CloseAll for Windows offers bulk program termination options

Martin Brinkmann
Mar 20, 2014
Software, Windows software
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12

Sometimes when I work on my Windows PC I open a lot of different programs and several instances of individual programs. When I then need to close most of them after work, I'm left with no other option but to do so manually.

While that is not really that much of a problem, unless I have ten, twenty or more programs open that I want to terminate, it can be quite bothersome if you have to do so several times a day.

CloseAll is a free program for the Windows operating system that improves how you terminate multiple programs on your system.

Instead of having to do so manually, you simply select all open windows that you want to close, and let the program handle the rest.

It should be clear that this is only advantageous if the running and selecting is faster than the manual closing of apps on your system, and if you need to keep select windows open.

CloseAll needs to be installed on your system. It is compatible with all recent versions of the Windows operating system from Windows XP on. The installer itself is clean and does not contain any unwanted program offers.

When you run CloseAll on your system afterwards, you see a list of all open program windows. The application groups them by software program, which makes it easier to identify the different program windows.

The name of each window is displayed underneath the program group which improves identification. All windows are selected by default but you can customize the selection using check boxes.

Depending on which windows you want to close, you may want to make use of the shortcut Ctrl-D to deselect all windows, or Ctrl-I to invert the current selection.

CloseAll does not refresh the program list automatically. You can hit F5 at any time to update it, or select Edit > Refresh instead for the same effect.

The view menu offers two interesting features. You can enable the sorting of programs, which displays programs in alphabetical order, and enable small icon mode to reduce the line height of each entry so that more entries can be displayed at the same time without scrolling.

Last but not least, it is possible to disable the grouping of programs.

Verdict

CloseAll can be a handy program at times, but you will have to either run it permanently on your system or place a shortcut to it in a location where you can access it quickly.

The developer is currently considering adding Windows 8 apps to the program listings so that you can close those program windows in addition to desktop windows.

A feature that I'd like to see is an option to automatically refresh the program listing in intervals, so that you do not have to do so manually every time a new window gets opened or closed on your system.

It would also be great if you could create custom groups of programs that you close regularly.

Summary
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Software Name
CloseAll
Operating System
Windows
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Comments

  1. PhoneyVirus said on March 22, 2014 at 10:30 pm
    Reply

    Cool

  2. PhoneyVirus said on March 22, 2014 at 10:17 pm
    Reply

    Awesome Gold membership subscription plan this is to good to be true, I’ll be a gold member soon indefinitely. When I can’t tell you because the house is under renovations right now and while in the process of build a new system, but you can bet your money I’ll becoming a Gold member I love software tutorials.

    Keep up the great work and Thanks Martin

    P.S I also have something you maybe interested in like say about oh 1000+ bookmark links software that I did over the years from Maximum PC Magazine, no harm if you don’t want to but you probable already written about it some were here on this website one way or another.

    https://app.box.com/s/oktnjg2n5d681q4eh2ag

    And if anyone thinks this is crazy well I guest I’m crazy because you can never have enough software and neither can one application do it all hope you enjoy!! Again Thanks

    Note: CloseAll don’t work with portable apps like NetWrox but its working with Process Hacker now.

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on March 22, 2014 at 10:24 pm
      Reply

      Thanks, downloaded it. Have probably reviewed most of them though already ;)

  3. PhoneyVirus said on March 22, 2014 at 9:37 pm
    Reply

    I have the same problem but here’s a tip in Keepass if you were to create a new entry without saving it then you’ll lose the info because it happen to me, or there’s a setting I’m not seen. I could be wrong but just closing all windows for applications that don’t need saving should be fine, nevertheless I love the program and will be using it day to day thanks.

    Also do you guys have a donation button on the website, because I love software tutorials and used to live for them when the Maximum PC magazine came in the mail, but it any like that anymore until I came across you guys is website.

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on March 22, 2014 at 9:39 pm
      Reply

      Hi there, good point about that. We have a donation button, you find it here: https://www.ghacks.net/subscribe/
      You do get something in return for it as well.

  4. Zack said on March 21, 2014 at 1:03 pm
    Reply

    Another good app that closes all open apps safely is Dark City Reset. It does what CloseAll does but with some other added perks like clearing the clipboard, so it really feels like you rebooted your PC without actually doing so. Unfortunately it’s not free, but you get what you pay for, and it’s worth it (to me anyway).

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on March 21, 2014 at 1:20 pm
      Reply

      Zack, can you post a link to that?

      1. Zack said on March 21, 2014 at 2:54 pm
        Reply

        It’s at http://www.darkcitycoder.com Martin.

      2. Martin Brinkmann said on March 21, 2014 at 4:06 pm
        Reply

        Thanks Zack.

  5. Oxa said on March 20, 2014 at 7:14 pm
    Reply

    Does this close the programs normally, or with an abnormal ending (e.g., EndItAll)?

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on March 20, 2014 at 7:17 pm
      Reply

      CloseAll simply flashes a ‘close’ signal to all open applications on the desktop and then ceases.

  6. Dwight Stegall said on March 20, 2014 at 2:25 pm
    Reply

    I have used CloseAll v1.3 for years. I supports both 32 and 64 bit Windows. But it’s portable. There is no program list. All you do is unzip it and pin it to that Taskbar and you’re done. It has closed every program I’ve ever used.

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