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Door staff@engadget.com (Jack Whitcombe) - 17 Oct 2026
If you've spotted a process or two that's sucking up your RAM or maxing out your CPU, you may be thinking it's time to hit the kill switch. While you can use Task Manager to kill running processes, avoid doing this as your first choice, as there might be a reason why an app is suddenly using resources. Consider a game launcher that's not showing on your screen, but your disk activity is up, as is your CPU and RAM usage. While that seems bad in isolation, it's explained by the platform downloading and installing updates in the background.
When you can, always exit an app cleanly using the X in the top-right corner, or its own option under File > Quit or similar. Check the system tray at the bottom-right of the screen for icons representing background apps to close them properly, too.
When an app won't close normally, then Task Manager comes into play: right-click its entry in Task Manager's Processes list and click End task. Ending a task here is forcible, meaning an app won't have a chance to make sure you've saved your work and end gracefully. But when an app has crashed, that's probably unavoidable anyway.
Use Google to identify any services you don't immediately recognize; with names like svchost.exe for various background Windows services, it's not worth guessing what they do. Right-click any process and select Open File Location to see where it's stored.
Performance isn't the only reason to check what you've got running. If you're concerned about something running on your PC, especially if it's stubborn enough that killing it in Task Manager doesn't work, give your PC a quick health check for any viruses or malware. Windows has built-in protection with Microsoft Defender, which you can access via Windows Security > Virus & threat protection. You'll want to select Scan options > Microsoft Defender Antivirus (offline scan) > Scan now.
The offline scan requires a PC restart. The scan runs in its own, separate environment, where any stubborn malware won't be able to stop itself from being quarantined or deleted.
When you can, always exit an app cleanly using the X in the top-right corner, or its own option under File > Quit or similar. Check the system tray at the bottom-right of the screen for icons representing background apps to close them properly, too.
When an app won't close normally, then Task Manager comes into play: right-click its entry in Task Manager's Processes list and click End task. Ending a task here is forcible, meaning an app won't have a chance to make sure you've saved your work and end gracefully. But when an app has crashed, that's probably unavoidable anyway.
Use Google to identify any services you don't immediately recognize; with names like svchost.exe for various background Windows services, it's not worth guessing what they do. Right-click any process and select Open File Location to see where it's stored.
Performance isn't the only reason to check what you've got running. If you're concerned about something running on your PC, especially if it's stubborn enough that killing it in Task Manager doesn't work, give your PC a quick health check for any viruses or malware. Windows has built-in protection with Microsoft Defender, which you can access via Windows Security > Virus & threat protection. You'll want to select Scan options > Microsoft Defender Antivirus (offline scan) > Scan now.
The offline scan requires a PC restart. The scan runs in its own, separate environment, where any stubborn malware won't be able to stop itself from being quarantined or deleted.