Luckily, there are other easy ways to save a list of your running processes in Windows.
Why Do I Need a List of Processes?
The main reason to export a list of processes on your computer is for troubleshooting. You can view processes in real-time using the Task Manager, but you may need to supply a list of processes to a third party. In that case, you need to be able to save the information in an easily-read format.
It can also be useful to have a record of processes running at a specific time, to be compared to the processes running at a later date. For example, if an app seems to be causing your computer to slow down. Having a saved list allows you to compare which processes were running before and after the app was installed.
How to Export a List of Processes Using the Command Prompt
You can enter a simple command into Command Prompt to export a text list of every process running on your computer. Here’s how to do it.
Open the Command Prompt tool by typing “cmd” into Windows Search and pressing Return. You can now use the tasklist command to output the list to a new . txt file. For example, you could type: tasklist /v > “%userprofile%\Desktop\Running-Process-List. txt”. A new text document called Running-Process-List. txt will then appear on your desktop, containing a full list of running processes. The list will also contain details such as the Process ID, Memory Usage, etc.
The %userprofile% part of the command is an environment variable. It acts as a shortcut and is an easier way to write a folder path in Command Prompt and other Windows tools. It replaces the c:\Users[username] part of a folder path.
You can apply different parameters to the command to output the list in different formats. For example, in the command shown above, the /v parameter causes the list to be output in verbose format. If you leave this out, the list will be formatted in truncated form.
How to Export a List of Processes Using PowerShell
If you prefer, you can use PowerShell to save a list of running processes instead. The list that is created when using PowerShell can also be modified using parameters.
Open PowerShell by typing “power” into Windows Search and selecting it from the results list. You shouldn’t need to use Run as administrator when opening PowerShell, but if you have problems creating your list, Run as administrator might help. In PowerShell, you need to use the following Get-Process command: Get-Process | Out-File -filepath “$Env:userprofile\Desktop\Running-Process-List. txt”. The Running-Process-List. txt document should then be saved to your desktop.
You can read more about using PowerShell and Command Prompt in our guide to what makes them different.
What Is a Process ID?
Each process has a unique identification number assigned to it. This is called the Process Identifier, the Process ID, or PID. All major operating systems use process IDs, including Linux, macOS, Unix, and of course, Windows. The PID is an important part of Windows and can be used by the system to specify a process for debugging, among other things.
Knowing an app’s PID helps you identify programs running multiple instances, such as when editing two different files using the same app. As shown above, the Process ID can be used to filter the processes shown in an output list of running processes.
Alongside the methods shown here, there are a few other ways to find process IDs in Windows.
Saving Lists of Windows Processes Made Easy
Task Manager is a handy tool but doesn’t give you the option to view processes in anything other than real-time. Creating and exporting a list of Windows processes can be very useful for troubleshooting problems with apps and system tools, and now you know exactly how to do it.
