Printing a Process List

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 2, 2016)

6

When you use the Task Manager, one of the things you can do is to view a list of processes running on your system. At times there can be quite a few processes running, and depending on how you have the list sorted, it can update and change often. That makes it difficult to read the list of processes.

Why would you want to read the list of processes? Because you might want to search for information, on the Web, about what those processes do. That way you can try to figure out if all the programs running on your system are expected or not.

If you are into this type of "research mode," it could be very handy to have a printed list of those processes so you could study it out. (Plus, printed lists don't tend to "jump around" because they are not dynamically updated.) If you want to print a list of processes, you might think you are out of luck, because Task Manager doesn't have any printing capabilities. A screen capture is also out of the question, as the list of processes likely is longer than what you can see on the screen at once.

There is a way to get your printed process list, however. Just open a command prompt window and type the following:

tasklist > c:\process.txt

The tasklist command simply lists the processes running at the current time. The greater-than sign indicates you want the output from tasklist to be stored in the file that follows the greater-than sign. When you press Enter to execute the command, the file process.txt, stored in the root directory of the C: drive, contains a printable process list. Just load it up using a program such as Notepad, and you can print it any time you desire.

 This tip (7095) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Embedding TrueType Fonts

If you need to make sure that the fonts in your document can be used by another person or on a different system, you'll ...

Discover More

Countering Compressed Columns

If you open a workbook and find that the width of some of your columns has been changed, the discovery can be ...

Discover More

Changing Strikethrough Lines

Want to change the way a strikethrough line appears? It's not as easy as you think, as you find out in this tip.

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Feeling All Powerful?

Need all your Control Panel shortcuts in a simple place? Use this tip to create a special folder that contains all the ...

Discover More

Making the Mouse Pointer More Visible

Windows has a lot of features designed to make your computing experience easy on the eyes. Some of these features have to ...

Discover More

More Power to You

Needing more power options than "god mode" provides? Here are some additional "god modes" that give you more access control.

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 - 5?

2016-11-04 15:27:54

Don Scott

When I tried your hint I got the following.
C:UsersDon Scott>tasklist>c:process.txt
Access is denied.


2016-05-03 15:10:24

jOhn

When I tried your hint I got the following.
C:Users|Johntasklist>c:process.txt
Access is denied.

Any idea why?
Thanks,
John


2016-05-02 13:09:07

Bhagubhai

Thanks ,I will try.


2016-05-02 11:07:47

PFL

I am using Win 7 Pro.
For me, click START (lower left corner of screen)
Find and right click COMMAND PROMPT; then click RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR.
Answer yes to DO YOU WANT TO ALLOW THE FOLLOWING PROGRAM TO MAKE CHANGES TO YOUR COMPUTER?
My settings may lead to some differences from what you will see, but the main point is to run the command as an administrator.


2016-05-02 10:01:28

Mike Holden

Got the command prompt, win+X, but get the following response: "A required privilege is not held by the client." Okay, now what?


2016-05-02 09:57:07

Mike Holden

It would be helpful if you would also explain HOW to open a command prompt to type the command in. This is not something we novices know by heart.


Newest Tips