Simulating the Alt + F4 keys (equates to signal WM_CLOSE). I do not know how to do this in batch, but you could use the vbscript for this. Many windows handle WM_CLOSE to prompt the user to save documents.Ī tool that does this correctly is Look also SendMsg. You can send WM_CLOSE messages to any window you wish to close. The answer to that question can be found here( Microsoft link). Similar to pressing the 'X' close button in the corner of the window? What is the proper way to close/exit programs from command line, Summary: TASKKILL is the proper way via command line to close applications per its WM_CLOSE implementation and the Microsoft KB that I linked. To hide the errors capture the output taskkill /IM chrome.exe >nul Most likely, these processes are the chrome extensions and plugins. Only processes with a message loop will be able to receive the message, therefore, the processes that do not have a message loop will generate that error. The errors are caused when an process does not acknowledge the WM_CLOSE message that TASKKILL sends. Other options would include sending the Alt+F4 keys, using PowerShell, or 3rd party applications. How To Terminate an Application 'Cleanly' in Win32.Only use the /F option if you want to force the termination of the process. You may also want to use the /T option to also signal child processes. Taskkill sends the WM_CLOSE message and it is then up to the application whether to properly close. There are other messages that can signal the close of the application, but it is up to the author of the software how each message is handled. Properly releasing memory and closing handles. However, generally the best practice is for Windows programs to close whenever they receive the WM_CLOSE message. The proper way to close/exit a program ultimately depends upon the software.

Quit program command