All ways to open Task Manager in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8

The Task Manager app which comes with Windows 8 is a special tool to maintain running processes including user apps, system apps and Windows services. It is able to control which apps start during the startup and even analyze performance of the whole OS. In this article, we will look how to start Task Manager in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.

Launch Task Manager with hotkeys

The classic way to launch Task Manager is the Ctrl + Shift + Esc key sequence. This keyboard shortcut is a global hotkey, means it is available from any app you running and even when your Explorer shell is not running! Remember this hotkey, it can save your time a lot.

Run Task Manager from the context menu of the taskbar

Right click the empty space on the taskbar. In the context menu you will be able to pick the Task Manager item.

Run Task Manager from the CTRL+ALT+DEL security screen

Press Ctrl + Alt + Del keys together on the keyboard. The security screen will be opened. It offers few options, one of them is "Task Manager". Use it to launch the app:

The Run dialog

Press Win + R shortcut keys on the keyboard and type the following in the Run box:

taskmgr

Press Enter, and Task Manager will be started immediately:

Tip: see the ultimate list of all Windows keyboard shortcuts with Win keys.

Win+X menu

While all previous options were available in previous versions of Windows like XP, Vista etc, the following option is exclusive for Windows 8.
Press Win + X keys together on the keyboard or right click the Start button if you running Windows 8.1, and pick the Task Manager item from the menu that will appear on the screen:

Tip: see the following article Customize the right click Win+X power users menu in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.

That's it. Now you know how to run the Task Manager. I strongly recommend you to read the following articles:

If you like Windows 7's Task Manager, you might be interested to know how to restore the good old Task Manager in Windows 8.

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

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