As a Windows user at work, I have to deal with it almost daily: crashing applications that I can only close with the well-known keyboard combination Ctrl + Alt + Del and then choosing the Task Manager option to try to stop the task. On the other hand, on my personal Linux devices I hardly ever have problems with crashed applications, but sometimes it does happen. In this first article in my new Quick Linux Tip series, I explain how you can easily close crashed applications in Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Zorin OS, or what I rather call: kill a process.

Content of this article

1. Killing stuck applications in Linux
2. Use the xkill command
3. Use the System Monitor
4. Add keyboard shortcut for Ctrl + Alt + Del
5. Final words

Killing stuck applications in Linux

Even though Linux is a very robust and stable Operating System, we as Linux users can also encounter unresponsive applications. In Linux, we do not have the Ctrl + Alt + Del option for this purpose (but more about that later). But of course, as with everything in Linux, there are multiple ways to get something done. Below are two different ways to neatly close your frozen applications.

Use the xkill command

In Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Zorin OS you have the possibility to use the “xkill” command to easily close frozen applications. To do so, perform the following steps:

1) Open the Terminal via the keyboard combination Ctrl +T.

2) Type the below command and hit Enter:

xkill

Now your mouse cursor changes in an X symbol.

3) Now simply click on the window of the unresponsive application to close the application.

Note: If you are at step 3, but you decide not to kill an app, or maybe in the meantime you notice that your app is responsive again, just right-click to cancel your xkill operation.

Note: If you don’t have xkill available, you can install it via the Terminal with the below command:

apt-get install x11-utils

Update: Shortly after I posted this article I received a message from Paul, one of the readers but also a contributor to this website. He shared a great tip for Linux Mint users:

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“In Linux Mint there is a very useful applet called Force Quit that sits on the panel. I’ve found it to be the quickest and simplest way to solve the problem. It launches Xkill and a right click gets you out of it if you find you don’t need it.”

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Thanks Paul.

In my article “How to use Applets in Linux Mint Cinnamon” I already wrote about how to find, install, and configure Applets, one of Cinnamon’s Spices, in Linux Mint.

Use the System Monitor

In Linux distros like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Zorin OS we have a comparable application like the Windows Task Manager, which is the System Monitor. To kill an unresponsive application via System Monitor, perform the following steps:

1) Open your application menu and type in the search area “System Monitor”.

2) Select the Processes tab.

3) Search for the Process Name of the unresponsive application.

4) Right-click on the process you want to kill and select the option “Kill”.

Add keyboard shortcut for Ctrl + Alt + Del

If you like to use the Ctrl + Alt + Del option under Linux to start the System Monitor app to kill an unresponsive app from there, then you can. We can do this via the Keyboard Shortcuts option.

In my Zorin OS installation, the Ctrl + Alt + Del is already in use, but then for a different purpose. Zorin OS and Ubuntu have Ctrl + Alt + Del set by default to Log out. But we can remove that shortcut and add a new custom keyboard shortcut.

Note: The below example is based on Zorin OS and it works the same for Ubuntu as they are both based on the GNOME desktop environment. In Linux Mint Cinnamon, it will be a little bit different. You can read my article “Great keyboard shortcuts for Linux Mint Cinnamon” for more information. 

1) Search for “Keyboard” via your application menu and select it to open the corresponding window.

2) Click on “View and Customize Shortcuts”.  

3) Click on System.

4) Click on Log out.

5) Hit Backspace to disable the shortcut.

6) Now click on the back arrow button and select the Custom Shortcuts option.

7) Click Add Shortcut.

8) Name the shortcut “System Monitor” and type in the command area “gnome-system-monitor”.

9) Click on Set Shortcut… and use the keyboard command Ctrl + Alt + Del.

10) Click Add.

Now you can use Ctrl + Alt + Del to open the System Monitor app.

Final words

This was the first article in my new Quick Linux Tip series. I intend to publish these kinds of shorter but practical posts in addition to my often longer more extensive articles. Let me know via the Contact page if you have ideas for future Quick Linux Tips that you like me to work out. 

Till next time!

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