Skip to content

5 Easy Ways to Force Close Applications in Windows

We all know that Windows has a very powerful method to close an application. It is called the Task Manager. However, there are many ways on how to use this feature.

Alt+F4

Alt+F4 is the most common method of closing an app, and it works in Windows 10 as well as previous versions of Windows.

To force close an app on your computer:

  • Press Ctrl + F4 (on a PC) or Command + Option + Delete (on a Mac). This will bring up a menu where you can select “Force Close.”
  • Click on that option to close all active programs in one quick swoop!

Alt+Esc, then type task manager, then press enter

  • Use the keyboard shortcut Alt+Esc.
  • Type Task Manager, then press enter.
  • Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Delete (or right-click on an empty space and select New Task). This opens your task manager window with all of your open apps listed in it.
  • Select an app that you want to close and click End Task at the top of its window, which will force close it instantly once clicked on.

Ctrl+Alt+D (shortcut for force close)

  • Press Ctrl+Alt+D.
  • The app will close, but it won’t if the application is open in the taskbar or window. If you have it open in a tab and click on the tab again, nothing will happen!
  • It also won’t force close an app if it’s running in another process (like Chrome).

Left click or right mouse button on an app’s icon, then right click or left click and drag to the trash can.

You can also use the command bar to force close an app.

To force close your application, you need to first open Command Prompt from the Start menu. Then type this command in the command prompt window:

drw-qnf %windir%\System32\cmd.exe /c del “%appname%”

In case you want to close your application, do not forget that there are various ways to use in Windows

In case you want to close your application, do not forget that there are various ways to use in Windows. You can use the keyboard shortcut Alt+F4. If you want to close an app without closing it completely, then follow this path:

  • Type task manager and press enter on your keyboard;
  • Select “Applications” from the list of all applications installed on your computer;
  • Search for any programs which have been opened recently (for example WhatsApp);
  • Click on them so that they become highlighted in blue; 5) Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc simultaneously 6 times 7 seconds 8 minutes 9 hours 10 days 11 months 12 years 13 decades 14 centuries 15 millennia 16 millenia 17 million years 18 billion years 19 trillion years 20 quadrillion years

Conclusion

We hope that you have found this article helpful. You can force close applications in many ways, as we’ve discussed here. If you want to learn more about how to close an app on your computer, or if you would like help closing different applications on Windows 10 or Windows 8, please contact us.