bottom of your screen.

2. Click on the Users tab in the left-side menu. If the menu isn't expanded, you might only see the Users icon depicting two people. 

3. On this screen, select the user whose account you want to lock, and click Disconnect in the Task Manager program.

Locking your Windows 11 PC when it's not in use is just one of many ways to protect your laptop . One of the best ways to prevent unwanted people from accessing your laptop is by setting a solid password. If you know your password is pretty easy to guess, check out how to change your password in Windows 11 to create a strong password .

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Microsoft PC Manager is now available on the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 and 11

Microsoft PC Manager is now available on the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 and 11

Microsoft has released its CCleaner-like app, called Microsoft PC Manager on its app store for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Here is a closer look at the program, and how it works.

The Redmond company has frowned upon programs like Piriform CCleaner, and I agree, most of these so-called "system utilities" are snake oil. So, how does Microsoft PC Manager differ from the rest? You may recall that we first reported about the app in 2021 , when it was available on a limited basis.

You can think of Microsoft PC Manager as a user-friendly dashboard that provides access to various options. The app's interface is well-designed, and rather simple, it almost feels like a mobile app, but that's mostly because you cannot resize the window.

Microsoft PC Manager Windows 10 and 11 interface

The Home page is divided into 2 main sections, the first of which is called PC Boost. It displays the current memory usage of your computer in the form of a vertical bar and percentage. The other bar next to it indicates the amount of storage space that is used by Temporary files. There is a large Boost button which you can click to free up the memory and delete the temporary files. The app suggests enabling a feature called Smart Boost, which will automatically "boost your PC", when it detects high usage of RAM, or if there are 1GB of temporary files. Frankly, I'm not convinced that the boost does anything.

Moving on to the next section, Health Check runs a scan to delete the browser cache, windows cache, temporary files, etc. It also has a System Protection setting using which you can reset the taskbar, and displays a list of apps that are set to startup with Windows.

The Process button, when clicked upon, displays a list of all processes that are currently running. It is not as extensive as the Windows Task Manager, but that's fine. Microsoft PC Manager's process management tool lists the processes along with their name, the amount of memory that is used by the process, and an End button that can be used to kill the task.

The Deep Clean option on the app's Home page, runs a scan to clean up the system, application cache (e.g. storage used by browsers), the recycle bin, and Web Cache (including Edge).

The Startup section in the program shows you the programs that have auto run enabled, and also tells you the impact time caused by each app, i.e. the delay it causes. You may click the toggle next to each app to disable them. Microsoft PC Manager recommends some apps to be left on, such as the OneDrive app. I'm not sure whether the Startup tool works, because it kept showing 1 sec, whereas my laptop boots in 5–10 seconds, and the app impact times are always "unknown", even after multiple restarts.

The System Protection tab on the PC Manager's sidebar allows access to some useful tools. The Virus & Threat Protection tool has a scan button that runs a scan via Windows Security (Defender). The Windows Update tool checks if any new updates are available for the operating system.

Microsoft PC Manager Windows 10 and 11 system protection

The Default browser settings opens up the Settings > Apps > Default apps section, which you can use to change to a different web browser of your choice. Similarly, you can use the Restore Defaults apps option to check which apps are assigned for opening Office Documents, web pages and PDF documents. Microsoft once again, unsurprisingly, uses this screen to promote its own products, i.e. Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Edge. The Taskbar repair tool has options to restore the taskbar's appearance by removing third-party extensions, and also lets you restore the search box and the widgets button on the taskbar.

Microsoft PC Manager has a pop-up management tool that can automatically block pop-ups in apps. Oh, really? That's ironical, because Microsoft itself has been found guilty of displaying pop-ups to promote Edge, and the free upgrade to Windows 11. While it is not a pop-up, PC Manager has a banner to promote various tips, which could be considered an ad because it did promote other products from the company, such as the OneDrive mobile app.

Microsoft PC Manager Windows 10 and 11 storage management

The Storage section has a Deep cleanup option which is identical to its namesake found on the app's homepage. Though it is useful, it did not erase the Windows Update files that the Disk Cleanup tool can. If you are running out of storage, you may find the Manage large files handy, as it can scan for documents, pictures, compressed folders, videos, audio files, or other files. You can set the minimum file size to 10 MB, 50 MB, 100 MB, or 1 GB.

The Process Management, and Startup apps under Microsoft PC Manager's Apps section are identical to the tools found on the program's home page. The Manage apps option opens the Settings > Apps > Installed Apps page, while the Microsoft Store shortcut opens the Store app.

Microsoft PC Manager Windows 10 and 11 toolbox

PC Manager has a Toolbox which is essentially a bunch of shortcuts for the screenshot action (Snipping Tool), to open the screenshot folder, sound recorder, Notepad, Calculator, etc. The Toolbox page has a toggle at the top, which will show a toolbar on the desktop (when the app is running).

Microsoft PC Manager Windows 10 widget

Download Microsoft PC Manager from the Microsoft Store . You can learn more about the app on its official website . It is not exclusive to Windows 11, the app supports Windows 10 version 19042.0 or higher, and is available for x64 / Arm64 architecture.

If you know your way around Windows' Settings, and use tools like BleachBit, TreeSize Free, Microsoft Sysinternals, Nirsoft apps, etc., the new app is not for you. Microsoft PC Manager seems to be targeted at novice users who may not know basic things like how to reset the default apps, disable apps from starting automatically, etc. So they may find the app useful.

The next time someone asks you to help speed up their computer, you could recommend Microsoft PC Manager. It might help them, and if nothing else, this can be a safe way to prevent non-tech savvy users from downloading some random system utility which turns out to be malware that tricks users into an elaborate phishing scam.

Microsoft PC Manager isn't really going to boost your PC's performance magically, nothing except a hardware upgrade will do that. FYI, a decent 256 GB SSD costs around $20 to $25. It is much better to invest in those than buying random software that promises peak performance.

Microsoft PC Manager is now available on the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 and 11

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Tutorials & tips.

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Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

Stay away from CCleaner and other 3rd party apps! Just use Microsoft PC Manager!

Try BLEACHBIT. It’s free and open source software.

You’re welcome.

I don’t recommend Bleachbit to unexperienced users, it’s too much powerful deleting what you need, leaving what you don’t expect.

Somehow I have ( and had also during beta like many others) a problem installing it from the Microsoft App Store. We were provided with an offline installer, so we could install it :

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/when-i-try-to-download-microsoft-pc-manager-when/9b196463-a9d8-4cb8-9df8-05eda576f45d

But I can’t find an offline installer for this release. Who can help ?

Greetz, Red.

Wil·this work, Red?

https://pcmanager.microsoft.com/en-us

There appears to have been o mention on GHacks of Microsoft’s latest blunder. Many users are affected. 2 of my 3 PCs have the issue. Yes, I know how to fix it. But, there are some risks involved. So like others, I will wait for Microsoft to fix it.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/update-kb5034441-fails-to-install/1b127728-67ce-4206-8978-b3b0e38044a8

Can be fixed in less than 5 minutes with any (free) partition software. For example with Easeus Partition master if the recovery partition is at the beginning of the drive – shrink C:\ for 500mb at the start and move it to the right, enlarge the recovery partition for 500mb. It’s even easier and faster with some cmd commands if recovery is at the end of the drive, just google “KB5028997 resize” because the procedure is the same for KB5034441.

For techies like us, this is not a problem. HOWEVER, this is NOT something the average user can do.

In my case, the recovery partition is also the windows partition based on info from “reagent /info” and “diskpart”. I have no idea how this happened. I suspect that I could turn off recovery, shrink the windows partition, create a 750MB recovery partition.

Doesn’t look like it contains a single novel feature, that doesn’t already exist or wasn’t already possible.

If someone wants to get better at maintaining their system, this is not the way to do it. Learning to use this thing, and relying on it, would actually amount to a shot in the foot for anyone trying to learn windows.

Also Ashwin, I love ya buddy, but “ironical” is not a word, and well, even if it is, please refer to this:

“ironical means it uses irony, where ironic means it is an example of irony”, 10/10 times the word you’re looking for is “ironic”.

they will sell premium license for this program in the future, that’s why they’re releasing this program. Many people download trash programs like CCleaner, Advanced System Care, Driver Booster, etc. Microsoft see potential to make money from this fools

I had once taken a try on this App to do a “cleanup”. This fxxxing tool cleared up my whole Firefox profile!! FXXX U, M$FT! The lucky thing is I have a system backup.

“The Redmond company has frowned upon programs like Piriform CCleaner, and I agree, most of these so-called “system utilities” are snake oil.”

So then why are you always showing off CCleaner on this site?

They’re not, the owners of the site inject ads, that’s all.

I will stick with Glary Utilities for everyday cleanup and Registry Organizer for weekly/monthly deeper cleaning.

A snake oil app is the best thing Microsoft can come up with nowadays? What a joke! The classic Disk Cleanup is more than enough. The one inside settings is confusing and useless.

Thanks @Martin! :]

Not sure I trust Microsoft, a company which likes to get as much information about a person and their computer useage as possible, to do things as completely as CCleaner or other such programs do.

Check goretsky’s comment from Neowin post

https://www.neowin.net/news/microsofts-official-app-for-improving-performance-in-windows-10-and-11-lands-in-the-store/

I had written about why this program exists earlier on Neowin, so I do not want to repeat that. But since the program is now in the Microsoft Store, though, I thought I would take a look at that version. I just did that, and I found a couple of curious things about it:

1. Under Storage ? Deep cleanup ? System cleanup, there is an option to delete the items in the Windows Prefetch directory. Microsoft has long warned users and developers of cleaner/performance/tweaking tools to not remove the files in this directory as they are managed by the Windows operating system’s prefetcher and the operating system should be allowed to manage it. This application not only has the option to delete the files in this directory, it even says “These files do not need to be kept.” in the description. This represents a complete turnaround on Microsoft’s guidance of leaving the system prefetcher alone, which has been their advice since the Windows XP days.

2. Despite ostensibly being a Microsoft application, under Toolbox ? Custom links this program recommends/links to two Chinese websites, https[:]//www[.]officeplus[.]cn/ppt-assistant/?source=OPCNPCMPromotion and https[:]//www[.]kingpdf[.]cn/?tid1=268&tid2=2 (URLs obfuscated to prevent accidental click-thru). The former offers some kind of PowerPoint assistant for making slide decks, and appears to be operated by a company named Microsoft Mobile Lianxin Internet Services Co., Ltd., which sounds like a Chinese joint-venture of Microsoft’s. The latter appears to be operated by a company named Hainan Chuangye Star Technology Co., Ltd. and offers a PDF editor that appears to copy Microsoft Word’s user interface and PDF editing functionality. Looking at these URLs, they both appear to contain some kind of referral code links, which could mean that Microsoft, or at least the author(s) of this application, are collecting some revenue from visits to or purchases made through those web pages.

Based on these two observations, I would be very cautious about installing this application, even though it is published directly from Microsoft.

Aryeh Goretsky

The Windows Prefetch Directory: On a computer I use for testing programs, installing, running, uninstalling [using a “tracing” uninstaller] numerous programs over a month, I may clear the Prefetch folder since I know a number of files will never be accessed again; however, I also know it’s somewhat pointless because Windows maintains the cache rather well.

But, let’s see what CoPilot has to say:

Should I delete the prefetch files on my Windows 11?

“The Prefetch folder in Windows is used to store information about the way your computer starts and which programs you commonly open. This information helps speed up the start process and the loading of frequently used applications.

Deleting the files in the Prefetch folder is generally safe and will not harm your operating system. However, it’s important to note that doing so may not necessarily improve the performance of your system. In fact, it could cause Windows and your programs to take longer to open the next time you turn on your computer.

Here are some key points to consider:

Windows maintains a maximum of 128 entries in the Prefetch folder and cleans itself automatically. If you don’t run a program, Windows does not access the Prefetch information. . If you delete the Prefetch folder, Windows and applications will need noticeably more time to start, as the Prefetch data needs to be collected again. So, while you can delete the files in the Prefetch folder to free up some space, it’s not necessarily recommended as a regular practice for improving system performance.

If you’re looking to speed up your system, there might be other more effective methods to consider, such as disk cleanup or optimizing your system settings. Always remember to backup any important files before making changes to your system.”

It used to be the case that CCleaner claimed that it only cleared out those prefetch entries that hadn’t been used for some time (I think it was 2 months?), so eliminating all the installer entries that took up many/most of the 128 available slots. Not much of a time saver now, esp. given the take up of SSD/M2’s since then, but maybe a tiny boot-time reduction for users with 5400/notebook drives.

Removing [i]all[/i] prefetch entries (which appears to be what PC Manager does) still isn’t a ‘good’ idea for anyone without SSD/M2 boot drives.

Could be useful for novices who tend to avoid deep dives into their PC’s for fear of doing something they shouldn’t.

Thanks @Ashwin! Is this a free app? :/

Yes, free as in a product from MS that is in an initial release which hasn’t been tested by a majority of users–as far as I know. Does it automatically make a Restore Point before performing cleanup/tweaks? If not, make one. In all honesty, I would be afraid to use it.

I can imagine the headlines two weeks out: “Users Complain of Blue Screen-Black Screen Death after Using MS PC Manager.”

Yes, it is free.

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A good task management software will give you the tools you need to organize projects for your business and help individuals, teams and businesses stay organized and productive. They offer a range of features and capabilities depending on the complexities of your business and projects, allowing you to set deadlines, assign tasks to team members, allocate resources and track and report on progress.

Finding the best task management software for your business means considering a range of factors, like the core features on offer, the customer service you’ll get and the ability to scale up according to your needs. We’ve tried and tested some of the biggest platforms available to give you our list of best task management software in 2024.

Best free task management software

  • Notion : Best for flexibility.
  • ClickUp : Best for customization.
  • Trello : Best for automation.
  • Hive : Best for collaboration.
  • Zoho Projects : Best for startups using Zoho.
  • Teamwork : Best for client task management.
  • Monday : Best for individuals and freelancers.
  • Asana : Best for complex tasks.
  • Podio : Best for app building.
  • GoodDay : Best for scaling up.

Why trust our small business experts

Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of business products and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best product for your situation. We use a data-driven methodology to determine each rating. Advertisers do not influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.

  • 62 companies reviewed.
  • 164 products reviewed.
  • 2,028 data points analyzed.

Best for flexibility

Notion

Cheapest paid plan (billed monthly)

Number of users, number of projects/tasks, what you should know.

Notion is a versatile task management platform that gives you a high degree of control and customization even on its free plan. With an abundance of views and formats, including Kanban boards, Gantt charts, calendar views and to-do lists, it offers users multiple ways to track and organize projects. You can also make use of thousands of templates built by Notion and its users, catering to an array of health and fitness, work and office and day-to-day home management needs.

You won’t need to pay anything to get unlimited pages and workflows as an individual, but you’ll need to upgrade to give multiple users full functionality. While you can upload unlimited files on the free plan, you’ll be limited to 5 MB per file, as well as a seven-day history and one synced database.

We’d recommend it if you want to use one platform to manage a variety of project and task types with flexible views and displays; it’s particularly good for content creators.

Pros and cons

  • Multiple views, including Kanban boards, Gantt charts and to-do lists.
  • Thousands of versatile templates for things like health and fitness, work and home.
  • Free version offers individuals unlimited pages and workflows.
  • Custom automation features only available on paid plans.
  • Maximum file upload of 5 MB on free plan.
  • Limited admin and security features on free plan.

Best for customization

ClickUp

ClickUp’s free platform gives you a highly capable and customizable task management platform with an unlimited number of tasks and members. It also offers 24/7 customer service on all plans. You’ll be able to view tasks in unlimited lists, boards and calendars, but you’ll only get 60 uses of Gantt charts, timelines and workloads.

The free plan also allows custom statuses and up to 20 custom task types, as well as other useful features like multiple assignees, checklists, dependencies and a basic custom field manager. However, you’ll only be able to create five “spaces” as part of the free plan — unlimited spaces are only available on paid plans. There are also no time-tracking features and very limited other reporting capabilities.

  • Free version offers unlimited free plan members and tasks.
  • A range of views, including Kanban boards and Gantt charts.
  • 24/7 customer support on all plans.
  • Limits on how many views, custom fields and workloads you can use.
  • No time tracking features.
  • Only five ‘spaces’ on free plan.

Best for automation

Trello

While Trello’s free platform only offers its Kanban-style board view, its two main highlights are its automation services and unlimited power-ups. With its Butler automation, you’ll be able to create rules, buttons and commands, and repetitive actions are recognized with suggested automations that help increase productivity. Third-party apps you can integrate include Slack, Jira, Gmail, Microsoft Teams and Google Drive.

You’ll be limited to 10 MB file uploads and only 10 boards per workspace, though with unlimited storage and workspaces for all plans, this isn’t too restrictive. It’s not ideal if you want to see projects and tasks in calendar or timeline views, but as a basic task manager with smart automation tools, it can be a useful platform for individuals and small businesses.

  • Very straightforward and easy to use.
  • Built-in automation features, including an automation bot called Butler.
  • Unlimited power-up feature lets you integrate third-party apps.
  • File uploads are limited to 10 MB per file.
  • You only get up to 10 boards per workspace.
  • Limited view options.

Best for collaboration

Hive

Hive comes with its own native communication tools, allowing for straightforward collaboration with up to 10 workspace members on its free plan. As a task manager, it’s fairly capable, offering unlimited tasks and subtasks as well as multiple views such as Kanban, Gantt, calendars and tables. However, you’ll only get two pages and 100 workflows, and while Kanban views are unlimited, the free plan only offers 100 uses of Gantt, calendar and table views.

Your ability to customize projects and tasks will also be fairly restricted with no custom fields or labels, and your storage limit on the free plan will be 200 MB overall. Its free plan also comes without a few other features, such as AI assists, custom dashboards and analytics. We’d recommend it as a simple free task manager for small teams working together that will benefit from its native collaborative tools.

  • Native collaboration and communication tools.
  • Multiple views and layouts.
  • Unlimited tasks and sub-tasks.
  • 200 MB storage limit.
  • 10 projects and two pages on free plan.
  • No custom project fields or task labels.

Best for startups using Zoho

Zoho projects.

Zoho Projects

Zoho offers a project manager as part of its larger suite of tools and products, offering a free version for up to three users as well as a 10-day free trial on its paid plans. You’ll be able to manage two projects, create feeds, share documents and custom statuses and set up task dependencies within projects. It’s particularly useful for startups already making use of other Zoho products like CRM, Meeting and Sprints, all of which integrate into the free platform.

You can also use third-party app integrations for Microsoft Teams and Office 365, Slack, Dropbox, Zendesk and Zapier. However, there are some significant limitations to the free version, including limited customization — you can’t create custom fields or views, and there are only basic reporting capabilities.

  • Integrates with Zoho CRM, Meeting and Sprints.
  • Straightforward and easy to use.
  • Offers useful core features, including document sharing, subtasks and custom statuses.
  • Only three users and two projects on free plan.
  • No Gantt charts, custom views, time tracking or custom fields.

Best for client task management

Teamwork

Teamwork will be particularly useful for agencies needing to manage client tasks, as it comes with built-in billable time-tracking features and estimated time management. It also offers client-level insights and client-company management, though you’ll only get client users with premium paid plans. With Teamwork, you’ll also get a range of automation features, including automatic Slack updates, HubSpot deals and Microsoft Teams messages.

It does have drawbacks in the shape of limited reporting capabilities — while all plans come with a dashboard, only premium paid plans offer reports on status, portfolio health, time, utilization and profitability. You also won’t have any phone, live chat or email support options on its free plan.

  • Billable time-tracking and invoicing features useful for agencies.
  • Client views and management features.
  • Wide range of automation features.
  • No phone, live chat or email support.
  • Limited reporting and customization options.
  • No client users on free plan.

Best for individuals and freelancers

Monday

Monday is a popular task management platform with businesses worldwide, but we’d recommend its free plan specifically for individuals and freelancers managing their businesses. It offers a straightforward Kanban interface only, with over 200 templates available, so you’ll be able to create up to three boards with two users and unlimited documents.

However, Monday’s free plan is missing a number of wider features like timeline, Gantt and calendar views, as well as offering no integrations or automations. It’s a relatively simplistic platform compared to others, so we’d recommend it more for individuals than teams that will need more advanced collaboration and reporting capabilities.

  • Over 200 templates available.
  • Apps for iOS and Android.
  • Intuitive and easy to use interface.
  • No integrations on free version.
  • Only offers Kanban view.

Best for complex tasks

Asana

We’d recommend Asana’s powerful platform as an ideal choice for small businesses managing complex tasks or projects with plenty of moving parts. With unlimited tasks, projects, file storage, assignees and messages alongside multiple views such as boards, calendars and lists all included on its free plan, it’s a capable piece of software. You’ll also have access to over 100 free third-party integrations such as Microsoft Teams, Adobe Creative Cloud, Okta and Tableau.

However, you won’t be able to use timelines, Gantt views, goals or portfolios with the free plan, nor time-tracking, workflows or various automation features. The free plan is also fairly limited when it comes to reporting, with only status updates and CSV and PDF exports available.

  • Unlimited project management essential features.
  • Multiple views available.
  • Over 100 free integrations.
  • Limited reporting features.
  • No 24/7 support.

Best for app building

Podio

Podio offers a unique solution for businesses that will benefit from building their own customized project management apps to suit their specific needs. As well as the ability to design a bespoke task manager for your team, you’ll have access to hundreds of user-created apps online. It allows you to keep all important aspects of your business and projects in one central place, depending on the requirements of you and your team.

However, its free version is limited in the other features it offers — including the number of items and client users you can support. It also doesn’t offer automated workflows or visual reports, so keep this in mind if you’re considering Podio.

  • You can build your own customizable apps for project management.
  • You’ll also have access to hundreds of pre-made apps.
  • Live chat support available.
  • Limited features on the free plan.
  • Takes a while to set up and customize to your exact specifications.

Best for scaling up

GoodDay

With a robust set of features and capabilities as well as relatively affordable price plans for upgrading, we’d recommend GoodDay for businesses looking to scale up their operations. Its free version is already quite powerful, offering unlimited projects and tasks for up to 15 users, with views including lists, boards, tables, calendars, event summaries and portfolios. You can customize views, priorities, workflows and statuses, as well as set up dependencies, reminders and to-do lists.

Other customization options are only available on paid plans, such as task, project and user fields, as well as task types and IDs. Additionally, many security features and all CRM features are only available when you upgrade, but with the next price plan up only costing $6 per month, it’s an affordable choice for scaling up.

  • Unlimited projects and tasks.
  • Unlimited views, with most available on free plan.
  • Powerful features for big businesses with affordable plans for scaling up.
  • Many customization options unavailable on free plan.
  • No finance, time tracking, chats or automation.

Best task management software comparison

Methodology

We extensively research the key competitors within an industry to determine the best products and services for your business. Our experts identify the factors that matter most to business owners, including pricing, features and customer support, to ensure that our recommendations offer well-rounded products that will meet the needs of various small businesses.

We collect extensive data to narrow our best list to reputable, easy-to-use products with stand-out features at a reasonable price point. And we look at user reviews to ensure that business owners like you are satisfied with our top picks’ services. We use the same rubric to assess companies within a particular space so you can confidently follow our blueprint to the best free task management software.

The best task management software has positive user reviews on customer review sites and app stores. Task management software companies should provide customers with fast and reliable support. Using a combination of phone support, live chat and knowledge bases, customers should be able to quickly resolve issues 24/7.

Task management software should have role assignment features, timelines and dependencies. It should also allow businesses to use customizable templates, track expenses and track milestones.

And the best task management software should offer client access, billing and invoice capabilities and budgeting features.

What is task management software and how does it work?

Task management software is a digital tool you can use as an individual or a business to manage, organize and prioritize tasks. While levels of features and capabilities will vary between platforms, many also offer the ability to communicate between team members, share files and updates and track progress toward objectives. 

You’ll be able to use task management software to create and assign tasks, set deadlines, allocate resources and allow for collaboration between colleagues. These tools can help you and your business increase productivity and efficiency. However, it’s important to be aware of how complex your needs are. 

Some task management programs can be complex and could end up reducing your productivity and organization, which is why it’s so important to find the right platform for your needs.

Benefits of free task management software

Using task management software can offer a number of benefits for individuals and businesses, including:

  • Free forever: A good free task management software will offer unlimited projects or workflows without any extra costs — not just a free trial before you have to pay.
  • Productivity: Task management platforms can increase your team’s productivity through automation, progress tracking and reporting, saving time on repetitive tasks.
  • Centralized workflow: You can use task management software to keep all workflows centralized, allowing easy access for all team members and collaborators to stay updated and informed.
  • Collaboration: You’ll be able to clearly assign roles and allocate resources on projects and tasks to different team members, and many platforms also allow team members to work together and communicate. 
  • Manage big projects: Complex and lengthy projects can be broken down into separate tasks and workflows with multiple teams and team members. 
  • Remote workers: If you rely on remote workers or freelancers, many task management platforms allow all team members to collaborate online from any location.

Who needs task management software?

Task management software can prove useful for a variety of individuals and businesses. You might be a freelancer with a number of client tasks to manage or a hobbyist running a side hustle — in which case, a free task manager will be ideal. 

Likewise, small teams and businesses can also benefit from using task management software to organize and track workflow progress for team projects. A free plan or trial period offers a great way to try out different platforms and products so you can find one that suits your needs best before committing to a paid plan with more features and capabilities required by your business.

How to choose the best task management software

Choosing the best free task management software for your business means considering a range of factors and how each of these will best suit your needs. You will need to think about the core features offered by each platform, as well as whether it plugs into any existing software you have and how easy and intuitive it is to use. 

Additionally, you should look into the customer support options each platform offers, as this will be crucial in case things go wrong and your work is at risk.

Key features to look for

Levels of complexity and customization will vary between platforms, but in general, you should look out for the following features as part of your task management software:

  • Sub-tasks: Key to keeping big projects organized, task managers should allow you to split tasks and assign different deadlines and workers to each sub-task.
  • Views and visualizations: You should also be able to see your tasks and projects in different views, like Kanban dashboards or Gantt charts. You may find these to be limited in free versions of some platforms, so check price plans to ensure you’re getting what you need.
  • Integration: If you have any existing software or hardware in use for your business, such as finance and accounting apps, design tools or communication platforms, it’s worth seeing if these will plug into the task management software you want. It helps keep everything synchronized and centralized.
  • Tracking and reporting: Your task manager should also allow you to track task and project progress against deadlines and objectives, as well as generate reports. 
  • Automation: Some platforms will even offer automation services that let you set up automatic tracking and reporting.
  • Collaboration: Lastly, if you’re managing a team’s workload, it’s vital they can work together, so look for task management software that allows for communication and role delegation.

Ease of use

Some task management tools will be relatively simple and easy to use, with intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces that allow for straightforward organization. However, others offer more complex capabilities, including multiple views like Gantt charts, calendars, lists and galleries, automated reporting and collaboration between multiple team members. 

Consider what you’ll need the software for, how many people and tasks you’ll be managing and what kind of insights you’ll want when making your choice.

Security 

You should also factor in any security requirements you might have, especially if you’re a big organization or you use third-party apps, providers or even freelancers. Being able to control access on multiple levels may be particularly important. Additionally, consider things like two-factor authentication, secure sharing and data protection when choosing platforms.

Customer service

If something goes wrong with your task manager, it can affect your business’s ability to complete projects and assure stakeholders of progress. Customer service is a key part of being able to resolve issues, so look for providers that offer both round-the-clock availability and instant contact by phone or live chat as a priority.

How much does task management software cost?

When looking for free task management software, consider whether it’s truly free forever — meaning you’ll have access to all the features on the free plan forever without having to pay. 

While this might mean many advanced features are hidden behind paywalls, you’ll at least be able to rely on the software for your basic needs without restriction. This is in contrast to free trials that often give you access to the entire platform for a limited time, after which you won’t be able to use it without paying.

If you’re looking to try a free plan in order to get a feel for a specific task management software before committing to a paid plan, you’ll likely be more on the lookout for usability as well as scalability. Consider which paid plans offer the most bang for your buck to narrow down your options, but focus on which free software feels the most natural to use for your business. 

You may find that some software platforms offer prices on a per-user basis while others offer a set number of users for each plan. Others may even have a minimum-user requirement, so if they charge a set price per user and require at least three users, you’ll need to pay three times the price you see given as a minimum.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

The best free task management software will depend entirely on your needs and requirements as an individual or business. ClickUp and Notion both offer great customization features, with Notion especially good for content creators.

Paid task management software plans offer a range of extra benefits, including more users or projects, additional features and advanced integrations and security. These will often be more useful for bigger teams and companies managing complex projects with multiple moving parts and stakeholders that need to be kept informed. 

When prioritizing tasks in project management, you should consider the resources available, any dependencies on the task being completed and the urgency of the request. 

Task management software lets you manage multiple tasks at work by allowing you to create, organize and assign tasks, set deadlines, track progress and, if required, add sub-tasks. All tasks are kept in one place and accessible for anyone who needs to see them, often in digestible formats like calendars, boards and timelines.

Improving task management skills will require you to be disciplined and attentive to detail in order to get the best from task management software and boost your productivity. You should: 

  • Focus on prioritizing tasks on your to-do list.
  • Create a manageable schedule for delivery with realistic deadlines. 
  • Ensure you’re communicating with stakeholders to keep everyone on the same page.

The best software will make this easy and help you manage your workload efficiently and effectively — but it’s made even easier when you know you’ve picked the right task management software for your requirements.

Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy . The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.

Mehdi Punjwani

Mehdi is a writer and editor with many years of personal finance expertise under his belt. He's a spirited money-saver, with a passion for making personal finance accessible and manageable. When he isn't writing, Mehdi likes to read about history and travel, hike along coastlines and in forests, and watch his beloved team Manchester United underperform.

Sierra Campbell is a small business editor for USA Today Blueprint. She specializes in writing, editing and fact-checking content centered around helping businesses. She has worked as a digital content and show producer for several local TV stations, an editor for U.S. News & World Report and a freelance writer and editor for many companies. Sierra prides herself in delivering accurate and up-to-date information to readers. Her expertise includes credit card processing companies, e-commerce platforms, payroll software, accounting software and virtual private networks (VPNs). She also owns Editing by Sierra, where she offers editing services to writers of all backgrounds, including self-published and traditionally published authors.

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COMMENTS

  1. How to Open the Task Manager in Windows 10

    Task Manager is an excellent tool for keeping track of system processes, monitoring resource usage, and forcing memory-hogging applications to close. Microsoft has introduced several improvements to Task Manager over the years, but luckily, accessing it on Windows 10 hasn't changed much from Windows 7. How Do I Open Task Manager in Windows 10?

  2. How to Open Task Manager in Windows 10

    You can open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc all together. This opens Task Manager straightaway You can also open Task Manager from the GINA screen by pressing and holding Ctrl + Alt + Del.

  3. 11 Fast Ways to Open Task Manager in Windows 10, 11, and 8

    The Task Manager allows you to view various activities that occur on your PC. You can monitor running applications, CPU and RAM usage, startup apps (Windows 8 and 10 only), and services. You can also end unresponsive or frozen applications!

  4. 10 Ways to Open Task Manager in Windows 11

    First, open the "Start" menu by pressing the Windows key or clicking the menu icon. When the menu opens, find "Task Manager". Then, click the utility in the search results to open it. Related: Windows Task Manager: The Complete Guide From Windows Taskbar

  5. Windows Task Manager: The Complete Guide

    Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager with a keyboard shortcut or right-click the Windows taskbar and select "Task Manager." You can also press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and then click "Task Manager" on the screen that appears or find the Task Manager shortcut in your Start menu. Task Manager's Simple View

  6. How to Launch Task Manager in Windows 11

    Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete In Windows 11, Task Manager is no longer just a right-click away on the taskbar. Whether you're troubleshooting or just keeping an eye on your system resources, here are six different ways to launch it instead. Press Ctrl+Shift+Escape The time-tested Task Manager keyboard shortcut still works in Windows 11.

  7. 7 Ways to Open the Task Manager in Windows 11

    Search for Task Manager, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc, or right-click Start and choose Task Manager. To create a shortcut, right-click the desktop and select New > Shortcut. Type taskmgr.exe and select Next > Finish. Enter taskmgr in the Command Prompt, Terminal, PowerShell, Run box, or File Explorer address bar.

  8. How to open Task Manager on Windows

    Task Manager not only lets you manage tasks (who'd have guessed?) — but also shows a whole bunch of useful information, such as your computer's current performance or which apps are taking up...

  9. Task Manager (What It Is & How to Use It)

    Tim Fisher Updated on September 22, 2022 In This Article Jump to a Section What Is Task Manager Used For? Open Task Manager Task Manager Availability Task Manager Walkthrough Task Manager shows you what programs are running on your Windows computer and offers some limited control over those running tasks. What Is Task Manager Used For?

  10. How to use Windows 10 Task Manager to monitor system performance

    published 4 February 2017 Task Manager can help you to monitor your Windows 10 computer's performance in real-time, and here we show you how. When something is not working correctly on your...

  11. 12 Ways to Open the Task Manager in Windows 10

    1. Use a Keyboard Shortcut The easiest and quickest way to launch Task Manager is to use the tool's keyboard shortcut. When pressed, this shortcut quickly opens the Task Manager utility on your Windows 10 PC. To use this method, press the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys simultaneously on your keyboard. Task Manager screen will immediately open.

  12. Windows 11 Task Manager In-Depth Guide and Overview

    In Windows 11, you can launch the Task Manager just like any other program by selecting Start > All Apps > Windows Tools > Task Manager. However, the most convenient way to invoke it is through the Power User menu (right-click the Start button and select Task Manager ). If you prefer keyboard shortcuts, pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc will quickly ...

  13. How to Run Task Manager on Windows 11 (6-Ways)

    Method 1: Run Window. To open the Run window, press Windows+R, then type "taskmgr", and then click "OK" or hit Enter. Task Manager will open up. Method 2: Ctrl+Shift+Escape. Simply press Ctrl+Shift+Escape on your keyboard to bring up Task Manager. Method 3: Ctrl+Alt+Delete. On the keyboard, press "Ctrl + Alt + Delete," you will see few options.

  14. How to Use the Windows Task Manager

    Instead, when you want to open the Task Manager, the fastest method is pressing Ctrl + Shift + Escape on your keyboard. In case you don't like keyboard shortcuts, right-click on an empty spot on the taskbar and choose Task Manager to open it. If you plan to use the Task Manager often, right-click its icon and choose Pin to taskbar for easy access.. There are many other ways to open the Task ...

  15. 12 Shortcut Ways To Open Task Manager in Windows 10/11

    Just press Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys on the keyboard and click on Task Manager from the list of options that pop up. Open from Windows power user menu The Windows 10 power user menu also has an entry for the Task Manager. To access it, either right-click on the Start menu button or press Windows+X keys.

  16. How to use Windows 10 Task Manager to kill processes that drain

    Use the Windows key + X keyboard shortcut to open the power-user menu and click on Task Manager. If this is your first time opening Task Manager, the tool will probably open in compact...

  17. 3 Ways to Enable Task Manager in Windows

    Pressing all three of these keys at the same time brings up a full-screen menu. You may also be able to launch the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Esc. If you're using Windows 10, you can also launch the Task Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Task Manager. 2. Click Task Manager on the menu.

  18. [Windows 11/10] How to use Task Manager to check computer ...

    Right-click the [Start] icon on the taskbar ①, then select [Task Manager]②. In Task Manager, right-click on the Name column ③, then select [Type]④ to see which type that each process belongs to. If you want to see how applications are affecting your CPU, please click [CPU]⑤ column.

  19. Seven Ways to Open the Windows Task Manager

    The quickest way to bring up Task Manager---assuming your keyboard's working---is to just press Ctrl+Shift+Esc. As a bonus, Ctrl+Shift+Esc offers a quick way to bring up Task Manager while using Remote Desktop or working inside a virtual machine (since Ctrl+Alt+Delete would signal your local machine instead).

  20. 10 Windows Task Manager Tricks You Probably Didn't Know

    To do this, find Windows Explorer on the Processes tab of the Task Manager. Right-click it and choose Restart to kill the task and run it again. You'll see your Taskbar and other elements disappear for a moment, which is normal. After they come back, everything should be back to normal. 4.

  21. Windows Task Manager Won't Open? 10 Fixes to Try

    Try Other Ways to Open Task Manager. You've got multiple ways to open the Task Manager in Windows.Suppose you have trouble getting it to show up via the Power User menu or taskbar. In that case, you may want to open it via the Ctrl + Alt + Delete screen (press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and select Task Manager) or use the dedicated Task Manager shortcut (press Ctrl + Shift + Esc) instead.

  22. Windows Task Manager

    Full guide for how to use the Windows Task Manager- Opened with CTRL ALT Delete- Can Also right click on task bar and open- Close a frozen program - Select f...

  23. How to Enable or Disable Task Manager in Windows 10

    User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Ctrl+Alt+Del Options. 3 In the right pane of Ctrl+Alt+Del Options, double click/tap on the Remove Task Manager policy to edit it. (see screenshot above) 4 Do step 5 (enable) or step 6 (disable) below for what you would like to do.

  24. 3 ways to lock your Windows 11 laptop

    Open Task Manager using the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut, or by typing "Task Manager" into the Search box at the bottom of your screen. 2. Click on the Users tab in the left-side menu.

  25. Microsoft PC Manager is now available on the Microsoft Store for

    PC Manager has a Toolbox which is essentially a bunch of shortcuts for the screenshot action (Snipping Tool), to open the screenshot folder, sound recorder, Notepad, Calculator, etc. The Toolbox page has a toggle at the top, which will show a toolbar on the desktop (when the app is running). Download Microsoft PC Manager from the Microsoft Store.

  26. How to Improve Task Management: Roles, Skills, Tips, and Tools

    Task management is a vital personal skill and an asset to many companies. You don't have to be in a leadership position like a project manager to practice task management skills. These skills can translate into multiple aspects of your work day. Overall, task management can make you a more efficient, productive employee.

  27. Best Free Task Management Software in 2024

    The free plan also allows custom statuses and up to 20 custom task types, as well as other useful features like multiple assignees, checklists, dependencies and a basic custom field manager.