How to close a frozen program in Windows with Task Manager

Steps

1. Wait a moment, then try closing it the normal wayThe program may be in the middle of a heavy job; wait a minute or two, and it often recovers. If it does, save your open work right away. If not, click the program's window and press <strong>Alt + F4</strong>; this shortcut closes the active window. If the window still does not close, move on to the next step.
2. Open Task ManagerThe fastest way is to press <strong>Ctrl + Shift + Esc</strong> together on the keyboard; Task Manager opens directly. If the mouse still works, you can also right-click the <strong>Start</strong> button and select <strong>Task Manager</strong>. Both routes are the same on Windows 11 and Windows 10.
3. If the whole screen is frozen, use Ctrl + Alt + DeleteIf the frozen program covers the whole screen or Task Manager does not come to the front, press <strong>Ctrl + Alt + Delete</strong>. The security screen that opens offers <strong>Task Manager</strong> alongside options to lock, switch user and sign out; select it. Because this screen opens on top of the frozen program, it is often the most reliable route.
4. Go to ProcessesOn Windows 11, select <strong>Processes</strong> in the left section menu of Task Manager. On Windows 10, if the window opens with only a short list of programs, select <strong>More details</strong> at the bottom, then go to the <strong>Processes</strong> tab. The list shows apps, background processes and Windows processes under separate headings.
5. Find the frozen program and select End taskUnder the <strong>Apps</strong> section, right-click the name of the frozen program and select <strong>End task</strong> from the menu. The program closes, and any changes you have not saved in it are lost. Only close programs you recognise; leave Windows processes you do not know alone, or the PC may become unstable.
6. Check that the program closed and open it againMake sure the program has disappeared from the Apps list and its window is gone, then close Task Manager. Open the program again as you normally would. Programs with an AutoRecover feature, such as Word, may offer the last recovered version on start; if they do, save it.
7. If the taskbar, Start or the desktop is frozen, restart Windows ExplorerIf what froze is not a program but the taskbar, the Start menu or the desktop, open Task Manager with <strong>Ctrl + Shift + Esc</strong>. In <strong>Processes</strong>, find <strong>Windows Explorer</strong>, right-click it and select <strong>Restart</strong>; the screen goes dark for a moment and comes back. If Windows Explorer is not listed, select <strong>File > Run new task</strong> (if there is no File menu, use the <strong>Run new task</strong> button at the top of the window), type <strong>explorer.exe</strong> and press <strong>Enter</strong>. Do not close Windows Explorer with End task; use Restart.
8. On Windows 11, add End task to the taskbarOn Windows 11 you can close a frozen program without opening Task Manager, but this option is off by default. Open <strong>Settings > System > Advanced</strong> and turn on the <strong>End task</strong> toggle under the <strong>Taskbar</strong> heading. On older Windows 11 versions the same toggle is on the <strong>Settings > System > For developers</strong> page; Advanced is the new name of that page. Windows 10 does not have this option.
9. Use End task from the taskbarOnce the toggle is on, when a program freezes, right-click its icon on the taskbar and select <strong>End task</strong>. The program closes just as it does in Task Manager, and unsaved changes are still lost. If the option does not appear in the menu, update Windows from <strong>Settings > Windows Update</strong> and check that the toggle is on.
10. If nothing works, restart the computerIf End task does not close the program, or the PC does not respond to any key, select <strong>Start > Power > Restart</strong>. If the screen and keyboard are completely locked, as a last resort hold the power button until the PC shuts down, then turn it back on; this way, unsaved work in every open program is lost. If the same program freezes often, update it or uninstall and reinstall it.