Optimizing Task Manager: Shortcuts and Hacks to Become an Expert Today ⚡👨‍💻

Run quickly using a keyboard shortcut

You may know that you can press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and then select Task Manager from the list on the black screen that appears, but there is another shortcut you can use to quickly open Task Manager!

Just press Windows Key + X to open the WinX menu (also known as the Power User menu), then press the T to immediately launch Task Manager without using the mouse. Alternatively, you can press Windows Key + Shift + EscThis one is a little trickier to do one-handed, but it opens Task Manager instantly. 🚀

Manage your startup applications

If you have too many applications set to start automatically when Windows boots, this can slow down the overall startup process. The solution is to manage your startup applications from Task Manager to ensure only the most important ones start automatically. 🚦

With Task Manager open, go to the Tasks tab. Startup applications in the left sidebar. Review the list of "Enabled" apps and consider disabling any you don't need all the time, especially if they have a Medium or High "Startup Impact."

To disable auto-start of an application, right-click on it and select DisableOnce you've disabled all the apps you don't need at startup, try restarting your PC to see what kind of impact it has. 🔄

Jump to the program folder of an application

If you want to make manual changes to a program's files or just want to know where they are for future reference, you can navigate directly from the Task Manager. 📂

To do this, make sure you are on the tab Processes from the Task Manager in the left pane. Then, right-click on the application you want to locate and select Open file locationThis will open a new File Explorer window where the application's program folder is located. 📁

Restart Windows Explorer to fix errors

Many things can go wrong with Windows, but one of the best solutions when your PC seems to be crashing is to restart Windows Explorer. 🔄

If certain files or folders are not responding, or if the taskbar tasks has disappeared, or if the Start menu stops working—or if a number of other basic Windows functions aren't working correctly—this trick usually does the trick, and you can do it from Task Manager.

Select the tab Processes and scroll until you find Windows Explorer. (It will probably be at the bottom of the list of running applications.) Right-click on it and select Reboot to restart Windows Explorer and give it a fresh start… hopefully without the problems you had before! 🤞

Force close frozen or unresponsive applications

Task Manager has long been the go-to tool for shutting down stubborn programs, but the modern Task Manager has several options you can try for anything that's too stubborn to shut down properly. 😉

In the tab Processes, locate the application you want to close from the list, right-click on it and select End task.

If that doesn't work, select the tab Details in the left panel, then look in the list of running processes for the application you want to close, right-click on it and select End process treeThis should force close the application and all related processes.

Give an app more system resources

If your PC has a weak processor or doesn't have enough RAM, you might notice that some apps run slowly, especially when you have many apps or browser tabs open. In such cases, it can be helpful to tell Windows to prioritize certain apps over others and give them more resources to work with. (This can be especially useful when you're gaming, as any drop in performance can affect how a game plays.) 🎮

To change application priority using Task Manager, open it and select the tab Details in the left panel. Locate the app you want to boost, right-click on it, hover over Set priority and choose a priority level from the menu. ("Above Normal" and "High" are good choices. "Realtime" offers the best performance, but may cause system instability or crashes.) ⚙️

Similarly, you can deprioritize certain applications that are consuming too many resources or causing problems. Just repeat the steps above, but select a lower priority, which will cause Windows to give fewer resources to that application in favor of higher-priority ones. Alternatively, right-click on an application and set it to Mode efficiency If you prefer Windows to automatically deprioritize it to save resources as needed. 📉

See which apps are using your network

Task Manager lets you quickly see how much of your wireless and wired networks are being used, but it can also give you shortcuts to more detailed information when you need it. 🌐

Select the tab Performance in the left pane of Task Manager, then select Wi-Fi either Ethernet to observe broader use of the network.

If you want to see details about what's using what, click the three-dot menu in the top right and select Resource Monitor. Then, in the next window, select the tab Grid to expand and see all the processes that are using your network and how much. 📊

Monitor your system's performance

If you need to keep an eye on how a particular application is performing or how your PC handles certain running applications and services, you can use Task Manager to monitor and report on them. 📊

Select the tab Performance in Task Manager and choose the component you want to monitor (e.g., CPU, Memory, Disk, etc.). Right-click the large real-time graph and select Summary graphical view to view a simplified chart without other menu items. (Double-click to return to the normal Task Manager view.) 📈

You probably want this graph to be at the top of all your apps while you're monitoring them, right? To do so, click the settings icon in the bottom left corner of Task Manager, then scroll down to Window management and check the box Always on top. ⚙️

Use the old Task Manager

Prefer the old Task Manager? You can run it, but it takes a few extra steps. Follow this quick guide to bring it back with its retro look. Note, however, that you can't use both Task Managers at the same time; if the current Task Manager is running, you can't also launch the old one (and vice versa). 🔙

🧰 How to enable the old Task Manager in Windows 11

Do you miss the classic Windows 10 Task Manager? 😢 Don't worry, with a few simple steps you can get it working again on your Windows 11. Let's go step by step! 👇

📌 What are we going to do?

We are going to modify a key in the Windows Registry to activate the old style. It's safe if you follow the steps correctly! 🔐

🔧 STEP BY STEP TO RESTORE THE CLASSIC MANAGER

1️⃣ I opened the Registry Editor

📂 Press Win + R, I wrote regedit and press Enter.
🛑 Accept the Account Control warning message if it appears.

2️⃣ Navigate to this route

📁 On the left panel, follow this path:

📌 If a folder doesn't exist, you can create it by right-clicking → New → Key.

3️⃣ Create a new DWORD value

🧱 Right-click on the right panel → New → DWORD (32-bit) Value.
✏️ Enter this exact name:

4️⃣ Assign the correct value

🧮 Double click on UndockingDisabled and in the field Value information, I wrote:

👉 Make sure the base is in Hexadecimal.

5️⃣ Restart your PC 🖥️🔁

For the changes to take effect, you need restart your computer.

✅ Done! How to check?

Now, by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc or right click on the taskbar and select "Task Manager", it will open the classic version which many prefer for its speed and simplicity. ⚡

🚨 To return to the Modern Manager:

1. Return to the same place in the registry.

2. Change the value of UndockingDisabled to 0 either remove the value.

3. Restart your PC.