It is such a common instinct to press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager or press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and then choose Task Manager to End Task an application or process that’s acting up. But, what if the saviour acts up itself. What if you find that your Windows task manager is not responding.
Worry not! If your Windows Task Manager has stopped responding, here are some fixes to get it back on the track.
4 Ways To Fix Windows 10 Task Manager Not Responding
1. Use Registry To Enable Task Manager
Registry Editor is a gateway to many solutions. It collects and stores relevant settings of Windows and its registries. Therefore, if your Task Manager is not responding, you can try tweaking registry settings.
- Open the Run command by pressing the Windows + R keys
- Type regedit and click on OK
- Click Yes when User Account Control prompt occurs
- When the registry editor window opens up locate the following entries – HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Policies
- You may have to create a System key. You can do this by right-clicking on Policies, then selecting New and subsequently Key
- Once the System key is created, right-click on it and select New
- Choose DWORD (32-bit) Value
- Rename the DWORD as DisableTaskMgr
- Doble click on it and set the value to 0. Now press OK
- Close the Registry Editor and restart your PC. Check if the Windows Task manager is working or not
Want to learn more about Registry Editor? Read here
2. Re-Registering Task Manager With The Help Of Windows PowerShell
Windows PowerShell is a remarkable component of Windows 10; it can help you with so many things such as zipping/unzipping files, completely wiping off the hard drive and even recovering deleted files. It can also help you if your task manager has stopped responding. Here are the steps: –
- Type Windows PowerShell in the search bar next to Windows icon
- Right-click on Windows PowerShell and select Run as administrator
- Copy-paste the following code in the PowerShell window and press Enter–
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}
- Open File Explorer by pressing Windows+E
- Under the View tab, click on Hidden items. Leave it if it is already checked
- Open the following directory:
This PC > Local Disk (C:) > Users > name > AppData > Local
- Once you reach the location, locate TileDataLayer and then restart your PC3. Check If You Are Using the Latest Version Of Windows 10
3. Check If You Are Using the Latest Version Of Windows 10
If your Windows 10 Task Manager is not responding, quite possibly it can be fixed if you update your Windows 10 to the latest version if you haven’t yet already. Here’s how you can do that –
- In the search bar next to the Windows icon type update
- Type until you see Check for updates. When this appears, open it
- If you have updates pending, you will see a screenshot like above. Else, click on Check for updates
- Restart your PC to complete updates. If your PC shows ‘You’re up to date,’ you can move on with the next steps
Note: Before updating and restarting the computer, make sure that you save all files. At any point backing up files in Windows 10 can also prove to be handy.
4. Use Group Policy Editor To Enable Task Manager
- Open Run command by pressing Windows + R keys
- Type gpedit.msc and press enter. This will open the Local Group Policy Editor
- Navigate to the below-mentioned path:
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Ctrl+Alt+Del Options
- Locate Remove Task Manager and double click on it which will open its settings
- See that the Not Configured or Disabled radio button is checked
- Click Apply and then OK
- Exit Local Group Policy Editor and see if the task manager is opening now
Was Your Task Accomplished?
We hope that by following the above troubleshooting fixes, you will be able to resolve Windows Task manager not working. Do let us know which of the above fixes worked out for you. If you have found the blog to be helpful, share it with others. Follow us on social media – Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.