Stop-Process

Stop-Process [-Id*] <Int32[]> [-Confirm] [-Force] [-PassThru] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]

Stop-Process [-InputObject*] <Process[]> [-Confirm] [-Force] [-PassThru] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]

Stop-Process [-Confirm] [-Force] -Name* <String[]> [-PassThru] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]

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 Windows PowerShell by using the Run as administrator option. Also, you are prompted for confirmation unless you specify the Force parameter.

Parameters

-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

-Force [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

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-WmiObject cmdlet to get a Win32_Process object that represents the process, and then use the GetOwner method of the object.

-Id <Int32[]>

This value is required
Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

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`.

-InputObject <Process[]>

This value is required
Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByValue

Specifies the process objects to stop. Enter a variable that contains the objects, or type a command or expression that gets the objects.

-Name <String[]>

This value is required
Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Specifies the process names of the processes to stop. You can type multiple process names, separated by commas, or use wildcard characters.

-PassThru [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Returns an object that represents the process. By default, this cmdlet does not generate any output.

-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.

<CommonParameters>

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug,ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable,OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable.

Inputs

System.Diagnostics.Process

You can pipe a process object to this cmdlet.

Outputs

None, System.Diagnostics.Process

This cmdlet returns a System.Diagnostics.Process object that represents the stopped process, if you specify the PassThru parameter. Otherwise, this cmdlet does not generate any output.

Examples

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.
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 Windows PowerShell to prompt you before it stops the process. Because the prompt includes the process namein 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.
Stop a process and detect that it has stopped:
```
PS C:\> calc
PS C:\>  $p = Get-Crocess -Name "calc"
PS C:\>  Stop-Process -InputObject $p
PS C:\>  Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.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`.
Stop a process not owned by the current user:
```
PS C:\> 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 C:\> 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 C:\> Get-Process -Name "lsass" | Stop-Process -Force
   [ADMIN]: PS C:\>
```
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 Windows PowerShell is opened by using the Run as administrator option, and the command is repeated, Windows PowerShell prompts you for confirmation.

The second command specifies Force to suppress the prompt. As a result, the process is stopped without confirmation.

Additional Notes

 You can also refer to Stop-Process by its built-in aliases, kill and spps *. For more information, see 
 about_Aliases.

 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-WmiObject 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.

 *

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. It is attributed to Microsoft Corporation and can be found here.

PowerShell Commands