How can I forcibly kill a process using powershell?

Question

I have a process I'd like to kill:

$ ps Sourcetree

Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K)     CPU(s)     Id  SI ProcessName
-------  ------    -----      -----     ------     --  -- -----------
   1311     116   136720     137804      57.45   1044   1 SourceTree

Send it to Stop-Process, aka kill:

$ ps Sourcetree | kill

Runs without error. But the process isn't killed:

$ ps Sourcetree

Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K)     CPU(s)     Id  SI ProcessName
-------  ------    -----      -----     ------     --  -- -----------
   1311     116   136720     137804      57.45   1044   1 SourceTree

How can I forcibly kill a process using powershell?

@4c74356b41 For some reason the docs I found doesn't include the -force, but you're right - list that as an answer (with a link to msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/reference/5.1/…) and I;ll mark it as correct. — mikemaccana
– mikemaccana, Commented Apr 7, 2017 at 22:52

Andriusza · Accepted Answer · 2024-11-06 20:51:33Z

2

The simplest correct answer is:

Get-Process SourceTree | Stop-Process -Force

"SourceTree" is a process name.

answered Nov 6, 2024 at 20:51

Andriusza

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1 Comment

mikemaccana Over a year ago

I originally marked the answer using Unix-style aliases as correct, but given the question title, this one is probvably better.

Esperento57 · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-08 10:02:49Z

1

if you do it?

(get-process -Name SourceTree).Kill()

answered Apr 8, 2017 at 10:02

Esperento57

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1 Comment

mikemaccana Over a year ago

Doesn't kill it. I needed -force per accepted answer above.

4c74356b41 · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-08 05:59:22Z

0

To better understand cmdlets and what they do you can always do Get-Help cmdlet and look what it does\supports.

Get-Help Stop-Process

or just enter the cmdlet into the search engine, that will most likely lead you to a official help article.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/reference/5.1/microsoft.powershell.management/stop-process

answered Apr 8, 2017 at 5:59

4c74356b41

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Comments

mikemaccana · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-11 11:14:34Z

0

Use -Force.

ps -force Sourcetree | kill

Taken from help Stop-Process -online

Stop-Process [-Id] <Int32[]> [-PassThru] [-Force] [-WhatIf] [-Confirm] [<CommonParameters>]

-Force

Stops the specified processes without prompting for confirmation.
By default, Stop-Process prompts for confirmation before stopping
any process that is not owned by the current user.

To find the owner of a process, use the Get-WmiObject cmdlet to
get a Win32_Process object that represents the process, and then
use the GetOwner method of the object.
Type: SwitchParameter
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases: 

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

Bonus nachos, Get-Command -ParameterName *force will show all Cmdlets that include the force param.

edited Sep 11, 2019 at 11:14

mikemaccana

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answered Apr 8, 2017 at 1:37

user4317867

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3 Comments

js2010 Over a year ago

I don't think this is equivalent to taskkill /f, or "kill -9" in unix. There doesn't seem to be a straightforward way.

mastro Over a year ago

I think that -force parameter goes for the Kill cmdlet, not for ps (Get-Process) ps Sourcetree | kill -force

Ben Voigt Over a year ago

If you write up someone else's comment as an answer, (a) give credit where it's due and (b) test the example to make sure it's correct

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