How To Use New Task Manager In Windows 11

It can help you identify resource-hungry apps, misbehaving processes, current CPU and GPU usage, and much more. If you’re looking to make the most of the new Task Manager but don’t know where to start, then here’s a perfect guide for you to help you along the way.

Open Task Manager In Windows 11

Let’s get familiar with all the ways you can launch Task Manager on your PC.

1. Firstly, you can launch the Task Manager using the dedicated keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + Esc. This shortcut works everywhere, no matter the app open on your PC.
2. You can also launch the Task Manager from your taskbar. Right-click your taskbar and select Task Manager. This will launch the Task Manager on your Windows 11 PC.
3. Additionally, you can also use the Windows + X keyboard shortcut to access the advanced tools menu on your PC. You can then click and select Task Manager from the menu that appears on your screen.
4. You can also use the Run app to launch Task Manager. This can come in handy when troubleshooting your PC for issues with explorer and other important services. Use Windows + R to launch Run and then type in taskmgr. Once typed in, press Enter to launch Task Manager on your PC.
5. Lastly, you can use the Start menu search to launch Task Manager on your PC. Simply launch the Start menu and then search for Task Manager. Click to launch Task Manager once it shows up in your search results. These are all the common ways to access the Task Manager on your Windows 11 PC. You can use either of these methods to launch the Task Manager when following either of the guides in this post.

Run New Tasks

Running new tasks directly from the Task Manager can help you in various scenarios. You can end and restart tasks directly from the Task Manager, you can launch programs as an administrator, you can troubleshoot your PC when facing issues with explorer.exe, and a lot more. Here’s how you can run new tasks using the new quick actions and more in the new Windows 11 Task Manager.

1. Open Task Manager using your preferred method. You can right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager from the context menu or use the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut, depending on your preferred method.
2. Now click Run new task in the quick actions in the top right corner of the Task Manager.
3. Similarly, you can click Run new task in each tab in the top right corner of your screen. The option to access Run new task is now available in each tab in the Task Manager for easy access.
4. Additionally, you can also use the Alt + N keyboard shortcut on your Windows 11 PC to launch Run whenever Task Manager is open on your PC. You will now have launched Run in the new Task Manager in Windows 11.

End Tasks

There are a few different ways to end tasks on Windows 11 when using the new Task Manager. Here’s how you can kill tasks, processes, apps, programs, and more when using the new Task Manager on Windows 11.

1. Open the Task Manager on your Windows 11 PC. Right-click your taskbar and select Task Manager or use the Ctrl + Shift + Enter keyboard shortcut to launch the Task Manager.
2. Now click and select the task, app, or program you wish to kill.
3. Click and select End task in the quick actions in the top right corner of the Task Manager.
4. The task will now be killed on your Windows 11 PC. You can also kill a task using the right-click context menu. Start by right-clicking on a task or app you wish to kill on your PC.
5. Now click and select End task. This will also kill the selected task or process instantly.
6. Additionally, the new Task Manager also offers a dedicated keyboard shortcut to kill tasks. Click and select the task you wish to kill on your Windows 11 PC. Once selected, Press Alt + E on your keyboard to kill the selected task. You will now have manually selected and ended tasks that you did not prefer on your PC using the new Task Manager.

Enable or Disable Efficiency Mode

Efficiency mode is a great way to save resources, especially if you have an underpowered system or are about to perform resource-intensive tasks. Here’s how you can turn on or turn off Efficiency mode on your Windows 11 PC using the new Task Manager.

1. Launch the Task Manager on your PC. You can launch the Task Manager using one of the many ways I discussed above, or you can simply press Ctrl + Shift + Enter on your keyboard. This is the keyboard shortcut for the Task Manager and will help launch the app no matter where you are on your PC.
2. Once launched, click and select the task for which you wish to enable or disable Efficiency mode. You can identify tasks running in the Efficiency mode by checking the Status tab. A leaf in this column means the adjacent task is running in Efficiency mode. If you notice a Pause icon, then the current background activity has been paused by Windows 11 as it is no longer required on your PC.
3. Click and select Efficiency mode among the quick actions situated in the top right corner of the Task Manager. This will trigger Efficiency mode for the selected action.
4. Now click Turn on Efficiency mode to confirm your choice. This will turn on Efficiency mode for the selected application or program, and the same will be indicated by a leaf beside the app listing in the Status column.
5. You can also turn on Efficiency mode using the right-click context menu. Simply right-click on the app or task you wish to put in Efficiency mode.
6. Now click and select Efficiency mode from the right-click context menu.
7. As usual, confirm your choice by clicking Turn on Efficiency mode.
8. You can also turn on Efficiency mode using the dedicated keyboard shortcut. Start by selecting a process or task that you wish to turn on Efficiency mode for, and then press Alt + V on your keyboard. You will now have turned on Efficiency mode for the chosen apps on your Windows 11 PC.

Enable or Disable Startup Apps

Startup apps can significantly increase your boot-up times. Here’s how you can disable or enable startup apps on your Windows 11 PC using the new Task Manager.

1. Open the Task Manager using your preferred method from the list at the top. If you’re unsure, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to launch the Task Manager from anywhere on your screen.
2. Once launched, click and select Startup apps from the left sidebar of the Task Manager. This will allow you to enable and disable startup apps on your Windows 11 PC.
3. Click and select the app you wish to stop from launching at startup each time your PC boots up.
4. Now, if you wish to disable the app from starting up at every boot, click and select Disable from the quick actions in the top right corner.
5. If you wish to enable the app and let it launch at every boot, then click and select Enable instead.
6. You can also right-click on the desired app and select Enable or Disable, depending on your preferred choice.
7. Additionally, you can also click the More options icon, which should show up in the top right corner of your screen with an app selected to view even more options to manage your startup apps.
8. Click and select Properties to view the Properties page for the selected app or program. This will allow you to manage its settings, how it opened, where it is located, when it was installed, compatibility layers, and much more. Depending on the size of your window, Properties can also show up in quick actions in the top right corner.
9. Click and select Open file location to view the location where the app or program is installed on your Windows 11 PC. This can help you identify unknown programs currently added to the startup list in your Task Manager.
10. Lastly, you have Search online at your disposal. If you’re unable to figure out any information about the selected app and would like to know more about the selected program, then you can select this option to search for any available information online for the selected app. You will now have managed your startup apps and services using the new Task Manager for Windows users.

Manage Users

You can also use the Task Manager to manage and view logged-in users currently and how many resources are being used by each user. This can help you better manage systems that you share with someone and identify users using a lot of resources on your PC. Here’s how you can do that using the new Task manager on Windows 11.

1. Open the Task Manager using your preferred method. You can use one of the methods listed at the top of this guide or use the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut to launch Task Manager on your PC.
2. Now click and select Users on your left. This will allow you to view and manage all logged-in users on your PC.
3. You now have the option to kick and disconnect a user from your PC if you have administrative privileges. Click and select the user you wish to disconnect from your PC.
4. Click Disconnect in the quick actions in the top right corner of your screen.
5. Click and select Disconnect user to confirm your choice. The selected user will now be kicked and disconnected from the current session.
6. You also get more options to manage users in the Task Manager. Click and select a user and then click the More options icon in the top right corner of your screen.
7. Now click and select Manage user accounts if you wish to add or remove the selected user from the User Accounts section in the Control Panel. You can control administrative privileges, change names, and add and remove users from the User Accounts section in the Control Panel. Depending on the size of your window, this option can also show up as a quick action in the top right corner.
8. While the Open file location and Search online options are available in the Users, they don’t seem to do anything. This seems to be an issue that will be fixed with future updates to Windows 11 22H2. You will now have managed your users using the new Task Manager in Windows 11.

Manage And End Processes

Apart from grouping processes by apps and programs, you can also individually view each process currently running on your system. This can help you identify malfunctioning programs by using the Details section in the Task Manager. Here’s how you can do that on your Windows 11 PC.

1. Open the Task Manager on your Windows 11 PC using your preferred method. If you’re unsure, simply press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to open the Task Manager from anywhere on your PC.
2. Now click Details in your Task Manager’s sidebar to view all running processes on your Windows PC.
3. You now have the option to sort running processes by their current status, the user who launched the process, CPU usage, RAM usage, and the architecture being used by each process.
4. Click at the top of either column to sort the processes using your preferred criteria. Click Status to sort processes by their current status, use User name to sort processes by users that launched the process, use CPU to sort processes by their CPU usage, and use Memory to sort processes by their RAM usage. Lastly, click Architecture to sort by the architecture used by each process and click Description to sort processes by their publisher.
5. Now click and select a task and use End task to end the selected process on your PC.
6. Click Properties if you wish to view the properties page for the selected process.
7. You can now right-click a process and view additional options. Right-click the desired process to view additional options to manage the selected service.
8. Use Set Priority to change the priority of the selected process in terms of resources allotted to the selected process. Keep in mind that wrongly changing priorities can cause lags and, in the worst cases, BSODs on your systems.
9. Secondly, use Set affinity to change the CPU affinity of the selected process. In layman’s terms, this option can help you assign processes to different threads on your CPU. If you aren’t sure about CPU affinity, we recommend you avoid messing with this option.
10. Click the End process tree to end the selected process as well as other processes dependent on the selected process. This can help prevent memory leaks in the background and ensure the proper functioning of your Windows 11 PC.
11. Use Create dump file to create a dump file for the selected process. This can help you analyze the process’s functioning in the background and find bugs that might be affecting your PC.
12. The rest of the options will be similar to the ones we have discussed above. Use the Open file location to view the current location of the process on your local storage. Use Search online to web search the selected process in case you aren’t able to find any information about the process. Use Properties to view the file properties of the selected file.
13. In some cases, if you manage to select the process registered as a Windows Service, then you will get the option to Go to Service(s). You can use this option to view the related service in the Services app, where you can manage and disable the service if needed. You will now have managed all running processes on your Windows 11 PC using the new Task Manager.

Manage Running Services

Lastly, you can manage and view currently running Windows services on your PC using the new Task Manager. Use the steps below to help you do the same on your Windows 11 PC.

1. Open the Task Manager using your preferred method from the ones we discussed above. You can also use the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut to instantly launch Task Manager on your Windows 11 PC.
2. Now click and select Services from the left sidebar in the Task Manager.
3. You will now have a list of all the currently running services on your Windows 11 PC. Click and select a service you wish to start, restart or stop on your PC.
4. Now use the Start, Stop and Restart options in the quick actions to control the service as needed on your PC.
5. Click Open Services if you wish to manage services in the dedicated Services app.
6. You also get the option to search services online and open the relevant process related to the service on your PC. You can do this firstly from the more options menu. Click and select the More options icon in the top right corner.
7. Now select Go to details. In some cases, this option will be greyed out if the running service has no background process associated with it.
8. Select Search online to search the web for the selected service. This can help you identify hidden or unidentifiable services that might have been installed on your PC.
9. You can also access Search online and Go to details from the right-click context menu as well when right-clicking a service in the Services tab on your PC.

Manage Task Manager Settings

Now, let’s customize Task Manager’s behavior and settings according to your needs and requirements. Follow these steps to customize the new Windows 11’s Task Manager settings on your Windows 11 PC.

1. Launch the Task Manager on your PC using one of the methods we discussed at the start of this post. You can also use the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut if you’d like.
2. Now click Settings in the bottom left corner of the app. This will allow you to view the Task Manager settings in Windows 11 22H2 and above.
3. Use the drop-down menu for Default Start Page to select your preferred Task Manager tab. Each time you open the Task Manager, you will be able to view the custom tab selected by you.
4. Click the drop-down menu for Real-time update speed to control how fast information in the Task Manager is updated in real-time.
5. The Window Management section will allow you to control the behavior of the Task Manager window. Check the box for Always on top if you wish for Task Manager to be always on top regardless of the apps, programs, and full-screen apps running on your PC. This feature can be especially useful when troubleshooting your PC and trying to find a misbehaving process.
6. Check the box for Show full account name if you wish to view full usernames in the Task Manager instead of abbreviations of usernames.
7. Check the box for Show history of all processes if you wish the Task Manager should include the App history of each process, including system processes running on your PC. You will now have customized the Task Manager and its settings based on your needs and requirements.

Task Manager Keyboard Shortcuts

Let’s first get familiar with commonly used Task Manager keyboard shortcuts. They can help you easily launch and use the Task Manager on your Windows 11 PC.

Alt + E: Kill the selected process Alt + N: Open a new Run window Alt + V: Turn on and turn on Efficiency mode for the selected program Ctrl + Tab: Switch between different tabs in the Task Manager Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Switch to the previous tabs in the Task Manager Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Launch the Task Manager from anywhere on your Windows 11 PC

You can use all these keyboard shortcuts to launch and manage different functions available in the Task Manager.

Why doesn’t the Task Manager reflect my accent color?

Some accent colors make it difficult to read the data displayed by your Task Manager. If that happens to be the case on your PC, then Windows will revert to the default blue accent color when viewing the Task Manager. We recommend you try a different accent color that makes the text legible to have it reflected in the Windows 11 Task Manager.

Final Words

The Task Manager is a great tool to view and manage resource consumption on your Windows 11 PC. It can help you kill processes, restart services, view malfunctioning apps, and check your CPU, RAM, GPU, and network usage. All these features make it a great tool to maintain and keep your PC working as intended. I hope the post above helped you easily use and utilize the latest Task Manager in Windows 11 22H2.

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