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Got a Windows PC? Here are 6 reasons you need to check Task Manager right now
Task Manager is a pre-installed Windows tool that lets you see what's happening on your PC and and find out what's using its resources.
By learning your way around Task Manager, you can spot apps that are slowing your computer and making it a pain to use. The tool also lets you force-close unresponsive programs and services, or sniff out apps uploading data to the internet without you knowing.
Below, we run through the key features of Task Manager on Windows and explain how you can use it to instantly diagnose issues affecting your PC.
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Type Task Manager into the search bar found in the bottom-left corner of your screen. Alternatively, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete, then select Task Manager from the list of options.
1. Find out what's slowing down your PC
The CPU (central processing unit) and memory are the two biggest factors that affect speed, but it's also worth checking disk use. Find all three by clicking the Processes tab.
One-off spikes in any of these categories is fine, but a sustained load from one program you don't recognise, or don't think should be hogging your PC, is a cause for concern.
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2. Get your computer booting up quickly
If your computer takes a while to get going when you first switch it on, go to the Startup tab to see if anything is slowing you down.
From there, Select Startup impact to sort the column and see what's having the highest impact, right-click any process and then select Disable to switch it off. Keep in mind that some processes are more important for making your computer or connected accessories function – see our sixth tip further down this page.
3. Spot apps hogging your broadband
Apps that are downloading or uploading data to the internet without you realising can have a huge effect on your broadband speed, but might not appear high on the list of programs slowing down your computer's processor. Whether you're noticing a brief slowdown or it's a long-running issue, Task Manager can help.
In the Processes tab, use the Network column to see what's using your network activity (if you can't see this column, use the slider along the bottom to scroll to the right).
If you don't see anything that looks particularly alarming right now, keep Task Manager open and keep checking back every now and then to see if anything is hogging your broadband connection.
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4. Find programs consuming your battery
You can add a column to the Processes tab that shows a given program's impact on your battery life. Right-click a column heading and select Power usage to tick it and add it as a column.
A combination of various factors, including processor, memory and storage, will impact your battery.
Things like web browsers and other intensive programs will always show high battery use, but this column can also reveal background tasks and programs you've forgotten to close.
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5. Restart Windows Explorer when the Start menu crashes
Sometimes Windows Explorer (also known as File Explorer – its icon is a yellow folder) just gives up. Windows Explorer is important and does more than just let you navigate through your folders; it also controls the Start menu, taskbar and desktop. While you can manage for a while without these working, you'll eventually need to switch to a different program in a window or find a file.
Task Manager knows the importance of Windows Explorer and has a special restart feature that will fix it. When you're in the Processes tab, simply right-click on Windows Explorer, then, in the menu, left-click Restart and it should start afresh.
6. Learn more about processes
Task Manager has several useful columns that, when enabled, help you to find out where a program originates from.
In any tab, you can right-click any column header then select Command line to add it as a column. This shows you what folder on your computer a program resides in – you can also right-click any process and left-click Open File Location to take you straight there.
Within this menu, selecting Search online will take you to a Bing search of the process you're looking at. This can help you figure out whether a program is genuine and whether you actually need it.
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Task Manager FAQs
Michael Passingham, Senior Researcher, Which?
'As you might have guessed, I'm a huge fan of Task Manager. It's saved my bacon so many times, especially in my teenage years installing all manner of freeware, game modifications and generally trying to figure out why my shoddy home-built PC was crashing all the time.
'However, even I'll admit that it's not perfect, and there are some occasions where Task Manager isn't the most communicative about what's happening. Below, I've included the three most common questions asked online, which I hope will help you.'
I can't end a process because it says 'access denied'
Sometimes even Task Manager can't end a process, so you'll need to go deeper to get it to close.
First, make a note of the process name (this will be in .exe in Task Manager); for example, Notepad is 'Notepad.exe'. Next, select the Windows logo to open the Start Menu, type cmd and select the Command Prompt app to open a Command Prompt window.
Type taskkill /im notepad.exe /t (substitute the name of the .exe file you want to close for 'notepad.exe') and this should end the process immediately.
Why is my disk usage always at 100%?
This doesn't mean that the program has completely filled up your hard disk.
What it actually means is that it's reading or writing data at such a pace that it's consuming the disk's ability to read and write, and will slow everything else down. This can be for a number of reasons, but the best way to find out what's going on is to select the Processes tab, then click the Disk column header to sort it.
Some background processes, such as copying files or indexing them to make them quicker to search, will cause this. Look at what's doing the most work and assess from there whether it's something you recognise.
Why does my web browser have so many processes?
Web browsers such as Chrome and Edge have reputations for being resource hogs, consuming a surprising amount of Ram. However, this shouldn't be confused for the number of processes.
You might see something like 'Google Chrome (40)' in Task Manager. Browsers separate processes for lots of reasons, including efficiency, security and reliability. While it might look excessive, this is one of the reasons why one tab crashing doesn't shut down the entire browser.
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