Opening Task Manager
Multiple ways to open Task Manager: Ctrl+Shift+Esc (direct, fastest), Ctrl+Alt+Del → Task Manager, right-click Taskbar → Task Manager, run `taskmgr` from Run or CMD. The simple view shows only Applications. Click 'More details' to see all tabs. Task Manager runs with the privileges of the current user; certain system-level details require admin rights.
Processes Tab
The Processes tab shows all running applications, background processes, and Windows processes. For each process: CPU usage (%), Memory usage (MB), Disk I/O (MB/s), Network (Mbps), GPU (%). Grouped into: Apps (user-opened applications), Background processes (system helpers, third-party services), Windows processes (core OS components). Right-click a process: End Task (terminates the process), End Process Tree (terminates process and all children), Go to details (opens Details tab for the process), Open file location, Properties. Sorting by CPU, Memory, or Disk helps identify resource hogs. A process consuming >80% CPU continuously indicates either a stuck/looping process or malware.
Performance Tab
The Performance tab provides real-time graphs for system resources. CPU section: utilization percentage, speed, logical/physical core counts, virtualization enabled/disabled. Memory section: in use, available, committed, cached. Composition chart shows: In Use (actively used by processes), Modified (needs writing to disk before reuse), Standby (cached, quickly reclaimable), Free (immediately available). Disk section: per-disk read/write speeds, active time percentage. Network section: per-adapter send/receive rates. GPU section (if present): GPU usage, VRAM, temperature. 'Open Resource Monitor' link at the bottom opens Resource Monitor for more granular data.
App History Tab
App History tracks CPU time and network usage for Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps since a reset date. Useful for identifying which Store apps consumed data over time. Less relevant for traditional Win32 applications — those show limited data. Can reset the history to start fresh tracking.
Startup Tab
The Startup tab lists programs that launch when Windows starts. For each startup item: Name, Publisher, Status (Enabled/Disabled), Startup impact (None/Low/Medium/High). Right-click → Disable to prevent an item from launching at startup (doesn't uninstall it). Right-click → Enable to re-enable. This is the modern replacement for the Startup tab in msconfig. High-impact startup items slow boot time. Common legitimate startup items: security software, audio/graphics drivers. Suspicious items with no publisher or random names warrant investigation.
Users Tab
The Users tab shows all logged-in users and their resource consumption. Expand a user to see their running processes. Useful on multi-user systems (RDP sessions, Fast User Switching). Right-click a user → Disconnect (for RDP sessions), Send message, Log off. Shows per-user CPU, Memory, Disk, Network consumption.
Details and Services Tabs
Details tab: low-level process view. PID (Process ID), Status (Running/Suspended), User Name, CPU %, Memory (private working set). Right-click → Set Affinity (bind process to specific CPU cores), Set Priority (Realtime/High/Above Normal/Normal/Below Normal/Low — caution: Realtime can starve other processes). Right-click → Analyze Wait Chain (shows what a hung process is waiting for). Services tab: lists all Windows services. Status: Running or Stopped. Right-click → Start, Stop, Restart, or Open Services (opens services.msc for full management). Correlates services with their hosting process (svchost.exe typically).