How to use Task Manager to optimize your Windows 10 experience

We’re continuing our series of Windows 10 «How To» guides with a look at the Task Manager.

It’s likely that many of you are already well acquainted with the Task Manager. However, if you’re still learning how to get the most out of Windows 10 then look no further!

The Task Manager has been a Windows staple for many years. It’s important because it offers data on how your PC is performing, in addition to showing what tasks and processes are currently being performed. Since W8.1, it became even more powerful, offering further data and tools to help optimize your PC or tablet experience.

Let’s take a look!

CTRL+ALT+DEL — Accessing the Task Manager

First, you’re going to want to open the Task Manager. There’re a few ways you can do this.

• Probably the most widely-used method is by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL (also known as the «three-finger-salute») on your keyboard simultaneously. It opens the Windows Security Screen, which offers quick access to various functions, including the Task Manager.
• You can also use the key combination CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to open the Task Manager directly.
• You can simply type «Task Manager» into the Start Menu or Cortana search box.
• You can also access it by right-clicking the Start button and selecting it from the quick menu there.
• If you want to be really fancy, you can just ask Cortana, «Hey Cortana, open Task Manager.»

Once you’re in, you’ll be presented with either the compact Task Manager or full Task Manager, as seen below. If you’re in compact view, simply hit «More Details» at the bottom to access the full Task Manager. It should open to the Processes tab by default.

Understanding Processes

As a former PC support guy, Task Manager’s Processes tab was often the first point of call to assess system stability problems. Be sure you’re running in full view by clicking «More details» at the bottom of the window.

• Clicking the «Name» column header will sort every process using system resources alphabetically. It also splits the processes by type.
• «Apps» at the top signify programs that are open on the desktop.
• «Background processes» gives you an overview of what software is running behind the scenes.
• «Windows processes» at the bottom is similar to background processes. However, these tasks relate specifically to running Windows itself and altering them may induce system instability.

If you right click on the columns, you can snap in further information. Adding a «publisher» column can help you identify processes that seem unfamiliar, this is particularly useful if you’ve gotten stuck with malware programs delivering ads and hijacking your browser. The most important columns are probably the resource usage columns, however, as they show which programs are hogging memory or processor usage.

• Clicking on the resource column header will sort what programs or services are utilizing your hardware the most.
• You can see in the screenshot here that Microsoft Edge is using a fairly significant amount of resources, likely because I have a ton of tabs open.

• You can kill the process by right clicking and selecting «End Task», this forces apps to close.
• Be careful though, tasks listed as a «Windows process» under the «Type» column should not be ended in most cases. Closing them could cause system instability.
• If a process is unfamiliar, you can always right click and «search online». Doing so on the Windows service called «Antimalware Service Executable» offered tips to reduce its CPU usage, for example.
• The right click menu has other useful tools. «Open file location» allows you to find the .exe file associated with a process. This method can be useful for creating shortcuts from original files or finding .exe file paths for use in other programs.

If you want even more detail on the services running on your PC, right-clicking on a process and selecting «Go to details» will take you to the Details tab. Here you can view in-depth statistics about the processes and services currently running or suspended. From this tab, you can also view the Windows Services associated with a program. Most of the time it won’t be necessary to view this tab, particularly as the services running there often pertain to essential Windows functions.

Familiarizing yourself with the processes that run on your system is essential for maintaining a healthy PC. Let’s look at how you can use the Task Manager to optimize your experience.

Using Task Manager to optimize your PC’s start-up time

As PCs have grown more powerful, programs have also become more complex. If you use a lot of desktop apps that didn’t come from the Windows Store, you may find that they boot up along with Windows, slowing down your computer at start-up. Programs that can run at start-up usually allow you to disable this behavior, but finding that option can be cumbersome. Luckily, Microsoft introduced the «Start Up» tab into the Task Manager in Windows 8, and it’s carried over into Windows 10.

Using this tab, you can view which programs can run on a system start and disable them at will. To do this, simply right click and select enable or disable. The tab will even tell you how many seconds each program adds to the boot time of your device.

The above is true for older desktop-based x86 .exe programs, but Universal Windows 10 apps from the store work a little differently.

Using Task Manager to optimize Universal Windows 10 app usage

Windows 10 Universal apps can run in a suspended state while still delivering notifications and live tile updates. If you’re currently on a metered connection or want to do everything you can to streamline your battery life, Task Manager’s «App History» section can help you to do just that.

It shows you which apps are generating the most amounts of data and CPU usage over periods of time, even while the apps are closed. Windows 10 is optimized well when it comes to suspending apps and dynamically lowering resources to save on battery power, but the information is there if you want it.

You can alter which apps can perform tasks in the background by going to Settings > Privacy > Background apps. Regular x86 .exe programs generally won’t run in the background unless they’re open or minimized to the system tray. To prevent those from using resources simply block them from the Start-up tab as outlined in the above section.

Get acquainted with your PC’s hardware using the Performance tab

The Performance tab doesn’t give you a huge amount of information, but it’s a useful reference point for understanding the nature of your hardware. The graphs provide a continuous stream of data, which can help diagnose irregular spikes in resource usage.

• Each segment provides information on that particular type of hardware, including the amount of resources available, resources in use and even the model name.
• You can copy information to the clipboard easily by right-clicking and hitting «copy» on each graph. It can come in handy if you’re trying to diagnose a PC problem with your device’s technical support team and need to send them an email.
• If you want to monitor your PC hardware continuously, right-clicking on the left side bar allows you to condense the Performance tab into a «Summary view».

If you want more detailed information, such as battery life or heat monitoring, you might want to pick up an app like HWMonitor or Open Hardware Monitor.

Task Manager is your friend

When programs freeze up or go rogue, Task Manager is on hand like a personal computer sidekick. I’m sure at least a few of you reading this can find some unnecessary programs to disable from the Start-up tab. I know I did while writing this.

Do you lovely people use Task Manager? Do you have any handy tips and tricks? Stick them in the comments!

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How to open Task Manager in Windows 10

The Windows Task Manager helps in getting information about computer performance, running applications, processes and more. In short, you can use the handy Windows tool to start certain programs or end them. It is more of a troubleshooting tool for beginners, which is broken up into multiple tabs. Each tab is associated with a particular category such as the running applications, running processes, Windows Services, the computer’s performance, network utilization, and the users that are currently logged in. If you are connected to a network, you can also use Task Manager to view network status and see how your network is functioning.

The Task Manager has evolved with time right from Windows 3 to Windows 10 and the new Windows 10 Task Manager, now offers a lot of information. We have already seen how the Windows 7 Task Manager works and also the features of the Windows 10 Task Manager, including how to understand the heat map of the Task Manager in Windows 10/8. In this post we will see ways to open the Windows Task Manager, using the keyboard shortcut, CMD, Run, Taskbar, WinX Menu, etc.

Open Task Manager

1] In Windows XP, you hit CTRL+ALT+DEL key combo to get the Task Manager running! Things changed with Windows Vista onwards. Now if you hit CTRL+ALT+DEL, you see a dialog/screen, from where you can select ‘Start Task Manager’.

2] To bring up the Task Manager directly in Windows Vista, Windows 7 & Windows 8, Windows 10, press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC instead. This is the Task Manager shortcut in Windows 10.

3] In the most recent version of Windows – Windows 10, you can also access the Task Manager from the WinX Menu. All you need to do is Press Win+X in combination to bring up the ‘Power Task Menu’. From there, you can select the ‘Task Manager’ option.

4] It goes without saying you can still always simply right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager.

5] Then again, while on the Start, you can search for Task Manager or Taskmgr.exe and click on it. Use this executable to run it using the Run box or a Command Prompt. Create a desktop shortcut, if you wish! It is located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder.

6] Open a command prompt, type Taskmgr and hit Enter to open the Task Manager.

7] From the WinX Menu, open the Run box, type taskmgr and hit Enter.

Tips:

1. See this post if you cannot open the Task Manager.
2. Use the Task Manager like a desktop widget with its Summary View.

If you are looking for more features, perhaps these Task Manager alternative software will interest you.

Windows task manager: Viewing Windows 7 processes and applications

If applications or processes in a customer’s Windows 7 operating system aren’t responding, you can use the task manager to view, end and restart them.

Solutions provider takeaway: You can use the task manager to view Windows 7 applications and processes, and you can also end and restart them if they’re unresponsive. The task manager has six tabs in all, including the performance tab that displays usage graphs.

About the book This chapter excerpt on Managing and Monitoring Windows 7 (download PDF) is taken from the book Using Microsoft Windows 7. The Windows 7 advice and troubleshooting tips in this book will help you navigate through the operating system with ease. Help your customers take advantage of Windows 7’s features, tools and applications by reading through the online version of the book that includes video, screencast tutorials and podcasts.

Task Manager, for many of us, is our «go-to» tool for solving problems. You have a problem, you go to Task Manager—it’s almost ingrained in us. You’ll see immediate information about your processes, CPU usage, memory, network, and so forth.

For one thing, the first time you start Task Manager, you’ll notice that you can now choose to see processes from all the users of the system. One thing you’ll notice right away is the Description aspect to the Processes tab and the Services tab (see Figure 11.8). This was added in Vista.

One of the new features of Task Manager is the ability to create a mini-dump file of an application that is running. You can right-click an application or process that is running and choose Create Dump File, which displays a dialog box that shows you where that file has been written. You can use this feature to discover why a particular application might be crashing so often. Or if a process has already crashed and is no longer responding, you can try to discover the cause.

Figure 11.8 Task Manager showing the descriptions and options for Services.

Task Manager has six tabs:

• Applications
• Processes
• Services
• Performance
• Networking
• Users

In addition to the tabs, there is a menu at the top that serves up even more options that we’ll also cover in the following section. Let’s start by looking at the Applications tab.

This is the starting point for Windows Task Manager and there is more here than meets the eye. The Task column displays a list of open applications. This is a live look at your system. If you close one of the applications, it removes itself from this list.

The Status column shows whether the application is Running or Not Responding. This simple layout allows you to quickly see what application is acting up. At the bottom are three buttons:

• End Task: Closes an application or process.
• Switch To: Switches between applications or processes.
• New Task: Starts an application from the dialog box that opens when you click this button.

Below these buttons are real-time information regarding Processes, CPU Usage, and the amount of used Physical Memory. At a glance, you can see what resource is affected by this view in the Task Manager.

Using Task Manager to End an Application

The following steps show you how to use Task Manager to end an application.

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
2. Click Start Task Manager.
3. In the Task area, locate an application that is running and click it.
4. Click the End Task button.

With this simple process, you see how easy it is to close an application. Of course, the purpose of Task Manager is to help you troubleshoot and cope with crashed applications, not ones that are working fine. So the next time an application hangs too long, follow the above steps again. When an application hangs too long, the Status column shows Not Responding. Clicking End Task should close the application.

On rare occasion, an application might stubbornly stay open despite your attempts to end it. In this situation, press Ctrl+Alt+Del again and repeat the steps to close it.

Using Task Manager to Start an Application

The following steps show you how to use Task Manager to start an application. In this example, you learn to end explorer.exe and restart it through Task Manager.

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
2. Click Start Task Manager.
3. Click the Processes tab.
4. In the Image Name column, locate explorer.exe.
5. Click the End Process button. Windows Explorer closes but all other applications, including Task Manager, remain open.
6. Click the Applications tab.
7. Click the New Task button. The Create New Task dialog box opens.
8. In the Open text box, type explorer.
9. Click OK. Windows Explorer opens.

The Create New Task button comes in handy in situations that call for you to reopen an application. If you know the path to the application, you can enter it; otherwise, you can click the Browse button to navigate to the application name.

One other option to mention on the Applications tab appears when you right-click any application. You will find Create Dump File. Dump files capture data from the application that you can share with software developers and programmers who are trying to determine why an application crashes or has other faults. The dump file is saved locally and is a copy of what the application looks like in memory. You can send it to your help and support department, which can analyze its contents.

This tab gives you a bird’s-eye view of all your processes, including a button to Show Processes from all Users and the aforementioned End Process button. The Process tab is invaluable if your computer is running slow for an undetermined reason. By viewing the Image Name, CPU, Memory, and Description columns, you can focus on the precise area causing trouble.

Using Task Manager to Monitor an Application’s CPU and Memory Usage

The following steps show you how to monitor an application’s CPU and memory usage. In this example, you monitor Windows Media Player.

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
2. Click Start Task Manager.
3. Click the Processes tab.
4. While still keeping the Task Manager in view on-screen, open Windows Media Player. As the application opens, watch the CPU and Memory columns for the information it displays for Windows Media Player. (You may need to resize the column to see the heading names.)
5. Close Windows Media Player.
6. Open other applications and monitor their resource usage through the processes tab.

By viewing your process resource usage, it becomes evident very quickly which process is causing the problem. If you are looking for a specific process and you have several open, click Image Name to sort the column.

If a process is causing problem, it can be stopped by using the Processes tab—as you learn in the following section.

Using Task Manager to End a Process

This short exercise teaches you how to end a process through Task Manager. Use caution when doing this on applications not discussed in this exercise. Not ending a process safely can result in data loss or in rare cases, system instability.

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
2. Click Start Task Manager.
3. Click the Processes tab.
4. Look at the Description column and select a process that you know (for example, select Windows Task Manager).
5. Click the End Process button. You are asked to confirm this.
6. Click End Process again. The process ends.

About the author J. Peter Bruzzese is a network specialist with eight years of experience in the information technology sector. Bruzzese helped form Clip Training LLC, which offers a variety of mini clips on topics from Windows operating systems to server applications.

A quick way to find a process associated with an application is to first locate the app on the Applications tab, right-click it, and then choose Go To Process. This takes you to the Processes tab with the associated process highlighted.

If more than one user is logged-on to your machine when you run Task Manager and you are unable to see the process you are looking for, the Processes tab includes a Show Processes From All Users button that you can click to see any processes in use by other users logged on.

You can also right-click an application and choose Properties to access the properties of that particular executable. For example, you can change compatibility options, permissions, as well as other aspects of the program.

This tab shows you your services, some descriptive information regarding them (Description and Group information), and if they are running or not. You can use this tab to stop or start services.

Using Task Manager to Stop and Restart a Service

The following steps show you how to stop and restart a service through Task Manager.

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
2. Click Start Task Manager.
3. Click the Services tab.
4. In the Description column, scroll down to Print Spooler, right-click it, and choose Stop Service.
5. Depending on your security configuration, you might receive an access-denied message. If this is the case, click Print Spooler again.
6. Click the Services button in the lower right.
7. If a UAC window opens, click Yes.
8. In the main pane, scroll down to Print Spooler, right-click it, and choose Stop.
9. To restart the service, follow these same steps, but when you right-click Print Spooler, and choose Start instead.

This tab includes a feature that is new to Windows 7 (although you might not notice it). Under Physical Memory (MB) group, Vista features Total, Cached, and Free. Windows 7 has added Available to that group.

• Total: The amount of RAM installed on the system in MB.
• Cached: The amount of physical RAM used for system resources.
• Available: The total of standby and free memory for programs.
• Free: The amount of memory that is currently unused or doesn’t contain useful information.

The Performance tab also includes the Resource Monitor button. This is a logical location since you might be coming to the Performance tab to troubleshoot a problem. You can usually find what you are looking for in the CPU and Memory Usage graphs (see Figure 11.9). If you can’t find it there, click the Resource Monitor button to access a plethora of monitoring tools.

Figure 11.9 Get real-time stats in the Performance tab.

The Networking tab shows a graph of your active network connection, where you can view the network utilization of your connections. The bottom of this tab also includes columns showing the Link Speed and the connection State.

This tab shows you the users who are logged on now. By right-clicking a user, you can Disconnect a user who is remotely connected to your computer or Log Off a local user.

Using Task Manager to Log-Off a Local User

The following steps show you how to log-off a local user through Task Manager. To complete this exercise, you will need multiple users logged-on at once.

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del.
2. Click Start Task Manager.
3. Click the Users tab.
4. Right-click the User you would like to log off and choose Log Off.
5. A warning message appears, asking you to confirm that you want to log off this user (because the user’s unsaved data might be lost). Click Log Off User and the user is logged off.

There are a few notable selections available on the Task Manager menu:

• On the File menu, you can select New Task to open a program (just as you can by using the Applications tab).
• On the View menu, you can adjust the refresh speed of the monitoring of your incoming resources. To see faster refreshes on your incoming data for CPU and Memory, go to View, click Update Speed, and then choose High.

Managing and Monitoring Windows 7
Using the reliability and resource monitor in Windows 7
Using Windows 7 performance monitor to view data
Windows task manager: Viewing Windows 7 processes and applications
Using system properties to configure Windows 7 options

Printed with permission from Que Publishing. Copyright 2010. Using Microsoft Windows 7 by J. Peter Bruzzese. For more information about this title and other similar books, please visit http://www.quepublishing.com.

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