Windows taskkill equivalent in Linux
Ends a running process by its process ID (PID) or name.
taskkill
kill / killall
kill / killall
kill / killall
Overview
What this command does
On Windows, "taskkill" is used to stop/terminate a process. On Linux, the closest practical mapping shown here is "kill / killall". Ends a running process by its process ID (PID) or name. This reference is grouped under Services & Processes → Processes.
Windows → Linux context
What changes when you use this on Linux?
Equivalent task, different tool
Windows taskkill maps to kill / killall for this task. Treat this as a workflow mapping rather than a character-for-character syntax translation.
Portable across the compared distros
The Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch rows use the same command in this mapping. Package availability or defaults can still vary, so check the installed tool version when an option behaves differently.
For the broader concept behind this mapping, read Linux services and processes.
Practical tasks
Common use cases
Stop/terminate a process
Ends a running process by its process ID (PID) or name.
kill PID
Send termination signal (graceful)
kill -9 PID
Force kill — cannot be ignored
killall firefox
Kill all processes named 'firefox'
Ready to run
Copyable Linux commands
Review paths, device names, package names and permissions before running any command.
ps aux | grep firefox
kill 4892
kill -9 4892
killall firefox
Walkthrough
Examples with explanations
# Windows: taskkill /PID 1234 /F
# Step 1: Find the process ID
ps aux | grep firefox
john 4892 ... firefox
# Step 2: Kill it
kill 4892 # graceful stop (tries nicely first)
kill -9 4892 # force kill if graceful fails
# Kill by name:
killall firefox # kill all firefox processesReference
Common options and variations
| Command or option | Use |
|---|---|
kill PID | Send termination signal (graceful) |
kill -9 PID | Force kill — cannot be ignored |
killall firefox | Kill all processes named 'firefox' |
pkill -f pattern | Kill by matching command pattern |
Distro differences
Debian/Ubuntu vs Fedora vs Arch
Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch all use "kill / killall" for this mapping. The command syntax shown here is portable across the three rows, although installed versions and system defaults can still vary.
| Distribution | Package manager / base | Equivalent command | Difference to notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian/Ubuntu | same command | kill / killall |
Same command on this distribution. |
| Fedora | same command | kill / killall |
Same command on this distribution. |
| Arch | same command | kill / killall |
Same command on this distribution. |
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