The Windows Task Manager helps get information about computer performance, running applications, processes and more. In short, you can use the handy Windows tool to start or end certain programs. It is more of a troubleshooting tool for beginners, which is broken up into multiple tabs. Each tab is associated with a particular category such as the running applications, running processes, Windows Services, the computer’s performance, network utilization, and the users that are currently logged in. If you are connected to a network, you can also use Task Manager to view network status and see how your network is functioning.
The Task Manager has evolved with time right from Windows 3 to Windows 11 and the new Windows Task Manager, now offers a lot of information. We have already seen how the Windows 7 Task Manager works and also the features of the Windows 10 Task Manager, as well as of the Windows 11 Task Manager, including how to understand the heat map of the Task Manager in Windows 11/10. In this post we will see ways to open the Windows Task Manager, using the keyboard shortcut, CMD, Run, Taskbar, WinX Menu, etc.
How to open Task Manager in Windows 11
If you right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager! To open Task Manager in Windows 11, do the following:
- Right-click on the Start button on the taskbar
- The WinX or Power Menu will fly out
- You will find several system tools there including the Task Manager
- Click on Task Manager
- The Windows 11 Task Manager will open.
Apart from this simple method, you can also use these methods:
- Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC
- Search for Task Manager or Taskmgr.exe and click on it
- Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and then select ‘Start Task Manager’ from the screen
- Type taskmgr in Start box or Run box and hit Enter
- Locate and click on taskmgr.exe in the System32 folder
- Type taskmgr in command-line and hit Enter.
Read: How to open Task Manager as Admin
How to open Task Manager in Windows 10
- Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC
- Press Win+X to open the Power Task Menu and select the ‘Task Manager’ option.
- Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager
- Search for Task Manager or Taskmgr.exe and click on it
- Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and then select ‘Start Task Manager’ from the screen.
Let us take a look at these and more ways to do it in Windows 11 or Windows 10.
1] To bring up the Task Manager directly in Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8 & Windows 7, press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC instead. This is the Task Manager shortcut in Windows 10.
2] In the most recent versions of Windows – Windows 11 and Windows 10, you can also access the Task Manager from the WinX Menu. All you need to do is Press Win+X in combination to bring up the ‘Power Task Menu’. From there, you can select the ‘Task Manager’ option.
3] It goes without saying you can still always simply right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager in Windows 10 only.
4] Then again, while on the Start, you can search for Task Manager or Taskmgr.exe and click on it. Use this executable to run it using the Run box or a Command Prompt. Create a desktop shortcut, if you wish! It is located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder in Windows 11 and Windows 10.
5] Open a command prompt, type Taskmgr and hit Enter to open the Task Manager in Windows 11 and Windows 10.
6] From the WinX Menu, open the Run box, type taskmgr and hit Enter in Windows 11 and Windows 10.
7] In Windows XP, you hit CTRL+ALT+DEL key combo to get the Task Manager running! Things changed with Windows Vista onwards. Now if you hit CTRL+ALT+DEL, you see a dialog/screen, from where you can select ‘Start Task Manager’.
8] This post will show you how to open Task Manager as Admin.
Tips:
- See this post if you cannot open the Task Manager.
- Use the Task Manager like a desktop widget with its Summary View.
- See how the Windows Task Manager has evolved from Windows 3 to Windows 11.
How do I open Task Manager instead of Ctrl Alt Delete?
In Windows 11/10, there are different ways to open the Task Manager. Ctrl+ Alt + Delete keyboard combination is one of these methods. If you do not want to use the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keyboard shortcut, you can use Windows Search, Run command box, Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut, etc.
How do I open multiple instances of Task Manager?
Windows does not offer any way to open multiple instances of Task Manager. However, some users have reported that when the system is under load, and you click Ctrl+Shift+Esc multiple times, it may open another instance – but this is not a reliable way.
How to open classic old Task Manager in Windows 11?
To open old Task Manager in Windows 11, open the Run box, type taskmgr -d and hit Enter. You will see the classic Task Manager open.
If you are looking for more features, perhaps these Task Manager alternative software will interest you.
I ran into an interesting challenge. On Win7, my task manager has lost most of its ‘stuff’, no matter how I open it (thanks for reminder of mouse-friendly right-click taskbar). I only get the CPU usage history. I get for all 8 cores. But no menu or other options to see memory, or what tasks are running, let alone the ability to kill rogue processes. I can expand the window size, but it only expands the size of the graphs of the CPU usage. Any ideas?
Is there any way to get back most of the keyboard functionality of the Windows 7 task manager in Windows 8? I really miss being able to simply open the task manager, type the name of a task I want to switch to and hit ENTER to open it. Because Windows 8 uses a tree structure, you have to expand the tree either with the mouse or by using the arrow keys, and then press enter or double click. That may seem trivial, but if you’re doing it hundreds of times it becomes excessive. I hated “alt-tabbing” between tasks, but now it looks like I’m going to have to return to it because TM in Win8 is just a pain.
I think you have it in full window mode. Double-click near the window border.