To force quit an application on Windows, the most common and effective method is to use the Task Manager:
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc simultaneously to open Task Manager.
- In the list of running applications, select the app that is unresponsive.
- Click on End task to force the app to quit.
Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut:
- Click on the unresponsive application window to activate it.
- Press Alt + F4 to close the active application window.
Another option is using the Command Prompt:
- Press Windows + R , type
cmd
, and hit Enter. - Type
tasklist
to view running applications. - Type
taskkill /f /im appname.exe
(replaceappname.exe
with the actual process name) to force quit the app.
If these methods fail, restarting your computer is the last resort to close all applications forcibly. These are the main ways to force quit apps on Windows systems like Windows 10 or 11 efficiently and safely.