Ubuntu allows the User to Kill or terminate a specific process or multiple processes either through the GUI or through the Terminal. To Kill a Process in Ubuntu, the methods used are:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Killing a Process through GUI by using the System Monitor Application.<\/li>\n
- Killing a Process using the \u201ckill\u201d Command.<\/li>\n
- Killing a Process using the \u201ckillall\u201d Command.<\/li>\n
- Killing a Process using the \u201cpkill\u201d Command.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
All the methods are deliberated in detail in the sections below.<\/p>\n
Method 1: Killing a Process in Ubuntu through GUI<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Ubuntu GUI offers the System Monitor pre-installed application which lists all the running processes on your Ubuntu System. To start the System Monitor application, navigate to the Application Menu from your Ubunut Home Screen by clicking on the Application menu Icon:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-1.png\")
<\/p>\nIn the Application Menu, type \u201cSystem Monitor\u201d in the top search bar. The System Monitor Application will filter out. Click on the Application Icon to start the System Monitor Application:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-2.png\")
<\/p>\nIn the System Monitor Application, you will see the Resources Tab opened. In the Resources tab, you will see the CPU usage, the network usage, and the Memory usage:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-3.png\")
<\/p>\nTo view the running Processes on your Ubuntu System, click on the Processes Tab available next to the Resources Tab:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-4.png\")
<\/p>\nAfter you click on the Processes Tab, the Processes Menu will appear where you will see all the Processes currently running are listed. The Listed Processes will also contain the Process ID, the process user, and the Memory and CPU usage utilized by the processes:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-5.png\")
<\/p>\nTo kill a process from the System Monitor, click on any process among the list of processes. In our case, we will click on the \u201cfirefox\u201d application process:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-6.png\")
<\/p>\nOnce you click on a process, you will notice a \u201cEnd Process\u201d Button at the bottom of the System Monitor Window:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-7.png\")
<\/p>\nClick on the \u201cEnd Process\u201d button and a new window will pop up asking for the confirmation to end the process. Click on the \u201cEnd Process\u201d option to end the selected process:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-8.png\")
<\/p>\nOnce the process ends, you can verify through the Processes List again as the Application will not be listed again:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-9.png\")
<\/p>\nApart from Ending a Process, you can also check the details of a Process. In our case, we will check the \u201cbaobab\u201d Application Details:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-10.png\")
<\/p>\nOnce the application process is selected, click on the \u201cSettings\u201d gear icon at the bottom right of the System Monitor Window:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-11.png\")
<\/p>\nAfter you click on the Settings Icon, the details of the Application will open in a new window where you can see the Status of the Application, The Memory Usage, the Process ID, and many more:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-12.png\")
<\/p>\nMethod 2: Killing a Process in Ubuntu through CLI<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Terminal in Ubuntu offers multiple commands to kill a running process. Killing a process from the Terminal is also much more useful, as, with the Terminal Commands, you can kill the specific process ID of an Application and you can also forcefully kill a Process.<\/p>\n
List Running Processes<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Before Killing a Process in Ubuntu through the Terminal, you have to list the running Processes in your Ubuntu system. To list the running processes, use the \u201cps aux\u201d command:<\/p>\n
ps<\/span> aux<\/div><\/div>\nThe list of processes currently running will be listed in Ascending Order in the Terminal. Note that the Processes Listed will be in Ascending Order According to their Process IDs:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-13.png\")
<\/p>\nWith the \u201cps aux\u201d command, you can also list the Running Processes of a specific Application as well. In our case, to list the running processes of the \u201cfirefox\u201d application in the Terminal, the \u201cps aux\u201d command will be used along with the \u201cgrep\u201d command to filter the list:<\/p>\n
ps<\/span> aux |<\/span> grep<\/span> firefox<\/div><\/div>\nAll the Running Processes along with the process IDs of the Firefox Application will appear in the Terminal:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-14.png\")
<\/p>\nApart from the \u201cps aux\u201d command, the \u201ctop\u201d command is also useful to list the running processes in your Terminal. The advantage of the \u201ctop\u201d command over the \u201cps aux\u201d is that with the \u201ctop\u201d command, the Terminal Displays the Processes in a way similar to the System Monitor. To display the processes, simply use the \u201ctop\u201d command in the Terminal:<\/p>\n
top<\/div><\/div>\nThe Terminal will display the list of running processes where you can also see the Memory Usage of the Applications:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-15.png\")
<\/p>\nApproach 1: Using the \u201ckill\u201d Command<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The \u201ckill\u201d is a useful command for terminating or killing running processes manually. The \u201ckill\u201d command simply takes the Process ID of a running process and Terminates it. The syntax of the \u201ckill\u201d command is:<\/p>\n
kill<\/span> <<\/span>options><\/span> <<\/span>processID><\/span><\/div><\/div>\nBefore killing a process of an Application, run the \u201cpidof\u201d command to list the processes of a specific application:<\/p>\n
pidof<\/span> <<\/span>application><\/span><\/div><\/div>\nIn our case, we will list the processes of the \u201cfirefox\u201d application. To list all the processes, use the \u201cpidof\u201d command:<\/p>\n
pidof<\/span> firefox<\/div><\/div>\nAll the running processes of the \u201cfirefox\u201d application will be listed in the Terminal:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-16.png\")
<\/p>\nYou can now kill a process according to your own choice. Either you can kill only one process, or you can kill multiple processes with the syntax:<\/p>\n
kill<\/span> <<\/span>option><\/span> <<\/span>processID-1<\/span>><\/span> <<\/span>processID-2<\/span>><\/span> ... <<\/span>processID-N><\/span><\/div><\/div>\nIf you want to Forcefully Kill a Process, Use the \u201cSIGKILL<\/strong>\u201d command along with the \u201ckill\u201d command. Instead of the \u201cSIGKILL\u201d command, the signal \u201c-9<\/strong>\u201d can be used as an option with the \u201ckill\u201d command. Note that the SIGKILL and the signal \u201c-9\u201d are the same. To forcefully kill a process, use the \u201c-9\u201d option with the \u201ckill\u201d command along with the process ID:<\/p>\n
kill<\/span> -9<\/span> <<\/span>processID><\/span><\/div><\/div>\nIn our case, we will forcefully kill the \u201c3762\u201d Process ID of the Firefox Application. To forcefully kill the Process ID 3762, the \u201ckill\u201d command along with the \u201c-9\u201d signal will be:<\/p>\n
kill<\/span> -9<\/span> 3762<\/span><\/div><\/div>\nThe cursor moving to the next line indicates that the process ID was terminated or killed:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-17.png\")
<\/p>\nYou can verify the Killed Process ID with the \u201cpidof\u201d command. In our case, to verify the killed process of \u201cfirefox\u201d, the \u201cpidof\u201d command will be used again:<\/p>\n
pidof<\/span> firefox<\/div><\/div>\nAs you can see, the Process ID 3762 is not listed again indicating that the process was Killed:
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-18.png\")
<\/p>\nIf you are not comfortable with using the \u201c-9\u201d signal, you can use the \u201cSIGKILL\u201d Command along with the \u201ckill\u201d command as well, having the syntax:<\/p>\n
kill<\/span> -s<\/span> SIGKILL <<\/span>processID><\/span><\/div><\/div>\nIn our case, to forcefully kill the Process ID 3759 of the Firefox Application, the SIGKILL Command will be:<\/p>\n
kill<\/span> -s<\/span> SIGKILL 3759<\/span><\/div><\/div>\nThe cursor moving to the next line indicates the process was killed or terminated successfully:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-19.png\")
<\/p>\nTo verify the killed process ID, use the \u201cpidof\u201d command again with the application name, in our case, \u201cfirefox\u201d:<\/p>\n
pidof<\/span> firefox<\/div><\/div>\nAs you can see in the Terminal, the Process ID 3759 was Terminated or Killed:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-20.png\")
<\/p>\nThe SIGKILL Command can also be used along with the \u201ckill\u201d command to terminal or kill multiple processes at a time with the syntax:<\/p>\n
kill<\/span> -s<\/span> SIGKILL <<\/span>processID-1<\/span>><\/span> <<\/span>processID-2<\/span>><\/span> ... <<\/span>processID-N><\/span><\/div><\/div>\nIn our case, to kill multiple processes of the Firefox Application running on our Ubuntu System, the \u201ckill\u201d command along with the SIGKILL command will be:<\/p>\n
kill<\/span> -s<\/span> SIGKILL 3599<\/span> 3480<\/span> 3458<\/span> 3296<\/span><\/div><\/div>\nThis will forcefully kill the multiple processes:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-21.png\")
<\/p>\nTo verify if the processes were killed, use the \u201cpidof\u201d command again to list the running processes of the \u201cfirefox\u201d application:<\/p>\n
pidof<\/span> firefox<\/div><\/div>\nAs nothing is returned in the Terminal, it ensures that all the processes of the Firefox Application were forcefully killed with the SIGKILL command:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-22.png\")
<\/p>\nApproach 2: Using the \u201ckillall\u201d Command<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Instead of Terminating or Killing all the processes by writing the Process ID one by one with the \u201ckill\u201d command, the \u201ckillall\u201d command can be used. The \u201ckillall\u201d command will kill all the running processes of the Running Application or Process. To kill or terminate all the processes of a Process or an Application, the \u201ckillall\u201d command will have the syntax:<\/p>\n
killall<\/span> <<\/span>processName><\/span><\/div><\/div>\nIn our case, to list all the running processes of the Firefox Application, the \u201cpidof\u201d command will be:<\/p>\n
pidof<\/span> firefox<\/div><\/div>\nAll the Running Firefox Processes will be displayed in the Terminal:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-23.png\")
<\/p>\nNow, to kill all the running processes of the Firefox Application, the \u201ckillall\u201d command will be:<\/p>\n
killall<\/span> firefox<\/div><\/div>\nThe cursor will move to the next line once the \u201ckillall\u201d command kills the running processes of Firefox:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-24.png\")
<\/p>\nTo verify if the processes were killed with the \u201ckillall\u201d command, use the \u201cpidof\u201d command again which will list the running processes of Firefox:<\/p>\n
pidof<\/span> firefox<\/div><\/div>\nAs no running processes are displayed in the Terminal, it ensures that all the processes were killed:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-25.png\")
<\/p>\nYou can also forcefully kill all the processes using the \u201cSIGKILL\u201d command along with the \u201ckillall\u201d command having the syntax:<\/p>\n
killall<\/span> -s<\/span> SIGKILL <<\/span>processName><\/span><\/div><\/div>\nIn our case, to kill all the processes of the Firefox Application, the SIGKILL Command will be:<\/p>\n
killall<\/span> -s<\/span> SIGKILL firefox<\/div><\/div>\nThis will forcefully kill all the running processes of the Firefox Application:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-26.png\")
<\/p>\nApproach 3: Using the \u201cpkill\u201d Command<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The \u201cpkill\u201d command is also a useful command to kill or terminate a running process on Ubuntu through the Terminal. The \u201cpkill\u201d command will kill all the running processes of an Application. To use the \u201cpkill\u201d command, use the Process or the Application name along with the \u201cpkill\u201d command:<\/p>\n
pkill <<\/span>processName><\/span><\/div><\/div>\nIn our case, to kill all the running Processes of the \u201cfirefox\u201d application, the \u201cpkill\u201d command will be:<\/p>\n
pkill firefox<\/div><\/div>\nThe cursor moves to the next line indicating the processes were killed or terminated:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-27.png\")
<\/p>\nTo verify, use the \u201cpidof\u201d command again. In our case, no processes are returned, ensuring that all the running processes of Firefox were Killed:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-28.png\")
<\/p>\nYou can also Forcefully Kill a Process using the \u201cSIGKILL\u201d command along with the \u201cpkill\u201d command having the syntax:<\/p>\n
pkill -SIGKILL<\/span> <<\/span>processName><\/span><\/div><\/div>\nIn our case, to kill or terminate all the running processes of the Application \u201cfirefox\u201d, the \u201cpkill\u201d command will be:<\/p>\n
pkill -SIGKILL<\/span> firefox<\/div><\/div>\nThis will terminate all the running processes of the Firefox Application forcefully:<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/word-image-23021-29.png\")
<\/p>\nConclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Killing or Terminating a Process or processes of a specific Application in Ubuntu increases the Efficiency and speed of the overall system. Killing a Process frees up Memory or CPU resources. To kill a process in Ubuntu, the \u201cSystem Monitor\u201d can be used through the GUI. Also, the \u201ckill\u201d command, the \u201ckillall\u201d command, and the \u201cpkill\u201d command are useful when terminating or killing specific or all processes from the Terminal in Ubuntu.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kill a Process in Ubuntu using either the System Monitor from GUI, the \u201ckill\u201d, \u201ckillall\u201d, and the \u201cpkill\u201d command in the Terminal. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":23051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ubuntu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linuxways.net\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linuxways.net\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linuxways.net\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxways.net\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxways.net\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linuxways.net\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxways.net\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linuxways.net\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxways.net\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxways.net\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}