How to Force Quit an App That Won't Close on Windows

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Plus, why applications freeze and refuse to close down

Written by Stan Kats | Edited by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: January 13, 2026 Fact Checked

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• Why do applications not close?
|
• Closing with Alt + F4
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• Closing with Task Manager
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• Closing with Command Prompt
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• Video
|
• Tips

|Show more |Show less

Do you have an application that won't close in Windows? This is a frustrating issue to have, especially when Windows indicates that it's trying to close the app. In this article, we'll explain why your applications aren't closing in Windows 11 and Windows 10, and show you 3 easy ways to force these programs to stop.

What to Do When Applications Won't Close

• Press Alt + F4 to close the active window on your Windows PC.
• Open the Task Manager and select the window you want to close, then click End Task. You can also use this trick to close background programs.
• Use the "tasklist" and "taskkill" commands in Command Prompt to identify and close a program that's not responding.

Steps

Section 1 of 4:

Why do applications not close?

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1. 
   Applications can refuse to close for a variety of reasons. Typically, when an application won't close, it's due to an issue with the program itself. It could be due to bad programming, a bug, or a conflict with other running programs. However, an application may refuse to close because of an issue with Windows, the MSVC runtime, the .NET framework, or your drivers. Because of this, it's a good idea to keep your operating system and drivers up to date.
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Section 2 of 4:

Closing with Alt + F4

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1. 
   1
   Click on the program that refuses to close. If the program that refuses to close isn't the active window on your computer, click on it in the taskbar first. This may cause the program's window to get a white cast over it, which means the program isn't working.
2. 
   2
   Press Alt+F4 on your keyboard. This keyboard shortcut will automatically close the current active window. This shortcut can help you easily close down programs that aren't responding.

   • One some keyboards–especially on laptops–you may need to hold down the fn key as you press Alt+F4.
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Section 3 of 4:

Closing with Task Manager

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1. 
   1
   Open Task Manager. There are a few ways you can open Task Manager on your PC:

   • Right-click the taskbar and click Task Manager.
   • Press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Esc.
   • Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and click Task Manager.
2. 
   2
   Click on the process you want to close. The process should be in the "Apps" section at the top of the Task Manager. Anything under "Background processes" should be left alone, as these are all applications that are currently not open but are running in the background, or they are vital Windows processes that need to stay running.
3. 
   3
   Click End task. It's at the top of the window, between "Run a new task" and "Efficiency mode." The selected program will shut down immediately after a few seconds.
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Section 4 of 4:

Closing with Command Prompt

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1. 
   1
   Open Command Prompt. To do so, type "command prompt" into the taskbar search bar and click Command Prompt in the results in the Start menu.
2. 
   2
   Type tasklist and press ↵ Enter. This will pull up a list of all the tasks currently running on your computer.
3. 
   3
   Type taskkill /im [program.exe] and press ↵ Enter. Replace [program.exe] with the name of the program from the tasklist. The name of the program is listed in the "Image Name" column. Once you send the command, the program will shut down instantly.

   • For example, if you wanted to close Microsoft Edge, you'd type taskkill /im msedge.exe.
   • Use this method only if you are certain of the program's name you want to terminate. If you kill a necessary Windows background task, that could cause some issues for your computer.
   • To learn more about the taskkill command, check out 4 Ways to Use the Taskkill Command.
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Tips

• If you're consistently having trouble closing one specific application, try uninstalling and reinstalling it.
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• If programs you don't use open automatically when you start up your computer, you can edit your startup programs.
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