r/sysadmin • u/lilacomets • Jul 07 '26
Microsoft TIL: Holding the CTRL key in Windows Task Manager stops the process list from jumping around
Hello everyone!
I recently learned a trick that solved a annoyance in Windows Task Manager for me that I had ever since the Windows 2000 days.
When Windows Task Manager is open the processes in the list keeps "jumping" based on how they're sorted. This makes it frustrating sometimes to find the process I'm looking for. It even feels like a cat and mouse game sometimes.
The trick is to hold down the CTRL key when Task Manager is open. This causes the list of processes to stay in position, making it easy to pick the right process. šš»šš»
Am I the only one who didn't know about this for all these years? I wonder in which Windows version it was introduced.
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u/itskdog Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
Another task manager trick - if the PC is lagging and the new taskmgr -d to get the Windows 8/10 version.
Edit: a letter
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u/PopularPianistPaul Jul 07 '26
lol I just tried this and couldn't notice the difference...
then I remembered I never downgraded to Win11 and I'm still in 10, so for me it always opens like that
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u/sir_mrej Jul 07 '26
I just order by something that doesnāt move much
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u/AmusingVegetable Jul 07 '26
This. Alphabetical, RAM, or cumulative CPU.
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u/josephlucas Jul 07 '26
Yeah, but sometimes you need to sort to find what youāre looking for. Being able to stop it moving when I see what I need is a godsend
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u/doctorray Jul 07 '26
I'll add PID to the column list and sort by that. It's not always newest at bottom but new stuff generally shows up consistently in the same spot in the list.
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u/RdUzr Jul 07 '26
Another fun fact: PID is always an even number.
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u/freedomlinux Jul 07 '26
I wasn't sure I believed it, but checked one of my machines and yes. TIL
In fact, they are all divisible by 4 - Raymond Chen explains why in his blog https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20080228-00/?p=23283
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u/urM0m69p3nis Jul 07 '26
I feel like I did this back in windows XP at least. Also adding the command column on the details tab and changing the update speed can help a lot of trying to troubleshoot/track things down
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u/Anlarb Jul 07 '26
Im still confused why I need to manually add the command column, but hey at least its there.
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u/ConstanceJill Jul 08 '26
Speaking of adding columns, it bothers me how with the new version that ships in Windows 11, it doesn't seem possible to just use the keyboard to naviguate the dialogue box that holds the list of columns that can be addedā¦ In earlier versions, one could either use the arrow keys to move the selection or just start typing the first letters of a column label to move the selection to that, and check or uncheck the box with the space bar, etc.
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u/CpuJunky Jul 07 '26
Just tested on my master security server, works! It does pause the reads, but good to know, thanks!
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u/Graymouzer Jul 07 '26
Over 30 years in IT and I learned this today.
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u/QPC414 Jul 07 '26
Well, you're not alone.
I do wonder when this was introduced, as Dave Plummer hasn't mentiined it in any of the taskmgr videos I have seen so far.
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u/antmatt Jul 07 '26
bulllllllshiiiiiit hold on
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u/antmatt Jul 07 '26
dude thats heavy duty. you just saved me two clicks and windows shitty scrolling dpi in taskmgr. big ups thank you!
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u/UrbyTuesday Jul 07 '26
precisely my reaction! had no effing idea. downright ashamed of myself!
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u/antmatt Jul 07 '26
for something i have to do multiple times a day every day this will save minutes of my life!
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u/Intrexa Jul 07 '26
In ye olden windows (10) in the menu, under view, set update speed to paused to do the same.
In new and improved windows, you can swap over to "settings" so you can no longer see the list, real time update speed, paused, then go back to what you were looking at.
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u/Secret_Account07 Jul 07 '26
Yeah I just learned this last year and I worked helpdesk nearly 10 years and systems engineer for about 7.
I told all my coworkers and none of them knew either lol.
To be fair I never really looked it up and I think most of us just deal with it but stillā¦. Super helpful to know
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u/arubait Jul 07 '26
Yes, but it also freezes the readings.
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u/Entegy Jul 07 '26
Yes, the data stops updating so your sort doesn't make everything jump. The goal of it is to click something.
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u/Enough_Pattern8875 Jul 07 '26
WHAT
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u/gsmitheidw1 Jul 07 '26
Didn't know that key combo, but also sounds like you invented ps aka get-process š
By the way on a slightly related note, for those who may be interested, MS have released a rust built port of unix utils for Windows.
Can be installed with winget or choco (choco install mscoreutils)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/core-utils/overview
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u/landob Jul 07 '26
oh snap thats a lil easier than what I been doing. I just been going in the view menu and clicking "pause"
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Jul 07 '26
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u/SaucyKnave95 Jul 07 '26
Same, but Tuesday just got better! XD I've been in IT since 1998 and never knew this. Neat!
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Jul 07 '26
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u/OutOfNoMemory Jul 07 '26
Tell him he's passed a secret test and now can be trusted with the power.
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u/Crazy_Screwdriver Jul 07 '26
And holding f5 refreshes as fast as can be
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u/Grimzkunk Jul 07 '26
Would be cool if the combonwas possible. Holding Ctrl to freeze the list, but holding F5 to see the data refreshed without reordering process list.
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u/Crazy_Screwdriver Jul 07 '26
Find a column that varies very little and stop the refresh from the menu (highest, lowest, normal, paused)
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u/lazygeekboy Jul 07 '26
Task Manager creator has a YouTube video explaining this. https://youtu.be/Ve95Nh690l0
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u/TubeScr3ameR Jul 08 '26
Isnāt he the guy that claims people (including school children) across the nation didnāt actually watch the Challenger explode live on TV?
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u/Feezec Jul 08 '26
oh wow apparently he did say that https://www.reddit.com/r/GetNoted/s/EE8gvXaCX7
shame, he's got some great stuff on his youtube channel11
u/EchoPhi Jul 07 '26
Brother... Just sort by name... or ctrl.
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u/tdhuck Jul 07 '26
This is what I've always done but ctrl is still handy. You learn something new everyday.
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u/anonymousITCoward Jul 07 '26
Sorting is a better option, CTRL stops the values from refreshing...
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Jul 07 '26
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u/PCRefurbrAbq Jul 07 '26
Not only that, you can add new columns without unfreezing. Masterful hotkey use!
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u/itishowitisanditbad Jul 07 '26
sorting by name helps but it still jumps around when something spikes
Can you elaborate?
If its sorted by name then unless the name changes, nothing is moving... and none of the names are changing at all really.
What am I misunderstanding?
Why would it jump when anything spikes? Its sorted by name.
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u/Crazy_Screwdriver Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Dave Plummer, taskmgr creator and donator to the win32/64 build has a youtube channel and had detailed videos on that era <3
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u/Dzov Jul 08 '26
Yup. Just the other day, I was having to hit the printscreen button at just the right time. (Granted, this was the sysinternals version. I wonder if the ctrl trick works there too?)
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u/wrootlt Jul 07 '26
I think i have read about it recently and promptly forgot. But it is indeed handy. I wonder if anyone uses Ctrl-Shift-Esc to invoke Task Manager. I used to do this often. But i probably just have right clicked taskbar for 10 years now :)
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u/wrootlt Jul 07 '26
Another trick i have found too late is that if you login to a server and try to browse into user profile and it shows UAC popup and if you approve it sometimes takes waaaay to long to fill that green bar in the address bar. It actually goes and changes ACLs on all the files to add your user. So, you can go to Task Manager > Details and kill your explorer.exe process, then run new task and open "explorer /nouaccheck" with Run elevated checkbox and then it will be pure admin and you can browse anything without waiting or altering ACLs.
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u/PlsChgMe Jul 09 '26
Hmmm. Couldn't make this work in 25H2
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u/wrootlt Jul 09 '26
Windows 11? I have used it on Server, but don't remember exact versions. I would assume it should work on all versions, but not sure about desktop OS.
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u/Other-Illustrator531 Jul 08 '26
This video from the creator of Task Manager may be worth a watch then:
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u/v3rbal00 Jul 08 '26
This is awesome thank you for sharhing! I just used it at work today when checking task manager for a user lol. Been using computers for like 20 years and didn't know about this.
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u/Agent_DekeShaw Jul 07 '26
I... Need to test this. If true how did we not know this before? Da fuk Microsoft?
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u/Raskuja46 Jul 07 '26
The number of simple but obscure quality of life hacks I've discovered by lurking on this forum is both astounding and upsetting.
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u/BackgroundEvent4796 Jul 07 '26
After all this time and I thought m$lop fixed this by finally giving us a search which is also helpful, but good to know ty
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u/OldElPasoSnowplow Jul 07 '26
23 years of experience and still learning little things that make life so much better. Thanks OP!
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u/kuzared Jul 07 '26
I donāt know off the top of my head if itās ALT or CTRL, I just try both :-)
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u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache Jul 07 '26
I think this is like the fifth time I've heard this. I'm still like "oh yeah" then will 100% forget this the next time I actually need it.
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u/ElectroSpore Jul 07 '26
I remember that tips like this was why I would read PC and Windows Magazines in the days before the Internet took over.
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u/Cryptic1911 Jul 07 '26
Motherfucker! How is this not a widely known thing? I've been in IT for 30 years and never heard of this before
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u/anonymousITCoward Jul 07 '26
I have now been reminded of that one more time than I've forgotten about it
I actually don't care about it enough to use it...
and It doesn't stop it from jumping around, CTRL stops it from refreshing, so none of the values are updated.
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u/Tandom Jul 07 '26
and today I just learned something new.. YOU ROCK! thanks for this tidbit of mental saving goodness. Thank you.
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u/tadrith Jul 07 '26
... wow, so you really can learn something new every day. This is a game changer.
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u/cosine83 Jul 07 '26
If you hold RIGHT SHIFT during Windows logon when there's and autologon set, it will disrupt the autologon so you can login with your creds without having to do hopscotch. Left shift will not work, it has to be the right shift key.
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u/AEIOUNY2 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Can it please do the same thing for OneNote search results? Itās jumping around for like 2 minutes before it settles.
(Edit: autocorrect)
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u/Freeramexe Jul 08 '26
cntrl shift enter opens as admin, recently found out (also works from run) š
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u/Training_Yak_4655 Jul 08 '26
I like this. Till now my workaround has been to click the process name column header to sort by name and not by resource consumption.
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u/Surko_888 Jul 09 '26
Este truco no se me va a olvidar en la vida desde luego lo nervioso que me han puesto los saltos de los procesos siempre dando por culo
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u/Jazzlike-Vacation230 Jul 10 '26
I just made the user option the main one cause it stays static by default. But wow, this is really helpful to know
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u/elloMotoz Jul 11 '26
thank you sir! 15+ years in the industry and just finding out about this. Legend
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u/LuckyLuke364 Jul 17 '26
Been using the NT platform since NT 4 and never knew this either. I guess adding a PAUSE button to the UI would have been too much lol
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u/Same_Log2406 Aug 03 '26
Now Iām wondering what other undocumented task manager tricks Iāve missed
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u/Worunatto Aug 07 '26
woah, this saves me a monitor by punching it chasing that annoying process. tested in win11 and it works. Thanks!
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u/FrankNicklin Jul 07 '26
Just click the process header so they are listed in alphabetical order rather than resource roder which changes every second causing the jump.
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u/invalidreddit Jul 07 '26
There were a lot of keyboard commands added to Windows 2000 - I don't recall this one in specific, but there was another one that might help around Task Manager added back then...
<Left Ctrl><Left Shift><ESC>
will invoke Task Manager.
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u/nuker1110 Jul 07 '26
The tradeoff of CtrlShiftEsc instead of CtrlAltDel is that it doesnāt have the same Interrupt effect, unless thatās changed since 7.
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u/Belem19 Jul 07 '26
CtrlShiftEsc is a simple shortcut to open Task Manager. As you said and well, CtrlAltDel is a full system interrupt, that also allows you to start Task Manager.
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u/invalidreddit Jul 07 '26
Sure it doesn't bring up the security desk top, but it was one of those oddities that seemed to appear back then. I suspect it was just checked in by a dev to get a one handed way to pull up task manager - but I couldn't find when the check in happen or in the Windows 2000 spec (I used to work in Windows on the input team, but it was well after Windows 2000....)
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u/nuker1110 Jul 07 '26
Oh I absolutely use CSE more than CAD for task manager. Itās just good to remember for the hopefully rare occasion that the Interrupt is needed.
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u/seengineer Jul 07 '26
And if you hold F5 it will refresh as fast as it can! You'll see processes blink by that normally get skipped with the default update rate.
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u/aXeSwY Jul 07 '26
I knew this almost a year ago, before that...I made a PowerShell script that export list into a csv file...I know stupid I know...don't judge me
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u/Chao7722 Jul 08 '26
I havenāt seen this in Windows user manual. This must be a bug that is now called a feature.
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u/Circumpunctilious Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
> āI wonder in which Windows version it was introduced.ā
Mentioned in 2023 (bleepingcomputer), tested as working at least back toWindows 7
Edit: typo in date