Windows 11 Task Manager Cheat Sheet

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Operating Systems · Windows 11 Task Manager Cheat Sheet

The tabs, columns and shortcuts of the Windows 11 Task Manager (the redesigned one), and the common ways its numbers are misread. Written from my own knowledge of Windows 11 and from the memory work in the course Windows 11 Memory, Performance & Crash Forensics (the Memory column, Commit size and the Performance-tab figures were rebuilt from counters). The Task Manager window itself was not clicked through on this machine (Windows 11 Pro, build 26300), so menu wording may differ slightly between builds.

Opening It

Ctrl+Shift+EscOpens Task Manager directly

Ctrl+Alt+DelThe security screen, then Task Manager

Right-click StartThe Start button menu has Task Manager

taskmgrWin+R, or any prompt

The Pages (Left Navigation)

ProcessesGrouped list: Apps, Background processes, Windows processes. Expand a row for its child processes

PerformanceCPU, Memory, Disk, Ethernet/Wi-Fi, GPU graphs. Open Resource Monitor from here

App historyCPU and network use per app over time (mostly Store apps)

Startup appsWhat starts at sign-in, with a Startup impact rating from the last start. Right-click to Disable

UsersSigned-in users and what each is using; Disconnect or Sign off

DetailsThe classic process list: PID, status, user name, plus the extra columns below

ServicesWindows services: start, stop, restart; Open Services for the full console

Settings (gear)Default start page, Always on top, Hide when minimised, Show full account name, Real-time update speed

Processes Page: Right-Click a Process

End taskCloses the process (and its children if you chose the group). Unsaved work is lost

Efficiency modeLowers priority and CPU speed for that process. Windows suggests it with a leaf icon

Resource valuesMemory, Disk and Network: choose Values (MB) or Percents

Go to detailsJumps to the process on the Details page

Open file locationWhere the program's file lives: the quickest check on an unfamiliar name

Search onlineLooks up the process name with your default search engine

PropertiesFile details and digital signature

Right-click a column headerChoose columns: Type, Status, Publisher, PID, Process name, Command line (if present in your build)

What the Columns Mean

Memory (Processes page)Private working set: RAM only this process uses. Not the working set shown elsewhere, and not commit

Working set (memory)Details page: RAM in use, including pages shared with other processes

Commit sizeDetails page: private bytes, memory the process has asked for; can far exceed its RAM use

HandlesOpen handles; a number that climbs without limit points at a leak

ThreadsHow many threads

CPUShare of total CPU time over a short window (all cores combined)

Disk / NetworkCurrent read+write rate, not total transferred

GPU / GPU engineShare of the busiest engine, and which engine

Power usageEstimated, relative, and rough: not a measurement

Select columns (Details)Right-click a header > Select columns: PID, Status, User name, CPU, Working set, Peak working set, Commit size, Page faults, Handles, Threads, Command line, Platform, Elevated and more

The Performance Page

CPUUtilisation, speed, processes, threads, handles, up time; base speed, sockets, cores, logical processors

MemoryIn use (compressed), Available, Committed (charge/limit), Cached, Paged pool, Non-paged pool; slots, speed, form factor, hardware reserved

DiskActive time, average response time, read/write speed; its type (SSD, HDD) and capacity

Ethernet / Wi-FiSend and receive, adapter name and IP addresses

GPUPer-engine graphs, dedicated and shared memory, driver version and date

Right-click a graphChange graph to Logical processors, Summary view, Copy

Open Resource MonitorLink at the bottom of the Performance page (or run resmon)

Details Page: Power-User Actions

Set priorityRealtime to Low. Raising priority rarely helps; Realtime can freeze the PC

Set affinityWhich logical processors a process may use (until it restarts)

Analyze wait chainFor a hung program: what it is waiting for

Create memory dump fileSaves a dump of that one program's memory (to your Temp folder) for a developer or debugger

UAC virtualizationWhether old programs' writes to protected folders are redirected

End process treeEnds the process and everything it started

Update speedSettings > Real-time update speed: High, Normal, Low or Paused (pause to read a value)

Common Misreadings

Memory % at the topPhysical memory in use across the whole PC, not one program's share

Available vs FreeAvailable includes the Standby cache; low Free is normal and healthy

Many Firefox or Edge rowsBrowsers use one process per tab or role: the group total overstates shared memory

System interruptsA CPU pseudo-process for hardware interrupts; persistent high values suggest a driver or device problem

Memory CompressionA real process holding compressed pages; it keeps RAM free, not a fault

Startup impactMeasured at the last sign-in. Not measured is common on a fresh install

Not respondingThe window did not answer for a few seconds; it may recover. Wait before ending

100% disk with an SSDLook at Active time vs response time and the Disk column per process before blaming one program

Task Manager shows now, not why

It tells you what is using resources at this moment. For why did it crash use Event Viewer and Reliability Monitor (the Crash Triage and Event Viewer sheets); for is something leaking sample over hours (the Memory Troubleshooting sheet).

Check before you End task

A process you do not recognise: Open file location and Properties > Digital Signatures first. Ending a system process (e.g. csrss, wininit) can crash Windows.