Quick Fixes: Unable to Terminate Process Access Is Denied

Five ways to solve the "Cannot terminate process, access denied" error in Windows 11/10 system

Have you ever encountered an error message "Cannot terminate process, access denied" when trying to end the process using Task Manager? This article will provide you with several effective ways to solve this problem.

Error: "Process cannot be terminated, access denied"

Task Manager is a powerful system utility that can be used to terminate unwanted processes. However, it doesn't always work as expected. For example, many users report that when trying to end a process through Task Manager, they receive an error message: "Process cannot be terminated, access denied".

If the service cannot be stopped due to this error message, you can try the following method to resolve the issue.

Fixed "Cannot terminate process, access denied" error

Method 1: Use Alt F4 shortcut keys

If the End Task button in Task Manager does not work, you can terminate the application using the Alt F4 shortcut.

Simply stay on the page of the program you want to stop running and press the Alt F4 key combination on your keyboard. This should end the selected process.

Method 2: Run the task manager as an administrator

The inability to end a task through Task Manager may be due to insufficient permissions for this program. Running Task Manager as an administrator will ensure that it has full permission to perform any required actions on its computer.

First, type Tasks in the Windows search box, and right-click Task Manager in the best match result and select Run as administrator.

Second, select the unwanted application or process and click the End Task button.

Method 3: Use WMIC command to terminate the process

In addition to Task Manager and Alt F4 key combinations, you can also end the process using CMD. You can use the Windows Management Specification Directive (WMIC) to complete this task. It supports configuring security settings, changing system settings, planning processes, etc.

Step 1. Open the command prompt as administrator.

Step 2. Select the "Yes" option in the UAC window.

Step 3. In the command line window, type wmic process where name='processname' delete and press Enter . Please replace processname with the actual process name.

Method 4: Use the taskkill command to end the process

Another command line used to terminate a process is the taskkill command. Similar to WMIC, to use this command, you also need to know the detailed process name (go to Task Manager > Details ).

Step 1. Run the command prompt as administrator.

Step 2. Type taskkill /im processname /f and press Enter . Remember to replace the process name with the actual name.

Method 5: Scan the virus

If you continue to receive an error message "Cannot terminate process, access denied", your computer may have been attacked by a virus. In this case, you need to use antivirus software (such as Windows Defender) to find and kill the virus.

For detailed steps to scan for viruses, you can refer to this tutorial: How to open and use Windows Defender in Windows 11/10.

Summarize

This article provides several alternative ways to stop an unwanted process when you receive a "Cannot terminate process, access denied" error.

If files on Windows computers are lost due to error operations or virus attacks, you can use MiniTool Power Data Recovery free version to retrieve the lost files.

For further assistance, please contact [Contact Information].

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