End a Running Task

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Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Vista

You can end a running task to stop the task from completing its actions. This stops the task while the task is in the process of completing an action. Only tasks with the If the running task does not stop when requested, force it to stop setting selected will be forced to end if they do not stop when you try to end them. For more information about settings, see Task Settings.

You must have the correct permissions to end certain tasks. For more information, see Task Security Context.

To end a running task by using the Windows interface

  1. If Task Scheduler is not open, start Task Scheduler. For more information, see Start Task Scheduler.

  2. Find and click the task folder in the console tree that contains the task you want to end.

  3. In the console window, click the task that you want to end.

  4. In the Actions pane, click End .

  5. In the Confirm ending this task dialog box, click Yes .

Note

You can also end a task by clicking Display All Running Tasks… in the Actions pane, selecting a task in the Running Tasks dialog box, and then clicking on the End Task button in the Running Tasks dialog box.

To end a running task by using a command line

  1. Open a command prompt. To open a command prompt, click Start , click All Programs , click Accessories , and then click Command Prompt .

  2. Type:

    schtasks /End [/S <system> [/U <username> [/P [<password>]]]] /TN taskname

To view the help for this command, type:

schtasks /End /?

Additional references

Display all Running Tasks

Command-line syntax notation