What to know
- Windows has a new ‘End Task’ button in the context menu for Taskbar apps to kill the given app.
- When enabled, you can simply right-click on an app in the taskbar and select ‘End Task.’ The new feature works similarly to the End Task option found in the Task Manager.
- Enable the ‘End Task’ feature from the Settings app under ‘For Developers’, or from the Registry Editor.
- Since the feature is only available on certain Insider builds, you may have to enable it using ViVeTool. The feature ID for EndTask is 42592269.
Frozen or unresponsive programs are easy enough to kill from the Task Manager. But Microsoft has recently given users the convenience of killing these tasks straight from the taskbar. Though the option is not rolled out to everyone, it is fairly easy to get if you have a Windows Insider build. Here’s everything you need to know to enable the ‘End Task’ button and close tasks from the taskbar.
Currently, the option to enable the ‘End task’ button for the taskbar apps is only available as a developer option for users with a Windows Insider build. However, this may change in the upcoming feature updates as it is rolled out to users across the globe on stable builds.
If you haven’t already joined the Windows Insider Program, refer to our guide on How to Download Windows 11 Insider Builld to know how.
Related: Where is ‘My Computer’ on Windows 11? How to Find ‘This PC’ Easily!
Although the feature is working on the latest Dev channel (version 23526) and can be enabled using the Settings app (Method 1), if you’re on a different channel or a different Dev version, the End Task option may or may not be visible to you yet. Nevertheless, you can still use ViVeTool (methods 3 and 4) as shown below to enable the End Task option in the taskbar, regardless of your Insider build.
Method 1: Using the Settings app
The ‘End Task’ option is available under the “For developers” page in Windows Settings. Here’s how to reach it:
Press Win+I to open the Settings app. Then, with ‘System’ selected in the left pane, scroll down on the right and select For developers.
Here, find End Task and toggle it On.
Now right-click on an open app in the taskbar. You will see the ‘End Task’ option appear here.
Use it to quickly close all instances and processes of non-responsive apps and programs.
Related: How to Repair Windows 11 Without CD: 12 Methods Explained!
Method 2: Using the Registry Editor
A roundabout way of enabling the ‘End Task’ option is to make a registry tweak using the Registry Editor. Here’s how:
Press Start, type “registry” and select the Registry Editor.
Now, navigate to the following:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DeveloperSettings
Alternatively, copy the above and paste it into the Registry Editor’s address bar.
And hit Enter. On the right, double-click on TaskbarEndTask.
Change its value to 1.
Click OK.
And just like that, you will have enabled the End Task button in the taskbar.
Related: How to turn on Windows Defender in Windows 11
Method 3: Using ViVeTool in the command prompt
Since the End Task option in the taskbar is still under development, even users who are part of the Windows Insider Program may not always see the option available in Settings or the Registry Editor. However, with ViVeTool, they can unearth and enable the features that are hidden from them. Here’s how:
Firstly, download ViVeTool from the link below.
- ViVeTool | GitHub link
On the GitHub page, download ViVeTool-v0.3.3.zip.
Extract the download zip file by right-clicking on it and selecting Extract All.
Click on Extract.
Now, right-click the extracted ViVeTool.exe file and select Copy as path.
Next, press Start, type cmd, and run the Command Prompt with administrator privileges.
Paste the copied path here. Then continue the command by entering the following:
/enable /id:42592269
Here, ‘42592269’ is the ID of the End Task feature. Hit Enter to enable the feature. Once the feature is successfully enabled, you’ll get a confirmation for the same.
Restart your computer for the changes to take effect. Then enable ‘End Task’ in the For Developers page of the Settings app, as shown in Method 1.
Related: How to stop Windows 11 update [7 methods explained]
Method 4: Using the ViVeTool GUI
ViVeTool also has a GUI app that lets you enable various Windows features that are hidden or turned off by default in particular builds. Download it from the link given below:
- ViVeTool GUI | GitHub link
Download the Pre_Release_Hotfix.zip file.
Once downloaded, right-click the downloaded zip file and select Extract all.
Click Extract.
In the extracted folder, launch ViVeTool_GUI.exe.
On the Microsoft Defender SmartScreen, click on More info.
Then select Run anyway.
Once the ViVeTool GUI opens, click on the ‘Search Build’ drop-down menu at the top left corner.
Then look for a build that starts with 23526.
Although there are a few other build versions that have the ‘EndTask’ feature, we can recommend this as one of the versions that definitely has the feature and it’s also working as intended.
Wait for the features to populate. Once done, click in the search field.
Then type EndTask. You should see the ‘EndTask’ feature appear in the results.
Select it and then click on Perform Action at the top.
And select Activate feature.
Once enabled, you will get a message confirming the same.
Restart your computer for good effect. Then go to the ‘For Developers’ page in the Settings app as shown before and enable ‘End Task’ from there.
You will now be able to right-click on any open task and select End Task to quit all its instances and processes.
Related: How to Install Windows 11 Canary Build
FAQ
Let’s consider a few commonly asked questions about the new ‘End Task’ button in the taskbar.
Though the End Task button for the taskbar is available on a few Canary and Dev builds, it isn’t completely working on all of them. However, it is definitely working on Dev build 23526.
The feature ID of the ‘End Taskbar’ button is 42592269. You can use this ID to enable the End Taskbar feature with the help of ViVeTool. Refer to methods 3 and 4 in the guide given above.
The ‘End task’ option that you get on the taskbar can only end tasks associated with the selected app. It isn’t meant to end all open tasks. You will have to individually right-click all tasks in the taskbar and end them separately.
The new End Task feature in the taskbar makes it much more convenient to kill unresponsive apps and tasks. The fact that the option is within the ‘For developers’ Settings page and is disabled by default seems to suggest that it will remain so even when it makes it to a stable build.
But given how instrumental it can be on a daily basis, it is something that you should definitely consider enabling and save yourself the trouble of opening the Task Manager every time an app or a program freezes up on you. We hope this guide helped you with the same. Until next time!
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