There are instances when you have a lot of open applications and wish to close them all at once. You can select each of their close icons separately. Although it might be secure, that is not the best way to shut down all applications at once. So, on Windows 11, how do you close every open app at once?
There are a few options, and in this guide, we’ll show you how to use each one. As a brief hint, press Alt + F4 and choose Shutdown if you want to close and shut down the computer. But continue reading if you just want to shut down the programs while leaving your PC functioning.
Table of Contents
USE THE COMMAND PROMPT
You can rapidly open or close programs using Windows Command Prompt. The utility’s Taskkill command enables you to shut down all currently running programs at once. This command can be customized to shut down individual processes or instances of a program by passing various options.
Step 1: Press Windows + R on your keyboard and type in CMD.
Step 2: Hit the Control+Shift+Enter on your keyboard to open the Command Prompt via Administrator.
Step 3: Type the command “taskkill /f /im *” and hit enter.
The /im specifies the applications to be closed, the * instructs the OS to close all open apps, and the /f tells the OS to close the programs forcibly.
CLOSE ALL APPS VIA POWERSHELL
Because it also accepts text-based instructions to carry out specific actions on Windows, Windows PowerShell is comparable to the Command Prompt in this regard. You can provide a command to terminate only a few running processes or all of them.
Step 1: Click the Windows Search icon on the Taskbar, type PowerShell in the search box, and select the ‘Run as Administrator’ option.
Step 2: Type the following command in the PowerShell window and hit Enter:
Get-Process | Stop-Process
CLOSE ALL APPS WITH THIRD-PARTY TOOLS
To completely shut all windows or applications, you can use a few third-party tools with Windows 11.
CLOSE ALL APPS USING BATCH SCRIPTS
A batch file is a document with a collection of scripts that the command-line interpreter completes or runs. They are frequently necessary for automating operations in Windows 11. In the example below, you can use them to send emails, copy files, or concurrently close multiple open programs.
Step 1: To open Notepad, click the Windows Search button, type Notepad into the search box, and then press Enter.
Step 2: Enter the text below in Notepad:
@echo off
taskkill /f /im *
pause
Step 3: Select Save As from the File menu in the top-right corner. After that, give the file a name and make sure the extension is.BAT.
Step 4: Locate the file, perform a right-click, and then choose “Run as administrator.”
CLOSE ALL APPS USING THE RESOURCE MONITOR
You can view all of your programs in Windows 11’s Resource Monitor, where you can also keep an eye on how the operating system’s hardware and software are functioning. It is a useful tool for troubleshooting and is essential in identifying resource hogs and keeping track of the health of the computer. Additionally, as seen below, you can use it to close numerous open Windows.
Step 1: Press Windows + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run dialog.
Step 2: Type resmon and hit Enter to launch the Resource Monitor.
Step 3: Select the app you wish to close. Right-click on your selection and click End process.
Step 4: Confirm your choice by clicking the End process button.
