How to Kill a Process from the Command Line

When an application is hanging or an unwanted process is running on your PC, the best response is to kill the process directly from the command line. The steps to kill a process from the command line are relatively simple. The important thing is to be sure you’re killing the right process.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Computer running Linux

1. Open the BASH terminal. This can be found at the bar on the bottom of the desktop in the Gnome and KDE interfaces. If you’re operating a non-Gnome or non-KDE variant, search the home menu for “xterm.”
2. Type in “pstree –p” (without quotes) and press "Enter." This will give you a list of all processes that are currently running. The “–p” will show the process ID as well.
3. Choose which process you want to kill. The name should give an indication. Try to remember the process ID.
4. Type “kill [pid]” where [pid] is the process ID number you noted in the previous step. This includes a delay to allow the process to end properly.
5. Verify that the process in question has been killed by repeating step 2. When the tree is listed, the process you specified should be gone.

Tips & Warnings

• If the process does not seem to be ending properly, add the “-kill” modifier. This will bypass the delay and force the process to shut down.
• A wildcard can be used if you know only part of the name. To shut down a process based on the whole or part of a process name, simply enter the command “pkill [word],” replacing [word] with a part of the process name.
• Be careful not to kill a process vital to the operation of Linux. If you are unsure of the process’s function, do a Web search on the process name.

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