Taskkill

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Taskkill

Ends one or more tasks or processes. Processes can be killed by process ID or image name.

Syntax

taskkill [/s Computer [/u Domain**\UserName [/p** Password]]] {[/fi Filter [/fi Filter [ ... ]]] [{/pid ProcessID | /im ImageName}] | /pid ProcessID | /im ImageName} [/f] [/t]

Parameters

• /s Computer
  Specifies the name or IP address of a remote computer (do not use backslashes). The default is the local computer.

• /u Domain \ UserName
  Runs the command with the account permissions of the user specified by UserName or Domain**\**UserName. /u can be specified only when /s is specified. The default is the permissions of the current logged on user on the computer issuing the command.

• /p Password
  Specifies the password of the user account that is specified in the /u parameter.

• /fi Filter
  Specifies the types of process(es) to include in or exclude from termination. You can specify more than one filter. Use the wildcard (*) to specify all tasks or image names. The following are valid filter names, operators, and values.

<table>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 33%" />
<col style="width: 33%" />
<col style="width: 33%" />
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>Name</th>
<th>Operators</th>
<th>Value</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p><strong>Status</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>eq</strong>, <strong>ne</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>RUNNING</strong> | <strong>NOT RESPONDING</strong> | <strong>UNKNOWN</strong></p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p><strong>Imagename</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>eq</strong>, <strong>ne</strong></p></td>
<td><p>Any valid string.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p><strong>PID</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>eg</strong>, <strong>ne</strong>, <strong>gt</strong>, <strong>lt</strong>, <strong>ge</strong>, <strong>le</strong></p></td>
<td><p>Any valid positive integer.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p><strong>Session</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>eg</strong>, <strong>ne</strong>, <strong>gt</strong>, <strong>lt</strong>, <strong>ge</strong>, <strong>le</strong></p></td>
<td><p>Any valid session number.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p><strong>CPUTime</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>eq</strong>, <strong>ne</strong>, <strong>gt</strong>, <strong>lt</strong>, <strong>ge</strong>, <strong>le</strong></p></td>
<td><p>Valid time in the format of <em>HH</em><strong>:</strong><em>MM</em><strong>:</strong><em>SS</em>. The <em>MM</em> and <em>SS</em> parameters should be between 0 and 59 and <em>HH</em> can be any valid unsigned numeric value.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p><strong>Memusage</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>eg</strong>, <strong>ne</strong>, <strong>gt</strong>, <strong>lt</strong>, <strong>ge</strong>, <strong>le</strong></p></td>
<td><p>Any valid integer.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p><strong>Username</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>eq</strong>, <strong>ne</strong></p></td>
<td><p>Any valid user name ([<em>Domain</em><strong>\</strong>]<em>UserName</em>).</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p><strong>Services</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>eq</strong>, <strong>ne</strong></p></td>
<td><p>Any valid string.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p><strong>Windowtitle</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>eq</strong>, <strong>ne</strong></p></td>
<td><p>Any valid string.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p><strong>Modules</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>eq</strong>, <strong>ne</strong></p></td>
<td><p>Any valid string.</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

• /pid ProcessID
  Specifies the process ID of the process to be terminated.

• /im ImageName
  Specifies the image name of the process to be terminated. Use the wildcard (*) to specify all image names.

• /f
  Specifies that process(es) be forcefully terminated. This parameter is ignored for remote processes; all remote processes are forcefully terminated.

• /t
  Terminates the specified process and any child processes which that process started.

• /?
  Displays help at the command prompt.

Remarks

• The "WindowTitle" and "Status" filters are not supported when a remote system is specified.

• The wildcard character (*) is accepted only when specified along with the filters.

• Termination for remote processes will always be done forcefully regardless of whether the /f parameter is specified.

• Supplying a computer name to the HOSTNAME filter will cause a shutdown and all processes will be stopped.

• Use tasklist to determine the Process ID (PID) for the process to be terminated.

• Taskkill is a replacement for the kill tool.

Examples

The following examples show how you can use the taskkill command:

taskkill /pid 1230 /pid 1241 /pid 1253

taskkill /f /fi "USERNAME eq NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" /im notepad.exe

taskkill /s srvmain /f /im notepad.exe

taskkill /s srvmain /u maindom\hiropln /p p@ssW23 /fi "IMAGENAME eq note*" /im *

taskkill /s srvmain /u maindom\hiropln /fi "USERNAME ne NT*" /im *

taskkill /pid 2134 /t /fi "username eq administrator"

taskkill /f /fi "PID ge 1000" /im *

Formatting legend

See Also

Concepts

Command-line reference A-Z
Command shell overview