How to force close a program that is not displayed on screen: The definitive guide

You know it's out there, hiding somewhere, consuming system resources. It stopped responding, but it refuses to show its face, which is why you can't finish its process. What to do? In this post, we'll tell you. How to force the closure of a program that is not displayed on the screen.

Force closing a program that doesn't appear on screen: Why does it disappear?

Few things are as frustrating in our daily digital lives as a program that refuses to work. And it gets even worse when that program not only crashes but literally disappears from view. It's clear that it's still running, using RAM and CPU cycles, but It is impossible to interact with it to close itWhy does this happen?

Having to force-close a program that isn't displayed on the screen is a common problem. Especially This occurs with demanding applications or games and on computers with modest hardware.It may even happen that, in an attempt to bring it to the front, you try to reopen it, but the system responds with the message: "The program is already running."

What causes this problem? Often it's due to orphan processesThe program's graphical user interface (GUI) was closed, but the logical process remains alive in RAM. A graphical glitch It also prevents the interface from being drawn, even while the application is running. This is also common in computers with two or more monitors, where the window opens outside the main screen.

How to force close a program that is not displayed on screen: The definitive guide

Whatever the reason, the problem It requires a drastic solutionOf course, you don't want to have to restart your system to clear the desktop in one go. Instead, you can try force-closing a program that isn't showing up on your screen by using one of the following methods.

End the process from the Task Manager

This remains the simplest and most effective method for forcing the closure of a program that is not displayed on the screen. Of course, The trick is knowing where to lookSo follow these steps:

1. Open Task Manager (press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open it directly).
2. Go to the tab Processes.
3. Find the program that is not displayed on the screen.
4. Select it and click on Finish task.
5. If it doesn't appear in Processes, go to the tab Details. There you will see the actual .exe files running.
6. Locate the program name, right-click, and select “Finalize process treeThis will kill not only the program, but any "child" process that is keeping it alive.

Use the Resource Monitor

If Task Manager fails, you can force close a program that is not displayed on the screen. from the Resource MonitorThis tool is lethal for unresponsive applications. Do the following:

1. In Task Manager, go to the tab Performance.
2. Click below on “Open the Resource Monitor"
3. On the tab CPU, Find the process highlighted in red. Right-click and select "Suspend process" and then "End process".

Two monitors? Bring the window back into view.

If you are working with two or more monitorsYou might lose track of a program if one of your external monitors disconnects. To retrieve it and bring it back to the main screen, follow these simple steps:

1. Click the program icon in the taskbar to select it.
2. Press Alt + Space.
3. A hidden menu will open. Press M.
4. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to bring the window back.
5. When you see it, press Enter. This trick works even when the window is completely invisible.

Force the closure of a program that is not displayed on the screen using the taskkill command

When graphical tools aren't very helpful, it's time to execute commands from the terminalThe preferred command to force the closure of a program that is not displayed on the screen is taskkill. The procedure is as simple as it is effective:

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
2. We need to list all running processes. To do this, type the command tasklist and press Enter.
3. You will see a long list with all the processes, their PID (process identifier), and the memory they use.
4. Look for the PID or the name of the program you want to close (for example, chrome.exe).
5. For kill the processYou have to use the command taskkill. For example, to close the Chrome browser process, the command would be taskkill /IM chrome.exe /FThe /F parameter means “force”.
6. If you recognize its PID (example 12345), use the command taskkill /PID 12345 /FOne advantage of This method works even when the program's graphical interface is frozen..

Try closing related or secondary processes

Something curious happens when you force-close a program that isn't displayed on the screen. Some applications have "child" processes that can be frozen even if the main window is not visible. This happens a lot with web browsers, design suites like Adobe, games, and applications with launchers (Steam, Epic Games, etc.).

To stop these orphaned processes from running, go to Task Manager. In the list of processes, locate the program in question and Click the arrow on the left to expand itThere you will see a list of child processes; close them all and then try to close the main process (if it hasn't already disappeared).

What if you restart Windows Explorer?

One last way to force a program that isn't appearing on screen to close is to restart Windows Explorer. This tool controls the taskbar, the desktop, and much of the graphical interface. If it malfunctions for any reason, it can cause windows to disappear or fail to load. Restarting it is usually enough. To correct these problems:

1. Open Task Manager.
2. Search Windows Explorer.
3. Click on Reboot.
4. This Refreshes the interface and closes phantom applications without having to restart your PC.

As you can see, forcing the closure of a program that isn't displayed on the screen doesn't have to be a headache. The system's own tools can help you. regain control without restarting and without losing work.