[Tip] How to Reset or Restore Task Manager to Default Settings in Windows 10

NOTE: This tutorial will help you in resetting or restoring Task Manager to default factory settings in Windows 10. The method given in this tutorial should also work in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.

Task Manager is a very important and useful component of Windows operating system. If we want to know which apps, programs and services are running in background, we can just launch Task Manager and find a complete list of all running programs and services.

We can learn which program is consuming more CPU and memory (RAM) resources with the help of Task Manager. We can also check which programs are set to launch at startup with Windows using Startup tab present in Task Manager. In fact we can enable or disable startup programs using Task Manager to speedup Windows startup process. (Read Full Guide)

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The best part of Task Manager is killing a not responding or stuck app. Whenever a program starts consuming too much system resources and makes the whole system slow, we can just kill the program using End Task button given in Task Manager. (Related Guide)

Anyone can launch Task Manager by right-clicking on Taskbar and selecting Task Manager option from the context menu. We can also use Ctrl+Shift+Esc hotkey to quickly launch Task Manager.

Task_Manager_Compact_Mode_Windows_10.png

When we fresh install Windows 10 in our computer and we launch Task Manager, it opens in Fewer Details mode or Compact mode by default which only shows currently running programs list, nothing else. We need to click on “More Details” button to launch Task Manager in full mode.

Task_Manager_Full_Mode_Windows_10.png

Now we can customize Task Manager according to our requirements. We can resize Task Manager window to fit our computer screen, we can add/remove tabs, columns, change various settings and options.

Sometimes you may want to reset Task Manager to default settings. You may decide to restore Task Manager to factory settings which were applied on Task Manager by default when you clean installed Windows 10.

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By default Windows 10 doesn’t provide any option in Task Manager to reset it but we can take help of Registry Editor to reset Task Manager to default settings.

If you also want to reset or restore Task Manager to defaults in Windows 10, following steps will help you:

1. Press WIN+R keys together to open RUN dialog box. You can also open it from WIN+X menu. Now type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. It’ll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TaskManager

TaskManager” is the main key which stores all Task Manager settings such as window size, location, customized options, etc. It contains a Binary value “Preferences” which stores all settings related to Task Manager.

3. To reset Task Manager, we just need to delete TaskManager key. Once we delete TaskManager key, Windows will forget Task Manager settings and when you’ll launch Task Manager, it’ll launch it fresh in compact mode without any customization.

Reset_Restore_Task_Manager_Default_Settings_Windows_10.png

To delete the TaskManager key, select the key and press Delete key on your keyboard. Don’t worry. As soon as you launch Task Manager, Windows will recreate the key again in Registry.

That’s it. You have successfully reset Task Manager to default settings in Windows 10.

Also Check:

Hidden Secret Hotkey to Reset Task Manager to Default Settings in Windows 10

[Windows 10 Tip] Force Task Manager to Always Open in Your Desired Tab

[Windows 10 Tip] How to Always Open Task Manager Maximized

Get Windows 8/10 Look-Like Task Manager in Windows XP, Vista and 7

Windows 8 and Later Allow You to Restart Explorer Using Task Manager

[Fix] No Border in Task Manager Window, How to Get Menubar, Titlebar and Tabs Back?

Published in: Windows 10, Windows 8

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. Please how do I reset my task manager
    I can only see running apps but not process and others

  2. I want to know how can i reset my laptop because it says that there is a problem resetting it when i try to do so how do i go about resetting it so that i can recover my PC because i did a BIOS update on my PC so now my pin does not want to work it says something went wrong and my pin is not available and now when i want to recover it,it does not want to reset my PC so i was wondering if you could assist me in this regard my laptop model is a HP Laptop 14cm-oxxx and its O.S. Operating System is a Windows 10 Single Home Language.

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