By Achilles Hill | Last Updated
Microsoft has introduced a new version of Task Manager in the Windows 11 22H2 update, which enables a new UI and brings some enhancements. However, for users who are used to the classic Task Manager, the new one may be unfamiliar to them.
The good news is that you don't have to force yourself to accept the program's new skin. This article will explain how to open the old Task Manager in Windows 11 and provide detailed steps for your reference.
Although Windows 11 22H2 uses a brand new task manager by default, Microsoft never removed the old one, and users can still enable the classic task manager in the following two ways.
Note: Windows OS does not currently support running both the old and new task managers at the same time, so you can only choose one of them to run.
You can open the classic Task Manager in Windows 11 by typing and running the command "taskmgr -d" in the Run dialog. This command will ask the operating system to start the classic one instead of using the new XAML/WinUI framework.
Step 1: Press the "Win+R" keys at the same time to bring up the Run box.
Step 2: Type "taskmgr -d" and click "Ok" to launch the old Task Manager.
The other way to enable it is very simple, just type "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Taskmgr.exe" in the file manager and press enter, then you can open the Classic Task Manager manually.
However, it is not the most convenient option to launch the classic task manager every time by specific path or type a command. To access the old Task Manager more quickly, you can pin it to the taskbar.
Step 1: Right-click on any blank space on your desktop and select "New" > "Shortcut".
Step 2: Type "taskmgr -d" in the "Type item location" box and click "Next" to continue.
Step 3: Name the shortcut, then click "Finish" and drag and pin the shortcut to the taskbar.
Now, just click the icon of this shortcut to quickly launch the old Task Manager and you can monitor and manage system processes at any time.
Although Windows 11 introduces a new Task Manager interface, the Classic Task Manager is still available in it. This article provides ways to enable the Classic Task Manager and create shortcuts to access it quickly. I hope it will help you manage system processes and performance more efficiently and increase productivity.
