Stop-Process
Stops one or more running processes.
Syntax
Stop-Process
[-Id] <Int32[]>
[-PassThru]
[-Force]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]
Stop-Process
-Name <String[]>
[-PassThru]
[-Force]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]
Stop-Process
[-InputObject] <Process[]>
[-PassThru]
[-Force]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]
Description
The Stop-Process
cmdlet stops one or more running processes. You can specify a process by process
name or process ID (PID), or pass a process object to Stop-Process
. Stop-Process
works only on
processes running on the local computer.
On Windows Vista and later versions of the Windows operating system, to stop a process that is not owned by the current user, you must start PowerShell by using the Run as administrator option. Also, you are not prompted for confirmation unless you specify the Confirm parameter.
Examples
Example 1: Stop all instances of a process
PS C:\> Stop-Process -Name "notepad"
This command stops all instances of the Notepad process on the computer. Each instance of Notepad runs in its own process. It uses the Name parameter to specify the processes, all of which have the same name. If you were to use the Id parameter to stop the same processes, you would have to list the process IDs of each instance of Notepad.
Example 2: Stop a specific instance of a process
PS C:\> Stop-Process -Id 3952 -Confirm -PassThru
Confirm
Are you sure you want to perform this action?
Performing operation "Stop-Process" on Target "notepad (3952)".
[Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help
(default is "Y"):y
Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) VM(M) CPU(s) Id ProcessName
------- ------ ----- ----- ----- ------ -- -----------
41 2 996 3212 31 3952 notepad
This command stops a particular instance of the Notepad process. It uses the process ID, 3952, to
identify the process. The Confirm parameter directs PowerShell to prompt you before it stops the
process. Because the prompt includes the process name in addition to its ID, this is best practice.
The PassThru parameter passes the process object to the formatter for display. Without this
parameter, there would be no display after a Stop-Process
command.
Example 3: Stop a process and detect that it has stopped
calc
$p = Get-Process -Name "calc"
Stop-Process -InputObject $p
Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.HasExited}
This series of commands starts and stops the Calc
process, and then detects processes that have
stopped.
The first command starts an instance of the calculator.
The second command uses Get-Process
gets an object that represents the Calc
process, and then
stores it in the $p
variable.
The third command stops the Calc
process. It uses the InputObject parameter to pass the object
to Stop-Process
.
The last command gets all of the processes on the computer that were running but that are now
stopped. It uses Get-Process
to get all of the processes on the computer. The pipeline operator
(|
) passes the results to the Where-Object
cmdlet, which selects the ones where the value of the
HasExited property is $True. HasExited is just one property of process objects. To find all
the properties, type Get-Process | Get-Member
.
Example 4: Stop a process not owned by the current user
PS> Get-Process -Name "lsass" | Stop-Process
Stop-Process : Cannot stop process 'lsass (596)' because of the following error: Access is denied
At line:1 char:34
+ Get-Process -Name "lsass" | Stop-Process <<<<
[ADMIN]: PS> Get-Process -Name "lsass" | Stop-Process
Warning!
Are you sure you want to perform this action?
Performing operation 'Stop-Process' on Target 'lsass(596)'
[Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"):
[ADMIN]: PS> Get-Process -Name "lsass" | Stop-Process -Force
[ADMIN]: PS>
These commands show the effect of using Force to stop a process that is not owned by the user.
The first command uses Get-Process
to get the Lsass process. A pipeline operator sends the process
to Stop-Process
to stop it. As shown in the sample output, the first command fails with an Access
denied message, because this process can be stopped only by a member of the Administrator group on
the computer.
When PowerShell is opened by using the Run as administrator option, and the command is repeated, PowerShell prompts you for confirmation.
The second command specifies Force to suppress the prompt. As a result, the process is stopped without confirmation.
Parameters
-Confirm
Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Aliases: | cf |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | False |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Force
Stops the specified processes without prompting for confirmation. By default, Stop-Process
prompts
for confirmation before stopping any process that is not owned by the current user.
To find the owner of a process, use the Get-CimInstance
cmdlet to get a Win32_Process object
that represents the process, and then use the GetOwner method of the object.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Id
Specifies the process IDs of the processes to stop. To specify multiple IDs, use commas to separate
the IDs. To find the PID of a process, type Get-Process
.
Type: | Int32[] |
Position: | 0 |
Default value: | None |
Required: | True |
Accept pipeline input: | True |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-InputObject
Specifies the process objects to stop. Enter a variable that contains the objects, or type a command or expression that gets the objects.
Type: | Process[] |
Position: | 0 |
Default value: | None |
Required: | True |
Accept pipeline input: | True |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Name
Specifies the process names of the processes to stop. You can type multiple process names, separated by commas, or use wildcard characters.
Type: | String[] |
Aliases: | ProcessName |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | True |
Accept pipeline input: | True |
Accept wildcard characters: | True |
-PassThru
Returns an object that represents the process. By default, this cmdlet does not generate any output.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-WhatIf
Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Aliases: | wi |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | False |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
Inputs
You can pipe a process object to this cmdlet.
Outputs
None
By default, this cmdlet returns no output.
When you use the PassThru parameter, this cmdlet returns a Process object representing the stopped process.
Notes
PowerShell includes the following aliases for Stop-Process
:
- All platforms:
spps
- Windows:
kill
You can also use the properties and methods of the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
Win32_Process object in Windows PowerShell. For more information, see Get-CimInstance
and
the WMI SDK.
- When stopping processes, realize that stopping a process can stop process and services that depend on the process. In an extreme case, stopping a process can stop Windows.
Related Links
PowerShell