How to Force a Windows Service to Stop

How to Stop a Service in Windows

The below instructions will show you how to stop a service that has crashed or is causing you errors.

  • Click the Start menu
  • Click Run or type services in the search bar and press enter
  • Find the service that you need to stop, right click and select Properties the service name will be shown in the new window.
  • Open an Admin Command Prompt
  • Type “sc queryex (servicename)”
  • Press Enter
  • The service details will be shown including the PID
  • Type “taskkill /pid (pid number) /f”
  • Press Enter
  • A message should appear “The process with PID (pid number) has been terminated”.
  • If you get access is denied check you have opened a Admin/Elevated command prompt.