How to find out application Process ID on Windows 10

On Windows 10, every process of an application or a service receives an identification number known as a Process ID (PID). The PID has various uses, but mainly, it exists to uniquely identify each process across the system and differentiate programs running multiple instances (such as when editing two text files with Notepad).

Although most regular users do not need to worry about the system processes, the ability to find out their identification number can come in handy in many scenarios. For example, when you need to debug an application. An application gets stuck, and you must terminate the process manually. Or you need to check the system resources that a particular process is consuming.

Whatever the reason it might be, Windows 10 includes at least four methods to check out the PID for any process operating in the system using Task Manager, Resource Monitor, Command Prompt, and PowerShell.

In this Windows 10 guide, we will walk you through the steps to identify the process identification number for an app or service.

How to determine Process ID with Task Manager

To check the Process ID for an app on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Start.

2. Search for Task Manager and click the top result to open the app.

   Quick tip: You can also open the app by right-clicking the taskbar and selecting the Task Manager option, right-clicking the Start button and selecting the Task Manager option, or using the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard shortcut.

3. Click the Details tab.

4. Confirm the Process ID of the app in the PID column.

   Source: Windows Central

5. Click the Services tab.

6. Confirm the Process ID of the service in the PID column.

   Source: Windows Central

Once you complete the steps, you will know the process identification number for services and applications running and suspended on Windows 10.

How to determine Process ID with Resource Monitor

To find the Process ID for an app with the Resource Monitor console, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Resource Monitor and click the top result to open the app.
3. Click the Overview tab.

4. Confirm the Process ID of apps and services in the PID column.

   Source: Windows Central

After you complete the steps, you will have an overview of the ID for the running and suspended processes.

How to determine Process ID with Command Prompt

To find out the ID of a process with commands, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Command Prompt and click the top result to open the terminal.

3. Type the following command to view the Process ID list and press Enter:

   tasklist

   Source: Windows Central

4. Type the following command to view a list of Process ID for Microsoft Store apps and press Enter:

   tasklist /apps

   Source: Windows Central

5. Type the following command to get the ID from the process name and press Enter:

   tasklist /svc /FI "ImageName eq PROCESS-NAME*"

   In the command, make sure to replace PROCESS-NAME for the .exe name of the process. The * is a wildcard to match part of the name without having to type the exact name of the process.

   This example shows the processes for Notepad:

   tasklist /svc /FI "ImageName eq notepad*"

   Source: Windows Central

Once you complete the steps, the output will display the IDs for the processes running on the device.

How to determine Process ID with PowerShell

To determine the Process ID of an app or service with PowerShell, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for PowerShell and click the top result to open the terminal.

3. Type the following command to view the Process ID list and press Enter:

   Get-Process

   Source: Windows Central

4. Type the following command to view information (including ID) about a process and press Enter:

   Get-Process PROCESS-NAME* | Format-List *

   In the command, make sure to replace PROCESS-NAME for the .exe name of the process. The * is a wildcard to match part of the name without having to type the exact name of the process.

   This example shows the Notepad Process ID and all the available information about the process:

   Get-Process notepad* | Format-List *

   Source: Windows Central

5. Type the following command to determine the ID and owner of the process and press Enter:

   Get-Process PROCESS-NAME* -IncludeUserName

   In the command, make sure to replace PROCESS-NAME for the .exe name of the process. The * is a wildcard to match part of the name without having to type the exact name of the process.

   This example shows the processes for Notepad:

   Get-Process notepad* -IncludeUserName

   Source: Windows Central

After you complete the steps, the PowerShell output will list the Process ID along with other information about the app or service.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources: