I’ve always used Windows Task Manager to troubleshoot my computer when it’s slow. I’ll open it and stare at the CPU or memory bars, hoping to find the problem. However, at times, everything looked just fine, yet my laptop still stuttered.

Then I found the free Process Explorer utility from Microsoft’s Sysinternals suite. My first time opening it felt like unlocking the backstage of Windows 11. I was seeing beyond usage data and finally started to understand why certain issues were happening. I found the processes dragging my computer down, and I no longer had to rely on guesswork.

Now, Process Explorer is one of the utilities I add to every system I set up.

A clearer lens than Task Manager

Process Explorer is the upgrade you didn’t know you needed

Process Explorer offers a deep, detailed analysis of every running process. It shows processes in a color-coded tree that maps their origin, connections, and resource behavior over time. This is different from the default Task Manager, which provides a high-level summary of your system’s activity.

Process Explorer displays active threads, handle counts, and I/O Read Bytes. These are essential details that show why you experience system problems even when CPU usage looks fine. It becomes instantly clear what processes are opening files, using network resources, or locking system handles. You’re finally able to understand what your computer is trying to say.

Process Explorer

OS Windows

Developer Microsoft Sysinternals

Price model Free

Process Explorer is a powerful, freeware Windows utility that provides a detailed, advanced view of running system processes, offering significantly more information and diagnostic capabilities than the default Windows Task Manager.

Setting up and making sense of it

A one-click download that rewards curiosity

Process Explorer doesn’t require installation. You only have to download the ZIP file from the Sysinternals page, extract it, run it as an administrator, and you’re ready to start using this utility. It doesn’t permanently add anything to your system the way an installed app would.

Once you launch the utility, navigate to Options -> Replace Task Manager. This way, using the **Ctrl **+ **Shift **+ Esc shortcut now opens Process Explorer instead of Task Manager.

If you ever want to revert the change, go back to the same** Options **menu and uncheck Replace Task Manager.

Even though the interface may initially look dense, it’s logically structured. The main pane displays the process list. On the left, it features a hierarchical process tree, and on the right, descriptive resource usage statistics in columns. It also has an optional lower pane that can display detailed handles or DLLs for a selected process.

Finding what’s really slowing your system

Process Explorer helps you separate symptoms from causes

I once noticed lag even though Task Manager showed modest CPU usage. In Process Explorer, I added the I/O Read Bytes and Private Bytes columns and immediately noticed a single browser process that was reading from disk nonstop. It was the culprit quietly degrading system responsiveness. I closed the tab, and the problem was fixed.

In another case, I saw periodic spikes in Process Explorer because Windows Defender was scanning a huge backup folder. Rather than completely disabling Windows Defender, I scheduled scans at night. I also found a process thread for Windows Explorer stuck at 100% CPU usage. It was causing Explorer to freeze, and by killing this process, I fixed the problem while avoiding a restart.

These may sound like technical cases, but they highlight why Process Explorer is important. Switching to Process Explorer was one of the small changes that gave my computer a huge speed boost.

Seeing the bigger picture

Color codes and system graphs that make data intuitive

Process Explorer allows you to visualize complex behavior: terminated processes glow red, new ones flash green, and services are purple. These colors flash as you open and close apps, allowing you to understand what happens on your computer.

You get more insights by navigating to View -> System Information. It displays a live graph with CPU, memory, GPU, and I/O usage. This is the window I look at after a performance dip. It shows what spiked first—memory pressure, disk reads, or CPU bursts.

After about a week of using it, I understood how Chrome ramps up under load, how indexing behaves after an upgrade, and the impact of minor tasks on performance.

How to verify suspicious processes and stay ahead of malware

One of Process Explorer’s underrated strengths is its ability to detect suspicious processes. It cross-checks processes on your computer against security vendor databases online. To initiate a check, follow these steps:

1. Right-click a process and select Check VirusTotal.com. This submits a hash, and after a few seconds, it should display a score in the VirusTotal column.
2. Click this virus score to see details of the trust rating of the process.

The trust rating for all your requested services is displayed on the VirusTotal website. The file is considered safe if no security vendors flag it as malicious.

Hovering over processes in Process Explorer will reveal their path. If a file pretending to be “svchost.exe” is running from the Downloads folder or any other odd location, it instantly becomes suspicious.

Over time, it becomes easier to spot anomalies because you start understanding what processes you should expect on your computer. This visibility and understanding of what’s running is the kind of control you don’t get from Task Manager or similar tools.

Seeing Windows clearly for the first time

After weeks of using Process Explorer, I no longer treat performance issues with annoyance. I now see patterns and understand underlying issues. There’s a trigger for every lag, and Process Explorer reveals it. It doesn’t turn you into a system admin, but keeps you informed enough to troubleshoot your own computer.

Process Explorer is the Task Manager on steroids. If hidden services are hogging your CPU, it’s one of the most efficient ways to identify and shut them down. Since I discovered Process Explorer, I’ve had no use for Task Manager.