Process Commands

killall Linux Command

Kills all processes matching a given name.

What does killall do?

Kills all processes matching a given name.

killall [options] process_name

killall firefox

How do I kill a process by name?

Use `killall processname` to kill all instances of a process. For example, `killall firefox` kills all Firefox processes.

What does killall -9 do?

Sends SIGKILL to all processes with the given name, forcing immediate termination. Use as a last resort when processes won't stop.

How do I kill a process interactively?

Use `killall -i processname` to be prompted before killing each process. This gives you control over which instances to terminate.

How do I kill processes matching a pattern?

Use `killall -e processname` for exact match, or `pkill pattern` for pattern matching. killall uses partial matching by default.

How do I see what killall would kill?

Use `killall -s processname` to list processes that would be killed without actually killing them (dry run).

How do I kill a process owned by another user?

Use `sudo killall -u username processname` to kill a process owned by a different user. You need root privileges.

How do I kill all Python processes?

Use `killall python` or `killall python3` depending on the interpreter name. Be careful not to kill important Python services.

What is the difference between killall and pkill?

killall matches by exact process name, while pkill matches by pattern and supports additional attributes like user and terminal.

Sends a signal to terminate a process by its PID.

Sends a signal to processes based on name and other attributes.

Enhanced, more user-friendly version of top with color and mouse support.

Resumes a suspended job in the background.

Displays an interactive, real-time view of system processes and resource usage.

Brings a background job to the foreground.