Windows 11 Bug: Task Manager Refuses to Close, Multiplying Processes and Hitting Performance

If you are using Windows 11 version 24H2 or 25H2, you may have noticed some peculiar behavior in Task Manager—specifically, the appearance of multiple Task Manager processes running simultaneously. Each of these processes consumes around 20 MB of memory and a small portion of CPU resources.

The root cause of this anomaly lies in a bug introduced by Microsoft in its most recent non-security preview update. This issue prevents Task Manager from fully terminating; even after closing the window, the process continues running in the background. Each subsequent launch and closure spawns yet another instance, gradually multiplying the number of active processes.

For users who habitually use Sleep or Hibernate instead of performing full shutdowns, this behavior can lead to a significant accumulation of background Task Manager processes over time—continuously consuming system resources and ultimately degrading performance.

However, this problem does not affect all users. Non-security preview updates are only installed when users manually click “Check for updates”. Those who refrain from doing so will not receive this particular patch by default.

As a temporary workaround, Microsoft recommends ending the Task Manager process manually instead of simply closing its window. To do this, right-click the Task Manager icon on the taskbar and select “End Task.” This method ensures that the process is completely terminated, leaving no residual instances in the background.

Alternatively, users can open Command Prompt with administrative privileges and execute the following command to forcefully terminate all Task Manager processes:

taskkill.exe /im taskmgr.exe /f

A full system restart will also resolve the issue, though the problem may recur until an official fix is released.

Microsoft has not yet identified the precise cause of the bug but has confirmed that a permanent solution is in development. The company expects to include the fix in the upcoming “B” release stable update later this month, well before the rollout of the next preview build.

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