To kill all the processes that you have the permission to kill, simply run the command
kill -15 -1 or kill -9 -1 depending on the desired behavior (use man kill for details)
To kill a specific process, say, firefox, simply run
pkill firefox or killall firefox depending on the behavior you want: What's the difference between 'killall' and 'pkill'?
If you want to see what processes are running use the command
ps -ef
If you want to look up all processes by user bob, this might help
pgrep -l -u bob
or
ps -ef | grep bob
Linux Foundation
linuxfoundation.org › blog › blog › classic-sysadmin-how-to-kill-a-process-from-the-command-line
Classic SysAdmin: How to Kill a Process from the Linux Command Line - Linux Foundation
September 13, 2022 - The steps I’m going to outline will work on almost every Linux distribution, whether it is a desktop or a server. I will be dealing strictly with the command line, so open up your terminal and prepare to type. The first step in killing the unresponsive process is locating it.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › linux-unix › kill-command-in-linux-with-examples
kill Command in Linux - GeeksforGeeks
May 14, 2026 - The kill command sends signals to processes using their Process ID (PID). Located in /bin/kill , it’s a built-in Linux command.
Best way to effectively kill a process?
There are only two signals (what you called "sub-command" in the comments) that can't be trapped (i.e. ignored by a process) -- SIGSTOP and SIGKILL, generally SIGKILL is used to kill an unresponsive process, e.g kill -9 ${process_pid} or kill -s KILL ${process_pid}. p.s. if you don't specify a signal, by default kill sends the SIGTERM signal, which can be ignored by a process. More on reddit.com
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January 16, 2024bash - How to kill a process by its pid on Linux? - Stack Overflow
I'm new to Linux and I'm building a program that receives the name of a process, gets its PID (I have no problem with that part) and then passes the PID to the kill command, but its not working. It... More on stackoverflow.com
Linux Mint - How do I force quit apps and programs when frozen?
I’ve had luck using ctrl+alt+t and using htop to kill the process, but I haven’t had to switch to a tty yet- I imagine that the process would be identical- tho I would reboot the machine from tty first.. More on reddit.com
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June 11, 2023Is there something like Task Manager for Mint?
install htop, its shell like interface but its manageable. ctrl alt backspace will log you off. More on reddit.com
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January 13, 2015Videos
06:15
Linux - Find and Kill a Process - YouTube
04:46
Kill command in Linux with examples | How to Use Linux Kill Command ...
16:03
How to use the kill command in Linux (Linux Crash Course Series) ...
12:06
How to Correctly Kill/Terminate Process/Application in Linux Ubuntu ...
Killing & Managing Processes in Linux | Linux for Developers ...
ManageEngine
manageengine.com › home › logging guide › linux kill process
How to kill a process in Linux
May 26, 2025 - This is the preferred method for terminating processes. The "kill" command also allows you to specify other signals as well. The "Kill - l" command in the Linux terminal helps you view the complete list of all signals.
Built In
builtin.com › articles › kill-process-linux
How to Kill a Process in Linux: Best Commands to Use | Built In
The primary commands used to terminate ... use cases and preferences. Depending on your distribution, you can also use systemctl or killproc to terminate a process....
Contabo
contabo.com › home › kill processes in linux – sysadmin’s guide
Kill Processes in Linux - SysAdmin's Guide | Contabo Blog
January 26, 2026 - Master Linux process management. Learn to find PIDs and use kill, pkill, and killall commands with SIGTERM or SIGKILL to safely terminate unresponsive tasks.
nixCraft
cyberciti.biz › nixcraft › howto › linux › how to list and kill a process in linux
How To Kill Process in Linux & Terminate a Process in UNIX - nixCraft
May 6, 2026 - It is the default and safest way to kill process. The kill and killall command support more than 60 signals. However, most users only need to use signal 9 or 15. To get a full list of signals, type the following kill command with -l: $ kill -l Here is what I see: First, try to send SIGTERM (15) and if that failed then only try the SIGKILL (9) signal. A Linux or Unix process is running instance of a program.
Top answer 1 of 11
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To kill all the processes that you have the permission to kill, simply run the command
kill -15 -1 or kill -9 -1 depending on the desired behavior (use man kill for details)
To kill a specific process, say, firefox, simply run
pkill firefox or killall firefox depending on the behavior you want: What's the difference between 'killall' and 'pkill'?
If you want to see what processes are running use the command
ps -ef
If you want to look up all processes by user bob, this might help
pgrep -l -u bob
or
ps -ef | grep bob
2 of 11
128
Use:
kill <pid>
or:
killall <process-name>
PhoenixNAP
phoenixnap.com › home › kb › sysadmin › how to kill a process in linux from command line?
How to Kill a Process in Linux from Command Line?
April 28, 2025 - Learn to find processes and kill processes in Linux ones using the kill, pkill, xkill, top, and killall commands.
Kamatera
kamatera.com › home › knowledgebase › how to kill a process in linux
How to Kill a Process in Linux | Kamatera
October 17, 2025 - ... This displays a live list of running processes. Press k to initiate a process kill and enter the PID (Process ID) of the process you want to terminate as shown in the screen below.
StrongDM
strongdm.com › blog › security
How to Kill a Process in Linux: Commands and Best Practices
January 3, 2025 - Here are example scripts to kill a process is #!/bin/bash and pkill -f process_name which use pkill command for killing processes based on a name. The shebang line that is required for all bash scripts is pkill -f process_name.
Unstop
unstop.com › home › blog › how to kill process in linux | kill commands, options & more
How To Kill Process In Linux | Kill Commands, Options & More
November 2, 2024 - This PID helps track the program's execution and process activity as well as terminate the process when needed. The kill process command sends a signal to the operating system, which then stops the program associated with the specified PID.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/linux › best way to effectively kill a process?
r/linux on Reddit: Best way to effectively kill a process?
January 16, 2024 -
There are different options to kill a proces like hangup, terminate or interrupt (to name a few) but which one is the most effective way of killing a process? Like is there a command with which you can eliminate nasty hard-frozen processes? Sorry if this question sounds dumb, I am just unsure on all the different kill-options and wanted to know the real difference between for example hangup and interrupt - thanks in advance! :)
Top answer 1 of 22
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There are only two signals (what you called "sub-command" in the comments) that can't be trapped (i.e. ignored by a process) -- SIGSTOP and SIGKILL, generally SIGKILL is used to kill an unresponsive process, e.g kill -9 ${process_pid} or kill -s KILL ${process_pid}. p.s. if you don't specify a signal, by default kill sends the SIGTERM signal, which can be ignored by a process.
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A shotgun to the CPU.. In all seriousness, it depends. Processes can implement different signal handlers for certain signals, and it might be unwise to go nuclear immediately. SIGKILL is probably the most effective. But it can still leave zombies.
RunCloud
runcloud.io › blog › how-to-kill-process-in-linux
How to Kill a Process in Linux From the Command Line
October 20, 2025 - This command brings job ID 1 back to the foreground and makes it the active process in your terminal. bg (Background): If you’ve stopped a foreground process (using Ctrl+Z), you can send it to the background to continue running with bg. ... There are several ways to kill a process in Linux, but the first step is always to identify the process you want to kill.
Hostinger
hostinger.com › home › tutorials › how to kill a process in linux from the command line
How to kill a process in Linux from the command line
May 9, 2025 - To kill a process in Linux, you can use the kill command with the PID of the process you want to terminate. Learn more in this article.
TecMint
tecmint.com › home › linux commands › how to kill a process in linux from command line
How to Kill Linux Process Using Kill, Pkill, and Killall
December 14, 2023 - To stop a process running in the background. Using the kill command from /usr/bin provides you with some extra features to kill a process by process name using pkill, which identifies processes by their names.
Linux Handbook
linuxhandbook.com › kill-process
Kill a Process in Linux Using kill, pkill & killall Commands
June 14, 2024 - Both kill and killall commands are used for force stopping (killing) processes in Linux.
nixCraft
cyberciti.biz › nixcraft › howto › linux › how to force kill process in linux using kill and killall
How to force kill process in Linux using kill and killall - nixCraft
April 24, 2024 - I am a new Linux system administrator. How can I force kill process in Linux? You need to use the kill command or killall command on Linux operating systems to terminate processes without having to log out or restart the server.
DataCenterKnowledge
datacenterknowledge.com › home › data center software
Quick Guide: Kill Processes With Linux Command in Seconds
July 9, 2024 - The shell – Linux distros support several, including Ash, Bourne, Debian Almquist, Bash and others – parses the command, locates the kill program, and executes it along with any options you may specify. Upfront consideration is required in using a Linux kill process.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › kill-command-in-linux-with-examples
How to Kill a Process in Linux | Kill Command - GeeksforGeeks
April 26, 2024 - Usually, this command shows the ... as you will run this command it ... kill command in Linux (located in /bin/kill), is a built-in command which is used to terminate processes manually....
Top answer 1 of 6
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use the following command to display the port and PID of the process:
sudo netstat -plten
AND THEN
kill -9 PID
Here is an example to kill a process running on port 8283 and has PID=25334
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11
Instead of this:
proid= pidof $proceso
You probably meant this:
proid=$(pidof $proceso)
Even so,
the program might not get killed.
By default, kill PID sends the TERM signal to the specified process,
giving it a chance to shut down in an orderly manner,
for example clean up resources it's using.
The strongest signal to send a process to kill without graceful cleanup is KILL, using kill -KILL PID or kill -9 PID.
I believe it's some kind of problem with the bash language (which I just started learning).
The original line you posted, proid= pidof $proceso should raise an error,
and Bash would print an error message about it.
Debugging problems starts by reading and understanding the error messages the software is trying to tell you.