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[Explore Stack Internal](https://stackoverflow.co/internal/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=askubuntu-community&utm_campaign=side-bar&utm_content=explore-teams-compact-popover) # [Killing multiple processes by name \[duplicate\]](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1464949/killing-multiple-processes-by-name) [Ask Question](https://askubuntu.com/questions/ask) Asked 2 years, 11 months ago Modified [2 years, 11 months ago](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1464949/killing-multiple-processes-by-name?lastactivity "2023-04-24 14:54:53Z") Viewed 38k times This question shows research effort; it is useful and clear 3 Save this question. Show activity on this post. **This question already has answers here**: [Shell script to -9 kill based on name](https://askubuntu.com/questions/239923/shell-script-to-9-kill-based-on-name) (6 answers) Closed 2 years ago. I have a question regarding killing processes that are running (and that I have started) I have started many procesess and now I want to terminate them doing ``` ps aux | grep aword ``` gives me the processes I want to kill. (aword being a word related to the processes) There are a lot so it takes me a while to kill them all I would like to do it faster. Now a peculiarity of these processes is that some have as USER "theuser" and some have "root" I tried and it seems I *have to* kill first the ones with "theuser" because if I try the roots first , the process comes back to life. So my question is how can I kill all the processes that come out of the grep command above but in the order that first the ones by "theuser" and then the ones with root (which require sudo of course) - [command-line](https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/command-line "show questions tagged 'command-line'") - [process](https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/process "show questions tagged 'process'") [Share](https://askubuntu.com/q/1464949 "Short permalink to this question") Share a link to this question Copy link [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ "The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 4.0") [Improve this question](https://askubuntu.com/posts/1464949/edit) Follow Follow this question to receive notifications asked Apr 24, 2023 at 6:01 [](https://askubuntu.com/users/1047017/kansairobot) [KansaiRobot](https://askubuntu.com/users/1047017/kansairobot) 58555 gold badges1717 silver badges2828 bronze badges 1 - `pgrep` and `pkill` are the tools for this. Read `man pgrep`. Consider doing this in 2 steps - kill the `$USER` processes first, then kill the `root` processes. waltinator – [waltinator](https://askubuntu.com/users/25618/waltinator "1 reputation") 2023-04-24 15:29:01 +00:00 [Commented Apr 24, 2023 at 15:29](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1464949/killing-multiple-processes-by-name#comment2565954_1464949) [Add a comment](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1464949/killing-multiple-processes-by-name "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid answering questions in comments.") \| ## 1 Answer 1 Sorted by: [Reset to default](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1464949/killing-multiple-processes-by-name?answertab=scoredesc#tab-top) This answer is useful 15 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. You better use [`pkill`](https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/xenial/en/man1/pgrep.1.html)(*alone*) for that task: - Kill processes by **name**(*partial/full match*): ``` pkill 'name' ``` - Kill processes by **name**(*exact match*): ``` pkill -x 'name' ``` - Kill processes by **full command line**(*partial/full match*): ``` pkill -f 'command' ``` - Kill processes by **full command line**(*exact match*): ``` pkill -xf 'command' ``` Run it without `sudo` to attempt to *only* kill matched processes "kill-able" by the invoking user or with `sudo` to attempt to kill all matched processes. *** **Notice**: A dry-run(*i.e. only print matched process IDs without killing them*) can be done with changing `pkill` to `pgrep` or `pgrep -l` and `pgrep -a`(*respectively, to also print process names and full command lines*) ... For example: ``` pgrep 'name' ``` or: ``` pgrep -l 'name' ``` or: ``` pgrep -lx 'name' ``` or: ``` pgrep -lf 'command` ``` or: ``` pgrep -lxf 'command' ``` The same goes for `pgrep -a` as well. [Share](https://askubuntu.com/a/1465004 "Short permalink to this answer") Share a link to this answer Copy link [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ "The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 4.0") [Improve this answer](https://askubuntu.com/posts/1465004/edit) Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications [edited Apr 24, 2023 at 14:54](https://askubuntu.com/posts/1465004/revisions "show all edits to this post") answered Apr 24, 2023 at 10:15 [](https://askubuntu.com/users/968501/raffa) [Raffa](https://askubuntu.com/users/968501/raffa) 35\.4k33 gold badges4848 silver badges107107 bronze badges [Add a comment](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1464949/killing-multiple-processes-by-name "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.") \| Start asking to get answers Find the answer to your question by asking. [Ask question](https://askubuntu.com/questions/ask) Explore related questions - [command-line](https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/command-line "show questions tagged 'command-line'") - [process](https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/process "show questions tagged 'process'") See similar questions with these tags. - The Overflow Blog - [Prevent agentic identity theft](https://stackoverflow.blog/2026/03/27/prevent-agentic-identity-theft/?cb=1) - [Building shared coding guidelines for AI (and people too)](https://stackoverflow.blog/2026/03/26/coding-guidelines-for-ai-agents-and-people-too/?cb=1) - Featured on Meta - [Should the Community Bot stop bumping questions from EOL releases?](https://meta.askubuntu.com/questions/20776/should-the-community-bot-stop-bumping-questions-from-eol-releases?cb=1) #### Linked [36](https://askubuntu.com/questions/239923/shell-script-to-9-kill-based-on-name?lq=1 "Question score (upvotes - downvotes)") [Shell script to -9 kill based on name](https://askubuntu.com/questions/239923/shell-script-to-9-kill-based-on-name?noredirect=1&lq=1) #### Related [4](https://askubuntu.com/questions/18862/ps-aux-as-non-root-doesnt-show-all-processes?rq=1 "Question score (upvotes - 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This question shows research effort; it is useful and clear 3 Save this question. Show activity on this post. I have a question regarding killing processes that are running (and that I have started) I have started many procesess and now I want to terminate them doing ``` ps aux | grep aword ``` gives me the processes I want to kill. (aword being a word related to the processes) There are a lot so it takes me a while to kill them all I would like to do it faster. Now a peculiarity of these processes is that some have as USER "theuser" and some have "root" I tried and it seems I *have to* kill first the ones with "theuser" because if I try the roots first , the process comes back to life. So my question is how can I kill all the processes that come out of the grep command above but in the order that first the ones by "theuser" and then the ones with root (which require sudo of course) asked Apr 24, 2023 at 6:01 [](https://askubuntu.com/users/1047017/kansairobot) 1 This answer is useful 15 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. You better use [`pkill`](https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/xenial/en/man1/pgrep.1.html)(*alone*) for that task: - Kill processes by **name**(*partial/full match*): ``` pkill 'name' ``` - Kill processes by **name**(*exact match*): ``` pkill -x 'name' ``` - Kill processes by **full command line**(*partial/full match*): ``` pkill -f 'command' ``` - Kill processes by **full command line**(*exact match*): ``` pkill -xf 'command' ``` Run it without `sudo` to attempt to *only* kill matched processes "kill-able" by the invoking user or with `sudo` to attempt to kill all matched processes. *** **Notice**: A dry-run(*i.e. only print matched process IDs without killing them*) can be done with changing `pkill` to `pgrep` or `pgrep -l` and `pgrep -a`(*respectively, to also print process names and full command lines*) ... For example: ``` pgrep 'name' ``` or: ``` pgrep -l 'name' ``` or: ``` pgrep -lx 'name' ``` or: ``` pgrep -lf 'command` ``` or: ``` pgrep -lxf 'command' ``` The same goes for `pgrep -a` as well. answered Apr 24, 2023 at 10:15 [](https://askubuntu.com/users/968501/raffa) Start asking to get answers Find the answer to your question by asking. [Ask question](https://askubuntu.com/questions/ask) Explore related questions See similar questions with these tags.