Force Stop ("kill") a program immediately

If a program stops working or freezes, you can force it to close ("kill" it) using System Monitor. Go to the Processes tab and click to select the process you want to end. First, click End Process to try to let it exit cleanly.

If the process does not close after a few seconds, right-click it and select Force Stop from the menu that appears.

Using End Process tries to close the process properly, giving it time to save files and so on, whereas Force Stop forces it to close straight away. For some programs, this might mean that you lose unsaved files. You should always try End Process first.