{"id":76314,"date":"2024-08-12T11:38:12","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T06:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=76314"},"modified":"2024-08-12T11:43:02","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T06:13:02","slug":"ahk-close-taskmgr-escape-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/ahk-close-taskmgr-escape-key\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Close Task Manager by pressing ESC in Windows 11"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Windows 11 21H2 and all versions of Windows 10, you can close the Task Manager window by pressing the {Esc} key. This is no longer possible in the revamped Task Manager in Windows 11 22H2 and higher.<\/p>\n

However, here’s an AutoHotKey solution that should help.<\/p>\n

Workaround<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Download AutoHotKey 2.0<\/a> and install it.<\/li>\n
  2. Copy the following lines to Notepad.\n
    #HotIf WinActive(\"ahk_exe Taskmgr.exe\")\nEsc::\n{\nSend(\"!{F4}\")\nreturn\n}<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
  3. Save the file as “tmclose.ahk”. Ensure you save it to a permanent folder.<\/li>\n
  4. Right-click “tmclose.ahk” and choose “Run as administrator”. The script will run in the background.<\/li>\n
  5. Now, open Task Manager and press Esc to see if it closes correctly.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Note:<\/strong><\/p>\n
    To automatically run the above AHK script file elevated at logon, use Task Scheduler and configure it to run under your user account and with the highest privileges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    In Windows 11 21H2 and all versions of Windows 10, you can close the Task Manager window by pressing the {Esc} key. This is no longer possible in the revamped Task Manager in Windows 11 22H2 and higher. However, here’s an AutoHotKey solution that should help. Workaround Download AutoHotKey 2.0 and install it. Copy the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[869],"tags":[762],"class_list":["post-76314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-11","tag-autohotkey"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9721,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/clear-all-notifications-action-center-using-keyboard-shortcut\/","url_meta":{"origin":76314,"position":0},"title":"Clear all notifications in Action Center using Keyboard or Shortcut","author":"Ramesh","date":"June 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Action Center in Windows 10 is a slide-out pane where all system notifications are displayed and it has quick action buttons to various Windows settings. Any notification shown on your taskbar will be added to the Action Center. The unread (new) notifications count is also displayed on the Action\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"clear all notifications shortcut action center","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/clear-action-center-shortcut-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/clear-action-center-shortcut-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/clear-action-center-shortcut-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/clear-action-center-shortcut-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":746,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/run-task-manager-administrator-default-w7-vista\/","url_meta":{"origin":76314,"position":1},"title":"How to Start Task Manager As Administrator (Elevated) by Default in Window 7","author":"Ramesh","date":"October 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Task Manager in Windows Vista and Windows 7 runs in non-elevated mode by default, showing only those processes running under the current user context. To be able to terminate or manage a process running under other user accounts, or to log off other users, you need to elevate Task Manager\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 7"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 7","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-7\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/taskmgr-elev.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9779,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/insert-date-time-in-any-program-using-keyboard-hotkey\/","url_meta":{"origin":76314,"position":2},"title":"Insert Date\/Time in Any Program Using Keyboard Hotkey","author":"Ramesh","date":"June 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"When you're writing content such as technical content, news articles, etc., you may sometimes want to insert the current date or timestamp in a program or editor you're using. In Notepad, you can add the timestamp by pressing the F5 key. Microsoft Office Word, OneNote allows the Alt + Shift\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Utilities"","block_context":{"text":"Utilities","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/utilities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"insert date\/time in any program","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/autohotkey-insert-date-timestamp.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/autohotkey-insert-date-timestamp.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/autohotkey-insert-date-timestamp.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/clear-recent-files-history-in-a-single-click-in-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":76314,"position":3},"title":"Clear Recent Files history Using Script in Windows 10","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Did you notice that in Windows it takes exactly half a dozen mouse clicks to clear the recent items history? 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