what background processes can i end windows 10

What background processes are okay to close

learn.microsoft.com › en-us › answers › questions › 4063120 › what-background-processes-are-okay-to-close

Hi, good day! I'm Jerico T., I understand that you're having some issues right now, I'll do my best to help you with your concern.

The Clean Boot is the best way to close or disable applications/programs that are less needed for your computer to startup. Rest assured that it's safe and you don't have to reset your device, you just have to restart it.

Closing or disabling programs one by one might be risky because you might disable important background processes. You may refer to the link below for the complete definition of Clean Boot and for the step-by-step instructions on how to perform Clean Boot.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-t...

Please do let me know if you need any further assistance.

Hope this help. Have a good day.

Thank you,

Jerico T.

Quora

quora.com › What-background-processes-are-okay-to-kill-in-Windows-in-order-to-speed-up-my-PC

What background processes are okay to kill in Windows in order to speed up my PC? - Quora

(I literally just killed about 10 background processes and didn’t drop the RAM usage by a single percent.) What I CAN say, however, is that you should NEVER kill a Windows system process.

Microsoft Learn

learn.microsoft.com › en-us › answers › questions › 4063120 › what-background-processes-are-okay-to-close

What background processes are okay to close - Microsoft Q&A

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Hi, good day! I'm Jerico T., I understand that you're having some issues right now, I'll do my best to help you with your concern.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-t...

Please do let me know if you need any further assistance.

Hope this help. Have a good day.

Thank you,

Jerico T.

2 of 5

Thank you for your quick response. Clean boot is a troubleshooting method that will disable any third-party applications that are less needed for your computer. You can also select the applications that you only want to disable, same thing if you want to enable them again. If you don't want to perform clean boot, that's fine. We can try to check your startup programs by performing the steps below.

Press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC to open task manager.
Click the Startup apps tab.
Disable any apps that you don't want to start when you boot your computer.
Restart your device.

Regards,

Jerico T.

Discussions

Is there a way to permanently disable Windows 10 background processes with Task Manager?

When I use Chrome too many Windows 10 processes bog my computer down, things I never even use I can't turn off. Is there a 3rd party program which will finally give me control over my computer? Microsoft seems to be forcing us to use Edge, and I don't want to anymore. More on forums.tomshardware.com

forums.tomshardware.com

June 22, 2018

Windows 10 Background processes - How to permanently remove multiple Microsoft Edge entries and other non-essential proceses

Windows 10 system is running around 50 background processes including several Microsoft Edge entries. This is in addidion to aroud 90 running Windows processes. In Windows Settings - Privacy, I have turned off "Let Apps Run In Background" In… More on learn.microsoft.com

learn.microsoft.com

July 2, 2022

How to close all background programs in Windows?

It becomes so bad that you have to buy a whole new computer. Why would you have to buy a new computer when you can simply clean install? More on reddit.com

r/Windows10

August 20, 2022

Hello Windows Community :) Is it normal to have so many background processes 2 minutes after startup?

Windows has MANY components to it. This is normal More on reddit.com

r/Windows10

January 29, 2023

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reddit.com › r/techsupport › how to know which background processes are okay to end on task manager?

r/techsupport on Reddit: How to know which background processes are okay to end on Task Manager?

February 18, 2022 -

Hello, apologies if my question is kinda dumb, but how do I know which background processes are okay to end in Task Manager? I think I currently have too many (100+), I know some of which are okay to end, but I'm not sure about the others and I'm worried something bad might happen if I accidentally close some of them.

Thank you.

Top answer

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Generally, don't. Processes started by the system shouldn't be stopped if you don't know what you're doing; and when you do know what you're doing you'll realise there are better ways to deal with them. Processes that come from applications you've run, or are background services for applications you've installed, also shouldn't just be stopped; if they are problematic, you should close those applications or disable/uninstall the background services. Killing processes via Task Manager is something that should be done only when dealing with malfunctioning software, not as a maintenance tool to free up resources.

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look at the most resource consuming see what is it and location, and check the filename/program on google see if that is by system or user installed. or you can try to install fresh windows with same version of your pc/laptop in other pc and see what/which background running

Real.com

customer.real.com › hc › en-us › articles › 204039463-Close-programs-running-in-the-background-in-Windows

Close programs running in the background in Windows – SUPPORT

Solution 2: Temporarily disable background programs on Windows from Task Manager. The Windows Task Manager can close programs that the system tray cannot. Warning: If you use the End Process feature to close a program, you will lose any unsaved data in that program.

Windows Report

windowsreport.com › windows 10 › which background processes can i end in windows 10? [how-to guide]

Which Background Processes Can I End in Windows 10? [How-To Guide]

December 2, 2025 - So, I’ve covered below tried and tested methods to get rid of useless background processes in Windows 10. They’re also applicable to Windows 11, so read on! You can end almost all third-party app-related services in Windows 10 without facing ...

How-To Geek

howtogeek.com › home › windows › stop these 6 windows background processes to reclaim your pc's performance

Stop These 6 Windows Background Processes to Reclaim Your PC's Performance

October 5, 2025 - In the next window, go to the "Services" tab and turn on "Hide all Microsoft services". Now you can run through a list of third-party programs, select the ones you want to turn off, and easily disable them. Of course, if it turns out that you actually want them back later, you can just repeat this process and turn what you want back on without much trouble.

Windows 10 Forums

windows10forums.com › articles › windows 10 articles

Safely Fix Too Many Background Processes in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Forums

July 5, 2024 - In the Services window, find third-party software services you don’t need, double-click them, set the Startup type to Disabled, and then click Apply and OK. Disabling unnecessary third-party software services ensures they do not restart your system, further reducing background processes.

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iSeePassword

iseepassword.com › blog › what-background-processes-can-i-close-windows-10

What Background Processes Can I Close Windows 10? – iSeePassword Blog

June 8, 2023 - By ending and disabling these unnecessary background processes, you can lower system resource consumption and improve your system’s speed and performance. There are several Windows 10 processes that might be considered unnecessary, as they do not play a primary role in the operating system’s ...

Ten Forums

tenforums.com › performance-maintenance › 70348-unnecessary-background-stuff-list.html

Unnecessary background stuff list? - Windows 10 Help Forums

November 20, 2016 - Check what non Microsoft items are included in start-up, remove those that are non essential but only after thoroughly researching the functions they provide, something the just gives quick access to a program is easily replaced with a standard shortcut which has no overhead, the control panel for your antivirus is more important, but even this can often be accessed from some other route without the overhead of a background app if you are realy short of memory ... Computer Type: PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number: ChillBlast Custom :-) OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 Latest RP CPU: Ryzen 9 595

MiniTool

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4 Solutions to Fix Too Many Background Processes in Windows 10 - MiniTool

March 15, 2024 - ... Many system tray startup programs like antivirus software are listed under Background processes in Task Manager. You can also use Windows Task Manager application to remove some system tray software from the Windows startup.

Tom's Hardware Forum

forums.tomshardware.com › home › software › windows 10

Is there a way to permanently disable Windows 10 background processes with Task Manager? | Tom's Hardware Forum

June 22, 2018 - You can disable some services from within Windows, It seems like I remember better Task Manager controls in Windows 7. There's almost no control over all the processes in Windows 10.

Microsoft Learn

learn.microsoft.com › en-us › answers › questions › 4319736 › windows-10-background-processes-how-to-permanently

Windows 10 Background processes - How to permanently remove multiple Microsoft Edge entries and other non-essential proceses - Microsoft Q&A

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Hi DaveW

I am Dave, I will help you with this.

Open Edge, then click the 3 dots at the top right and choose Settings.

Type Boost into the search box in Edge settings

Turn off Startup Boost and the option to continue running apps and extensions when Edge is closed

Restart (not shut down) your PC

There should then be no Edge processes running in the background.

With regards to other processes that are running in the background, if you can provide a list of those, I can advise you on the ones that are essential and which ones are not.

2 of 5

Hi Dave

Thanks for your reply.

I've sorted the Edge background processes following your advice - Thanks for that

Attached images of other background processes running

I am aware that Defender, Antimalware, Cloud Backup and Team Viewer are needed, but not sure about the others

Also, why are there multiple entries for TeamViewer?

DaveW

MakeUseOf

makeuseof.com › home › windows › 9 windows processes you can end safely to improve performance

9 Windows Processes You Can End Safely to Improve Performance

September 29, 2022 - No matter if you use OneDrive or not, the background process for the Microsoft cloud storage can be ended. It won't affect your stored files in any way, and you can still access OneDrive if you need it by opening the drive folder.

YouTube

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How to Stop Background Processes in Windows 11/10 [Tutorial] - YouTube

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How to Stop Background Processes in Windows 11/10 [Tutorial]The Windows operating system is huge, with many apps, processes, and services running simultaneou...

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Microsoft Support

support.microsoft.com › en-us › windows › windows-background-apps-and-your-privacy-83f2de44-d2d9-2b29-4649-2afe0913360a

Windows background apps and your privacy - Microsoft Support

Under Background Apps, make sure Let apps run in the background is turned Off. Desktop apps won't appear in your Choose which apps can run in the background list and are not affected by the Let apps run in the background setting.

reddit.com › r/windows10 › how to close all background programs in windows?

r/Windows10 on Reddit: How to close all background programs in Windows?

August 20, 2022 -

We've all seen this happen. When you first buy a Windows PC, it seems to operate like a breeze. Programs open up and run with no difficulty.

Then after several months everything slows up. It becomes so bad that you have to buy a whole new computer. The assumption is there are some background processes that continue to run that prevent the computer from running more quickly. So how can you close all those background processes?

I know about opening the Task Manager. But there are usually so many processes running you can't tell which ones are essential for Windows to operate. I have tried shutting down some processes at random but I almost always get the warning "this is a system process and can't be shut down."

So can we shut down all those background processes so the computer is back to original pristine state and only the processes for the one program you want to run are operating?

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It becomes so bad that you have to buy a whole new computer. Why would you have to buy a new computer when you can simply clean install?

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The PC I am currently using I built in 2014. I installed Windows 8.1 at the time, and upgraded through Windows 10 until today. I think the "Windows rot" people always refer to, where they claim how WIndows gets slower over time, is really just bad maintenance. over time. People install a bunch of stuff on their machines but never take the time to "clean up" the system. It's like if you live in a house and never tidy up. It's going to start looking like shit, but nobody calls it "house rot". Some people propose reinstalling windows every X amount of time to "avoid" this problem. Which to me is sort of like buying a new house to avoid sweeping and vacuuming. But there are usually so many processes running you can't tell which ones are essential for Windows to operate. On the details tab you can see the actual executables. You can right-click them and go to their location and then check the properties of the file. You can also check Services in the services list. "Autoruns" can be used to investigate services and scheduled tasks and can filter out microsoft ones to see what other software might be plopping onto your system. A lot of programs like to slap in scheduled tasks and updater services and stuff. Did you know that Chrome install adds a scheduled task to take an inventory of all the software on your computer? Not sure if it sends it to google but I always felt it was a waste of my computers resources either way. Software like ShellExView can see/disable shell extensions. I use this to remove right-click context menu extensions because a lot of software adds itself there when it really has no purpose being there. This will also show if there are registrations for shell extensions that no longer exist- uninstalled programs that didn't properly unregister themselves. These could impact performance as Windows tries to instantiate the non-existent components.

Windows Report

windowsreport.com › fix › laptop & pc › too many background processes running

How to Stop Background Apps and Processes in Windows 10 & 11

December 2, 2025 - You can always open any applications that you need during your usage of Windows, and, if you change your mind, you can always add and remove startup apps to Windows 10 at will. Start Task Manager by pressing the Windows key + X combination and selecting it from the list. Inside the Processes tab, select the one you want closed, and click on the End task button from the bottom right. Note the RAM and CPU percentage figures that highlight the system resource usage for the processes. Stop the third-party software processes that waste the most resources. However, stick to terminating third-party background services only.

Auslogics

auslogics.com › tech wisdom blog › optimization › pc performance › terminator 101: how to kill all the processes in windows 10/11? automated fix included.

Terminator 101: How to Kill All the Processes in Windows 10/11? Automated Fix Included. — Auslogics Blog

March 21, 2025 - Kill all related processes by unchecking Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed. To end all Internet Explorer processes, use the Command Prompt as an administrator.

MiniTool System Booster

systembooster.minitool.com › home › boost pc › how to fix too many background processes on your windows pc?

A Guide to Fixing Too Many Background Processes on PCs

September 24, 2024 - How to fix and prevent memory leaks on Windows 10/11? This post can help you resolve the issues. ... You can disable startup programs via Task Manager. Here is the way. Step 1: Press Win + X to open the quick menu and choose Task Manager. Step 2: In the Startup tab, locate the enabled program to choose Disable. To reduce the resource loads, you can close some useless background running processes.

Super User

superuser.com › questions › 1729852 › is-there-a-way-to-restrict-windows-on-energy-and-other-resources-for-its-auto-ba

laptop - Is there a way to restrict Windows on energy and other resources for its auto background processes that are unwanted by the user? - Super User

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There are Registry settings to limit CPU and disk I/O for tasks such as Windows Defender periodic scans and Search indexing, but I and others have found those settings largely ignored.

You can turn off telemetry, updates and other processes through the Windows Settings CPL, Group Policies, Registry changes, and so forth.

However, changing settings one-by-one, unless scripted, is a nuisance. It is easier to use a third-party tool such as free O&O ShutUp10++ or one of the many alternatives to stop telemetry, and also control other leaks of personal identifying information (PII) and other security and privacy issues.

Caveat: Before installing or using new software, check reviews online, and evaluate the file in VirusTotal.

However, if you restrict automatic updates, (which can also be turned off by setting network connections DefaultMediaCost metered), or routine tasks, such as Search indexing and disk optimization, be sure that those tasks are run on a regular basis!