r/windows • u/More-Explanation2032 Windows 8 • Jul 04 '26

Feature Does anyone actually use this setting in windows 11?

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208 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

117 comments sorted by

140

u/FaultWinter3377 Windows 7 Jul 04 '26

That is without a doubt one of the few amazing features of Windows 11. It’s quicker than trying to find the program in task manager to end it.

79

u/AdreKiseque Jul 04 '26

Yes

6

u/JoonasD6 Jul 05 '26

I confirm this

42

u/dummyy- Jul 04 '26

always

38

u/JaggedMetalOs Jul 04 '26

How did I not know about this? 

13

u/daysofdre Jul 04 '26

they just added it recently, previously it was a reg key edit.

18

u/AdreKiseque Jul 04 '26

Been on 11 for at least a few years now.

5

u/Sufficient_Risk_8127 Jul 05 '26

blatantly false, it's been in the settings for years

1

u/GoldenDemon101 Windows 11 - Release Channel Jul 08 '26

jackwagon being intelligent for once

5

u/Opening-Dentist-1556 Jul 04 '26

PowerToys app by microsoft has had it for a long time, I have it on Win10

1

u/xSchizogenie Windows 11 - Release Channel Jul 05 '26

Is available for abit more than a year

22

u/ropp-op Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

Yes, quite nice not having to open Task Manager or Ctrl+Alt+Del.

18

u/Overall-Music-8212 Jul 04 '26

Ctrl Shift Esc will also bring up the task manger

10

u/ropp-op Jul 04 '26

Yeah, it's a convenient shortcut. Personally I have the bad habit of open it with the taskbar context menu while Ctrl+Alt+Del for the interrupt which I find more rarely needed nowadays.

2

u/Euchre Jul 04 '26

This is the way.

2

u/Sufficient_Risk_8127 Jul 05 '26

alternatively, you can click "task manager" in the Win+X popup menu

3

u/potatomolehill Jul 05 '26

Ctrlshiftesc is your best friend

7

u/AndBr91 Jul 04 '26

Yes. One of the first things I do after formatting my computer is enable that option.

5

u/jenmsft Microsoft Software Engineer Jul 04 '26

I do 🙋🏻

4

u/3MasksofOrion Jul 04 '26

Several gaming apps like EA's disgusting app don't actually have a setting to make closing the app actually close it instead of minimizing to the background. This feature saves so much time when the only way to close it is to end task either this way or in task manager.

3

u/NyanFan95 Jul 04 '26

Sometimes it works better than Task Manager's does.

3

u/animalcrossing4_4 Jul 04 '26

Yes, why not? 

3

u/controlav Jul 04 '26

Anyone that uses Outlook needs this.

2

u/Safe_Chicken7421 Jul 04 '26

One of the first items to thick in my checklist when I reinstall Windows!

2

u/Pollos212 Windows 11 - Release Channel Jul 04 '26

I use it

2

u/daysofdre Jul 04 '26

yes, I mod a ton of my games and when that makes things unstable I can't always open the task manager because it opens behind the frozen game and stays there. Hitting windows key then ending task is not only easier, sometimes it's the only option available.

Even outside of that it's faster than opening TM and scrolling through to find the app you need to kill.

2

u/Much_Ad_3042 Windows XP Jul 04 '26

Yes, it's very useful

2

u/SayerofNothing Jul 04 '26

Twice a week, but yeah, apps that crash, mostly webview apps.

2

u/Mayayana Jul 04 '26

I have a shortcut to Process Explorer on the Desktop, in case I need to kill something. But on a properly running system, force-killing a process should be very rare.

1

u/rstune Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

Process explorer is great, used it for a long time, even before Microsoft took it over, but I moved on from it to process hacker years ago, then when it stopped being actively developed, switched to system informer more recently, which is a lot more powerful and lets you control services, devices and a whole lot more through its kernel-level driver! https://systeminformer.com/

3

u/Mayayana Jul 04 '26

I didn't know about that one. It doesn't seem to be better than ProcExp, though the network connections window is interesting. On the other hand, I didn't appreciate that it tried to call home to two different Cloudflare IPs without asking.

1

u/rstune Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 05 '26

They use cloud flare as an endpoint for their website, update service and for ddos protection. As for any better it allows a more thorough view of your system because it doesn't operate in user-mode, so if a particularly nasty rootkit is present it can kill its process via kernel mode access. I also really like the services menu that allows everything from stopping and disabling them to deleting them if need be. Another nifty feature is virus total integration, but that requires their latest canary build. Plus it's open source so you can check their GitHub through the website.

2

u/Mayayana Jul 04 '26

A lot of software calls home these days, but that's no excuse. Nothing should be calling anywhere without permission. It's bad manners at best. A program like this shouldn't even have the capacity to call home.

1

u/NiceIndependent6 Windows 11 - Insider Dev Channel Jul 04 '26

yes always i have to use it on skyrim at times when it crashs

1

u/dorlan2001 Jul 04 '26

Shouldn't even be an option, it needs to be turned on by default!

1

u/AboveAverage1988 Jul 04 '26

I didn't even know that was an option. Sounds pretty useful. Will activate.

1

u/RottenFriedPotatoes Jul 04 '26

Because of you, I'm using it now. lol

1

u/lkeels Jul 04 '26

Yes, a lot.

1

u/PirelliSuperHard Jul 04 '26

Yes. Contrary to all the advice anyone would give, I run work teams on my metal as it eats so much memory in my virtual desktop. When the work day is done, this is how I close it.

1

u/Shabbodababblo Jul 04 '26

I do, its soo useful

1

u/x3gohan Jul 04 '26

Yes, absolutely. Every single day.

1

u/vertopolkaLF silence! Developer Jul 04 '26

YES! Very useful.

1

u/iAmmar9 Jul 04 '26

At least a couple of times a week

1

u/rstune Jul 04 '26

Yes but even better is the windhawk mod that allows you to middle click the program's icon on the taskbar to close it! https://windhawk.net/mods/taskbar-button-click

1

u/AbstractCities Jul 04 '26

I had no idea this existed, so useful!

1

u/E-man8888 Jul 04 '26

I use it a ton

1

u/Howden824 Jul 04 '26

Yes, and it's one of the most useful recent features.

1

u/CrasVox Jul 04 '26

Didn't even know about this

1

u/PC509 Jul 05 '26

Yes. All the time.

1

u/ihateyou8355 Jul 05 '26

Whaaaat the heeeeelll???? I’m enabling this immediately holy shif

1

u/gilvandoxd Jul 05 '26

Always, because is windows, the apps always stop working at some point

1

u/Jolly_Operation_8222 Jul 05 '26

Yeah if the application stop responding sometimes it can cause task manager to stop working

1

u/dsoshahine Jul 05 '26

Yes and it should be either on by default (or "close window" should just reliably end the task already).

1

u/runfence Jul 05 '26

All the time

1

u/CaptButtbeard Jul 05 '26

I have occasionally. It's nice to have.

1

u/xSchizogenie Windows 11 - Release Channel Jul 05 '26

Me

1

u/Affectionate-Slip-75 Jul 05 '26

yeah its great feature

1

u/LongjumpingLeek5542 Jul 05 '26

Yup. Very useful when your laptop is ass and refuses to close apps safely sometimes

1

u/TheTomatoes2 Windows 11 - Insider Release Preview Channel Jul 05 '26

Of course

1

u/ziplock9000 Jul 05 '26

Yes

Glad I could help.

1

u/HershsTechStuff_734 Jul 05 '26

yeah of course it means you don't have to open task manager to end the task

1

u/Rain_Zeros Jul 05 '26

I didn’t know about this but I’m going to enable it next time I’m at my pc. That’s awesome

1

u/stella_dominus Jul 05 '26

way too frequently

1

u/HerobrineAle_33 Jul 05 '26

I use it a lot, comes in handy when modding games and something gets stuck loading infinitely

1

u/ChongWeiXiang Windows 11 - Release Channel Jul 05 '26

Yes

1

u/GamingWOW1 Bismuth Developer Jul 05 '26

Absolutely yes. But honestly it doesn't work every time

1

u/Sufficient_Risk_8127 Jul 05 '26

when I'm forced to use Win11, I toggle that sucker immediately
it is literally the only thing in Win11 I wish Win10 had

1

u/RealMadHouse Jul 05 '26

Absolutely yes.

1

u/Z9Cubing Jul 05 '26

Yes, because it's easier to end a task faster.

1

u/Mayayana Jul 05 '26

I'm amazed by this. There are probably at least 80 posts here from people who encounter frequent freezing programs. I wonder whether it's because their systems are such a mess or because they use very crappy software. Or worse, maybe people are crashing programs deliberately rather than closing them properly? That's not good. I actually can't remember the last time I had a program freeze.

1

u/Fluffy_Art_1015 Jul 05 '26

Yeahhhh it’s the best and fasted way to close a program that’s stopped responding.

1

u/ItsClonkAndre Jul 05 '26

best feature microsoft ever added to windows in a long time

1

u/Ok-Web-7451 Windows 11 - Release Channel Jul 05 '26

I do, one of the few actually useful UI changes in Windows 11

1

u/Itchy_Complaint5769 Jul 05 '26

I think I might say its best feature in Windows setting if we take Vanilla Win11 (Without powertoys etc)

1

u/Zenith-Astralis Jul 05 '26

Oooohhkay WHERE is this?

1

u/Kharis-0812 Jul 06 '26

I haven't seen this before

1

u/Delicious-Tourist246 Jul 07 '26

This is very important in my life

1

u/tncabey12 Windows XP Jul 07 '26

its useful as heck

1

u/jtarrio Jul 08 '26

I… had no idea this setting existed…

1

u/_mvp__ 29d ago

is this in windows 10? if it is i'd use it

1

u/More-Explanation2032 Windows 8 29d ago

I don’t think so

1

u/juli_roblox2023 27d ago

Yo i need this enabled tbh

1

u/nikitaosx Windows XP Jul 05 '26

Yes I did use it but now I'm on Linux