If you need to get a list of the processes running on a Microsoft Windows system and the process identifier (PID) for each of those processes, you can get the information from a command line interface (CLI), e.g., a command prompt, using the tasklist command as shown below:
C:\>tasklist Image Name PID Session Name Session# Mem Usage ========================= ======== ================ =========== ============ System Idle Process 0 Services 0 4 K System 4 Services 0 18,812 K smss.exe 368 Services 0 668 K csrss.exe 600 Services 0 3,964 K csrss.exe 684 RDP-Tcp#0 1 10,332 K wininit.exe 704 Services 0 1,596 K winlogon.exe 772 RDP-Tcp#0 1 38,200 K services.exe 832 Services 0 8,672 K lsass.exe 848 Services 0 17,632 K svchost.exe 948 Services 0 24,516 K svchost.exe 1020 Services 0 18,604 K dwm.exe 528 RDP-Tcp#0 1 72,576 K svchost.exe 624 Services 0 84,956 K svchost.exe 812 Services 0 59,440 K svchost.exe 824 Services 0 70,988 K svchost.exe 536 Services 0 30,652 K svchost.exe 920 Services 0 22,960 K svchost.exe 1456 Services 0 35,124 K svchost.exe 1464 Services 0 13,408 K WUDFHost.exe 1472 Services 0 4,004 K svchost.exe 1560 Services 0 10,932 K svchost.exe 1832 Services 0 10,880 K spoolsv.exe 2012 Services 0 98,496 K SASCore64.exe 2176 Services 0 1,204 K svchost.exe 2184 Services 0 7,976 K svchost.exe 2192 Services 0 14,576 K svchost.exe 2208 Services 0 24,428 K armsvc.exe 2300 Services 0 1,528 K LavasoftTcpService.exe 2320 Services 0 12,976 K mqsvc.exe 2624 Services 0 5,712 K svchost.exe 2632 Services 0 8,276 K svchost.exe 2684 Services 0 22,540 K SftService.exe 2900 Services 0 2,928 K svchost.exe 2912 Services 0 12,032 K Memory Compression 3116 Services 0 120,808 K svchost.exe 3836 Services 0 9,756 K dasHost.exe 4024 Services 0 3,636 K SMSvcHost.exe 4300 Services 0 648 K cygrunsrv.exe 5704 Services 0 944 K conhost.exe 6036 Services 0 1,692 K sshd.exe 5528 Services 0 4,732 K svchost.exe 6728 RDP-Tcp#0 1 23,644 K taskhostw.exe 6752 RDP-Tcp#0 1 16,272 K sihost.exe 6792 RDP-Tcp#0 1 22,576 K itype.exe 7036 RDP-Tcp#0 1 5,652 K ipoint.exe 7096 RDP-Tcp#0 1 6,020 K RuntimeBroker.exe 6868 RDP-Tcp#0 1 79,292 K explorer.exe 6300 RDP-Tcp#0 1 210,164 K ShellExperienceHost.exe 7620 RDP-Tcp#0 1 69,820 K SearchIndexer.exe 8260 Services 0 41,536 K AdAwareTray.exe 10624 RDP-Tcp#0 1 12,380 K igfxtray.exe 10672 RDP-Tcp#0 1 5,696 K hkcmd.exe 10776 RDP-Tcp#0 1 4,248 K igfxpers.exe 10880 RDP-Tcp#0 1 7,140 K netsession_win.exe 10956 RDP-Tcp#0 1 4,500 K netsession_win.exe 11004 RDP-Tcp#0 1 14,152 K fontdrvhost.exe 11100 RDP-Tcp#0 1 11,280 K RoxioBurnLauncher.exe 11056 RDP-Tcp#0 1 5,392 K acrotray.exe 10760 RDP-Tcp#0 1 3,284 K ClamTray.exe 11048 RDP-Tcp#0 1 8,596 K hpwuschd2.exe 11324 RDP-Tcp#0 1 4,536 K McPvTray.exe 10896 RDP-Tcp#0 1 5,268 K NOBuAgent.exe 11540 Services 0 6,728 K NOBuClient.exe 6984 RDP-Tcp#0 1 7,256 K QBIDPService.exe 15132 Services 0 1,884 K dllhost.exe 10320 RDP-Tcp#0 1 7,972 K ApplicationFrameHost.exe 14468 RDP-Tcp#0 1 20,364 K SearchUI.exe 10904 RDP-Tcp#0 1 128,828 K OSPPSVC.EXE 2852 Services 0 8,692 K SkypeHost.exe 13824 RDP-Tcp#0 1 3,036 K svchost.exe 9560 Services 0 6,636 K SeaPort.EXE 3960 Services 0 7,596 K taskhostw.exe 2104 RDP-Tcp#0 1 10,524 K QBW32.EXE 9008 RDP-Tcp#0 1 89,740 K splwow64.exe 13668 RDP-Tcp#0 1 14,664 K SystemSettingsBroker.exe 12868 RDP-Tcp#0 1 3,744 K MCVULA~1.EXE 14860 RDP-Tcp#0 1 2,732 K WmiPrvSE.exe 13604 Services 0 22,264 K ModuleCoreService.exe 9320 Services 0 21,012 K ModuleCoreService.exe 5156 RDP-Tcp#0 1 20,184 K conhost.exe 11652 RDP-Tcp#0 1 2,000 K AcroRd32.exe 5936 RDP-Tcp#0 1 20,304 K AcroRd32.exe 14444 RDP-Tcp#0 1 137,596 K McCSPServiceHost.exe 15332 Services 0 20,084 K PEFService.exe 5896 Services 0 7,916 K mfemms.exe 6956 Services 0 7,564 K mfevtps.exe 13500 Services 0 17,140 K mfevtps.exe 13800 Services 0 6,400 K mcshield.exe 15304 Services 0 90,272 K mfefire.exe 2464 Services 0 8,564 K mcapexe.exe 6900 Services 0 11,756 K McSvHost.exe 15420 Services 0 18,552 K mfefire.exe 4692 Services 0 6,484 K mcsacore.exe 7940 Services 0 5,356 K svchost.exe 5000 Services 0 7,900 K Microsoft.Photos.exe 10700 RDP-Tcp#0 1 177,528 K LockAppHost.exe 13796 RDP-Tcp#0 1 21,376 K McUICnt.exe 16124 RDP-Tcp#0 1 88,076 K OneDrive.exe 12468 RDP-Tcp#0 1 27,740 K WmiPrvSE.exe 13704 Services 0 12,656 K sppsvc.exe 3376 Services 0 13,256 K TrustedInstaller.exe 15564 Services 0 7,972 K TiWorker.exe 3276 Services 0 8,816 K backgroundTaskHost.exe 11196 RDP-Tcp#0 1 36,680 K svchost.exe 14784 Services 0 6,644 K csrss.exe 7292 Console 3 4,020 K winlogon.exe 16192 Console 3 6,876 K rdpclip.exe 13136 RDP-Tcp#0 1 11,772 K LogonUI.exe 13240 Console 3 58,448 K dwm.exe 11852 Console 3 22,448 K backgroundTaskHost.exe 12000 RDP-Tcp#0 1 21,556 K taskhostw.exe 10452 Services 0 7,536 K dllhost.exe 1944 Services 0 9,804 K McClientAnalytics.exe 11872 Services 0 20,908 K dllhost.exe 13836 RDP-Tcp#0 1 11,764 K smartscreen.exe 12136 RDP-Tcp#0 1 14,756 K cmd.exe 16128 RDP-Tcp#0 1 2,892 K backgroundTaskHost.exe 2036 RDP-Tcp#0 1 33,332 K conhost.exe 6420 RDP-Tcp#0 1 11,972 K tasklist.exe 1436 RDP-Tcp#0 1 7,980 K C:\>
Alternatively, you can use a Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) command as shown below:
C:\>WMIC PROCESS GET name, processid Name ProcessId System Idle Process 0 System 4 smss.exe 368 csrss.exe 600 csrss.exe 684 wininit.exe 704 winlogon.exe 772 services.exe 832 lsass.exe 848 svchost.exe 948 svchost.exe 1020 dwm.exe 528 svchost.exe 624 svchost.exe 812 svchost.exe 824 svchost.exe 536 svchost.exe 920 svchost.exe 1456 svchost.exe 1464 WUDFHost.exe 1472 svchost.exe 1560 svchost.exe 1832 spoolsv.exe 2012 SASCore64.exe 2176 svchost.exe 2184 svchost.exe 2192 svchost.exe 2208 armsvc.exe 2300 LavasoftTcpService.exe 2320 mqsvc.exe 2624 svchost.exe 2632 svchost.exe 2684 SftService.exe 2900 svchost.exe 2912 Memory Compression 3116 svchost.exe 3836 dasHost.exe 4024 SMSvcHost.exe 4300 cygrunsrv.exe 5704 conhost.exe 6036 sshd.exe 5528 svchost.exe 6728 taskhostw.exe 6752 sihost.exe 6792 itype.exe 7036 ipoint.exe 7096 RuntimeBroker.exe 6868 explorer.exe 6300 ShellExperienceHost.exe 7620 SearchIndexer.exe 8260 AdAwareTray.exe 10624 igfxtray.exe 10672 hkcmd.exe 10776 igfxpers.exe 10880 netsession_win.exe 10956 netsession_win.exe 11004 fontdrvhost.exe 11100 RoxioBurnLauncher.exe 11056 acrotray.exe 10760 ClamTray.exe 11048 hpwuschd2.exe 11324 McPvTray.exe 10896 NOBuAgent.exe 11540 NOBuClient.exe 6984 QBIDPService.exe 15132 dllhost.exe 10320 ApplicationFrameHost.exe 14468 SearchUI.exe 10904 OSPPSVC.EXE 2852 SkypeHost.exe 13824 svchost.exe 9560 SeaPort.EXE 3960 taskhostw.exe 2104 QBW32.EXE 9008 splwow64.exe 13668 SystemSettingsBroker.exe 12868 MCVULA~1.EXE 14860 WmiPrvSE.exe 13604 ModuleCoreService.exe 9320 ModuleCoreService.exe 5156 conhost.exe 11652 AcroRd32.exe 5936 AcroRd32.exe 14444 McCSPServiceHost.exe 15332 PEFService.exe 5896 mfemms.exe 6956 mfevtps.exe 13500 mfevtps.exe 13800 mcshield.exe 15304 mfefire.exe 2464 mcapexe.exe 6900 McSvHost.exe 15420 mfefire.exe 4692 mcsacore.exe 7940 svchost.exe 5000 Microsoft.Photos.exe 10700 LockAppHost.exe 13796 OneDrive.exe 12468 WmiPrvSE.exe 13704 TrustedInstaller.exe 15564 TiWorker.exe 3276 backgroundTaskHost.exe 11196 svchost.exe 14784 csrss.exe 7292 winlogon.exe 16192 rdpclip.exe 13136 LogonUI.exe 13240 dwm.exe 11852 backgroundTaskHost.exe 12000 McClientAnalytics.exe 11872 smartscreen.exe 12136 cmd.exe 16128 conhost.exe 6420 SearchProtocolHost.exe 8952 SearchFilterHost.exe 13064 audiodg.exe 16096 mcupdate.exe 15428 McUICnt.exe 3560 WMIC.exe 2472 C:\>
If you wish to filter the output so that you only see information for a
specific process, you can use the /fi option for the tasklist
command. E.g., if I only wanted to determine the PID for the
QuickBooks QBW32.exe process, I could use the command below:
C:\>tasklist /fi "imagename eq QBW32.exe" Image Name PID Session Name Session# Mem Usage ========================= ======== ================ =========== ============ QBW32.EXE 9008 RDP-Tcp#0 1 89,740 K C:\Users\Pamela>
With WMIC, you can include a "where" option as shown below:
C:\>wmic process where name='QBW32.exe' get name, processid Name ProcessId QBW32.EXE 9008 C:\>
Or, since I already know the process name, if I just want to see the PID, I could use commands like those shown below:
C:\>wmic process where name='QBW32.exe' get processid ProcessId 9008 C:\>wmic process where name='QBW32.exe' get processid /Value ProcessId=9008 C:\>