You Can Now Kill a Task from the Windows 11 Taskbar, Here’s How

In Short
  • You can now end tasks from the Windows 11 Taskbar. The option is hidden under Developer Settings.
  • Simply open Windows Settings > System > For developers and enable the "End Task" toggle.
  • Except for Windows Explorer, you can kill tasks and processes of any app from the Taskbar.

Generally, to kill a task and its processes, you need to open the Task Manager on Windows 11. But there is a nifty new way to kill a task from the Taskbar itself, however, it’s hidden under Developer Settings and disabled by default. With the setting turned on, you can simply right-click on any app on the Windows 11 Taskbar and end the task with a click.

That said, you can’t end the task for Windows Explorer (explorer.exe). For that, you will still need to open the Task Manager. It would have been nice if Microsoft added at least a restart option for Windows Explorer in the Taskbar. Nevertheless, follow the steps below to turn on the ability to kill tasks from the Windows 11 Taskbar.

  • Open the Start menu and search for “Developer settings” here. Click to open it.
open developer settings windows 11 start menu
  • Under Developer settings, simply enable the “End Task” toggle to enable the option to end a process by right-clicking on the app in the Taskbar. That’s it.
  • With the feature enabled, right-click on any active app in the Taskbar to find the “End task” option. Select “End Task” to kill the task right away.

In my testing, it worked on the Release Preview channel (Windows 11 24H2) and the Stable channel (23H2) as well.

Apart from that, if you wish to enhance your PC experience further, you can tweak the Windows Settings mentioned in our article. If you have any questions, drop a comment down below.

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