🕷️ Crawler Inspector

#  By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to our [terms of service](https://unix.stackexchange.com/legal/terms-of-service/public) and acknowledge you have read our [privacy policy](https://unix.stackexchange.com/legal/privacy-policy). # OR Already have an account? [Log in](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/login) [Skip to main content](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#content) #### Stack Exchange Network Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q\&A communities including [Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/), the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. [Visit Stack Exchange](https://stackexchange.com/) 1. - [Tour Start here for a quick overview of the site](https://unix.stackexchange.com/tour) - [Help Center Detailed answers to any questions you might have](https://unix.stackexchange.com/help) - [Meta Discuss the workings and policies of this site](https://unix.meta.stackexchange.com/) - [About Us Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products](https://stackoverflow.co/) 2. ### [current community](https://unix.stackexchange.com/) - [Unix & Linux](https://unix.stackexchange.com/) [help](https://unix.stackexchange.com/help) [chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/?tab=site&host=unix.stackexchange.com) - [Unix & Linux Meta](https://unix.meta.stackexchange.com/) ### your communities [Sign up](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/signup?ssrc=site_switcher&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Funix.stackexchange.com%2Fquestions%2F94527%2Fhow-do-i-kill-all-screens) or [log in](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/login?ssrc=site_switcher&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Funix.stackexchange.com%2Fquestions%2F94527%2Fhow-do-i-kill-all-screens) to customize your list. ### [more stack exchange communities](https://stackexchange.com/sites) [company blog](https://stackoverflow.blog/) 3. [Log in](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/login?ssrc=head&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Funix.stackexchange.com%2Fquestions%2F94527%2Fhow-do-i-kill-all-screens) 4. [Sign up](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/signup?ssrc=head&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Funix.stackexchange.com%2Fquestions%2F94527%2Fhow-do-i-kill-all-screens) [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/) 1. 1. [Home](https://unix.stackexchange.com/) 2. [Questions](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions) 3. [Unanswered](https://unix.stackexchange.com/unanswered) 4. [AI Assist](https://stackoverflow.com/ai-assist) 5. [Tags](https://unix.stackexchange.com/tags) 6. [Chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/) 7. [Users](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users) 8. [Companies](https://stackoverflow.com/jobs/companies?so_medium=unix&so_source=SiteNav) 2. Stack Internal Stack Overflow for Teams is now called **Stack Internal**. Bring the best of human thought and AI automation together at your work. [Try for free](https://stackoverflowteams.com/teams/create/free/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unix-community&utm_campaign=side-bar&utm_content=explore-teams) [Learn more](https://stackoverflow.co/internal/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unix-community&utm_campaign=side-bar&utm_content=explore-teams) 3. [Stack Internal]() 4. Bring the best of human thought and AI automation together at your work. [Learn more](https://stackoverflow.co/internal/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unix-community&utm_campaign=side-bar&utm_content=explore-teams-compact) **Stack Internal** Knowledge at work Bring the best of human thought and AI automation together at your work. [Explore Stack Internal](https://stackoverflow.co/internal/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unix-community&utm_campaign=side-bar&utm_content=explore-teams-compact-popover) # [How do I kill all screens?](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens) [Ask Question](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/ask) Asked 12 years, 5 months ago Modified [2 years, 5 months ago](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens?lastactivity "2023-09-29 06:55:49Z") Viewed 466k times This question shows research effort; it is useful and clear 153 Save this question. Show activity on this post. I accidentally created over 1000 screens. How do I kill them all with one command? (Or a few) - [linux](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/linux "show questions tagged 'linux'") - [bash](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/bash "show questions tagged 'bash'") - [gnu-screen](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/gnu-screen "show questions tagged 'gnu-screen'") - [kill](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/kill "show questions tagged 'kill'") [Share](https://unix.stackexchange.com/q/94527 "Short permalink to this question") Share a link to this question Copy link [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ "The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 3.0") [Improve this question](https://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/94527/edit) Follow Follow this question to receive notifications asked Oct 10, 2013 at 21:57 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/45867/brainstone) [BrainStone](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/45867/brainstone) 3,8331212 gold badges4242 silver badges5959 bronze badges 5 - 3 run --\> `screen -ls | grep Detached | cut -d. -f1 | awk '{print $1}' | xargs kill` sactiw – [sactiw](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/124313/sactiw "101 reputation") 2016-11-12 10:26:02 +00:00 [Commented Nov 12, 2016 at 10:26](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment567595_94527) - Good idea @sactiw. I modified it to work with my named sessions, and tweaked the commands a bit for preference, cleaning the sessions out completely in case they are 'stuck' like they were for me, and listing again for the user as a sanity check: `screen -ls | grep "<name>" | cut -d. -f1 | tr --delete "\t" | xargs kill -9; screen -wipe; screen -ls;` Pysis – [Pysis](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/65319/pysis "147 reputation") 2017-08-09 14:37:00 +00:00 [Commented Aug 9, 2017 at 14:37](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment684696_94527) - 8 How did you accidentally create 1000 screens? duhaime – [duhaime](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/82667/duhaime "443 reputation") 2018-04-04 00:06:36 +00:00 [Commented Apr 4, 2018 at 0:06](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment786314_94527) - 1 @duhaime asking the real question. ahron – [ahron](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/123481/ahron "434 reputation") 2022-07-04 18:11:00 +00:00 [Commented Jul 4, 2022 at 18:11](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment1341455_94527) - I was using a loop and running different parameters for a model in each screen. It all happened so fast\! Adam\_G – [Adam\_G](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/87878/adam-g "433 reputation") 2022-08-17 21:56:21 +00:00 [Commented Aug 17, 2022 at 21:56](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment1352421_94527) [Add a comment](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid answering questions in comments.") \| ## 8 Answers 8 Sorted by: [Reset to default](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens?answertab=scoredesc#tab-top) This answer is useful 189 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. You can use : ``` pkill screen ``` Or ``` killall screen ``` *** In OSX the process is called SCREEN in all caps. So, use: ``` pkill SCREEN ``` Or ``` killall SCREEN ``` [Share](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/94528 "Short permalink to this answer") Share a link to this answer Copy link [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ "The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 3.0") [Improve this answer](https://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/94528/edit) Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications [edited Sep 7, 2017 at 16:22](https://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/94528/revisions "show all edits to this post") [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/208146/stephen-rauch) [Stephen Rauch](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/208146/stephen-rauch) 4,3491515 gold badges2525 silver badges3333 bronze badges answered Oct 10, 2013 at 22:03 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/28434/rahul-patil) [Rahul Patil](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/28434/rahul-patil) 25\.7k2626 gold badges8686 silver badges9696 bronze badges 5 - 2 It's not recommended to use SIGKILL in this case. SIGTERM would be a much better choice. Marco – [Marco](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/12779/marco "34,298 reputation") 2013-10-10 22:31:27 +00:00 [Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 22:31](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment143600_94528) - Hi, Rahul Patil. why screen is not listed in `Top` user15964 – [user15964](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/31374/user15964 "753 reputation") 2016-04-30 01:03:08 +00:00 [Commented Apr 30, 2016 at 1:03](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment487037_94528) - What if I don't have permissions? Do I have to manually go into and exit all the screens individually? hipoglucido – [hipoglucido](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/230998/hipoglucido "101 reputation") 2017-06-21 15:39:10 +00:00 [Commented Jun 21, 2017 at 15:39](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment662380_94528) - 1 In OSX (also potentially in Linux), ongoing processes running inside the screen are "orphaned". f01 – [f01](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/63301/f01 "266 reputation") 2022-12-06 03:26:14 +00:00 [Commented Dec 6, 2022 at 3:26](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment1379175_94528) - @marco why not? [Also, `pkill` already sends `SIGTERM`, not `SIGKILL`](https://linux.die.net/man/1/pkill). Ditto [for `killall`](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/killall.1.html). ijoseph – [ijoseph](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/20482/ijoseph "164 reputation") 2025-08-04 17:54:23 +00:00 [Commented Aug 4, 2025 at 17:54](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment1535699_94528) [Add a comment](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.") \| This answer is useful 20 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. If the screens are dead, use: ``` screen -wipe ``` [Share](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/170949 "Short permalink to this answer") Share a link to this answer Copy link [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ "The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 3.0") [Improve this answer](https://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/170949/edit) Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications answered Dec 2, 2014 at 2:20 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/87878/adam-g) [Adam\_G](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/87878/adam-g) 43311 gold badge66 silver badges1212 bronze badges 1 - This would be good if it worked for the use case in the above question. Instead it: `Do nothing, just clean up SockDir [on possible matches].` ijoseph – [ijoseph](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/20482/ijoseph "164 reputation") 2025-08-04 17:51:28 +00:00 [Commented Aug 4, 2025 at 17:51](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment1535698_170949) [Add a comment](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.") \| This answer is useful 16 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. Have recently begun to familiarize myself with awk I put together this and it served its purpose. I posted it since its quite easy to understand. `screen -ls | grep '(Detached)' | awk 'sys {screen -S $1 -X quit}'` Where `screen -ls` lists all current screens. `grep 'pattern'` filters out all matching rows. We can then get a handle for all detached screens and with `awk sys {command}` we can copy and paste together a command and execute it with `sys`, `$1` refers to the first argument picked up by awk. Finally we execute the quit command with `screen -X quit`. [Share](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/400383 "Short permalink to this answer") Share a link to this answer Copy link [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ "The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 3.0") [Improve this answer](https://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/400383/edit) Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications answered Oct 25, 2017 at 14:35 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/257361/eliassen) [Eliassen](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/257361/eliassen) 16111 silver badge22 bronze badges 1 - 17 `screen -ls | grep '(Detached)' | awk '{print $1}' | xargs -I % -t screen -X -S % quit` worked better for me. whereisalext – [whereisalext](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/373836/whereisalext "101 reputation") 2019-09-22 23:24:25 +00:00 [Commented Sep 22, 2019 at 23:24](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment1007132_400383) [Add a comment](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.") \| This answer is useful 7 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. ``` str=$(screen -ls) array=$(echo $str|tr "." "\n") for V in $array do if [ $V -gt 0 ] then screen -S $V -X quit fi done ``` [Share](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/227286 "Short permalink to this answer") Share a link to this answer Copy link [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ "The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 3.0") [Improve this answer](https://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/227286/edit) Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications [edited Sep 3, 2015 at 14:47](https://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/227286/revisions "show all edits to this post") [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/79818/archemar) [Archemar](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/79818/archemar) 32\.3k1818 gold badges7575 silver badges107107 bronze badges answered Sep 3, 2015 at 14:39 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/131522/don-wei) [Don Wei](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/131522/don-wei) 7111 silver badge22 bronze badges [Add a comment](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.") \| This answer is useful 5 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. ``` for scr in $(screen -ls | awk '{print $1}'); do screen -S $scr -X kill; done ``` [Share](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/539784 "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://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/539784/edit) Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications [edited Sep 9, 2019 at 10:45](https://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/539784/revisions "show all edits to this post") [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/117549/jeff-schaller) [Jeff Schaller](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/117549/jeff-schaller)♦ 69k3535 gold badges122122 silver badges268268 bronze badges answered Sep 9, 2019 at 10:22 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/370823/user370823) [user370823](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/370823/user370823) 5111 silver badge11 bronze badge [Add a comment](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.") \| This answer is useful 3 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. I'm a bit puzzled over how you managed to create 1000 "screens". Did you perhaps mean 1000 screen windows (1000 different terminal windows within a single screen session)? If you meant 1000 windows within a single screen session, then a more elegant solution would be to quit screen using the command `C-a \` (ctrl-a followed by \\). [Share](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/94561 "Short permalink to this answer") Share a link to this answer Copy link [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ "The current license for this post: CC BY-SA 3.0") [Improve this answer](https://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/94561/edit) Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications answered Oct 11, 2013 at 0:53 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/48976/railgun2) [Railgun2](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/48976/railgun2) 23511 silver badge44 bronze badges 4 - 1 Try executing screen 1000x within screen. What happens? You get 1000 screen windows. Yes, that's right, screen intelligently and mercifully doesn't spawn 1000 screen sessions. So if the OP had already started screen it should be far easier to accidentally start 1000 screen windows than to start 1000 screen sessions. Railgun2 – [Railgun2](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/48976/railgun2 "235 reputation") 2013-10-11 01:44:38 +00:00 [Commented Oct 11, 2013 at 1:44](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment143643_94561) - Strange but the comment I was replying to appears to have disappeared. Anyway I'm letting the above comment stand for the record. Railgun2 – [Railgun2](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/48976/railgun2 "235 reputation") 2013-10-11 01:49:00 +00:00 [Commented Oct 11, 2013 at 1:49](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment143645_94561) - 1 Well it's actually pretty simple. Just make a infinite loop (by accident) and put something like this in there `screen -m sleep 100000`. This happened and I did not notice until it had already created over 1000 screen sessions. BrainStone – [BrainStone](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/45867/brainstone "3,833 reputation") 2013-10-11 10:14:26 +00:00 [Commented Oct 11, 2013 at 10:14](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment143689_94561) - How exactly does one create an infinite loop by accident? ahron – [ahron](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/123481/ahron "434 reputation") 2022-07-04 18:13:11 +00:00 [Commented Jul 4, 2022 at 18:13](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment1341456_94561) [Add a comment](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.") \| This answer is useful 2 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. You can use the screen command itself to list all active screen sessions and then kill them one by one. Here's an example: ``` screen -ls | awk '{print $1}' | xargs -I{} screen -X -S {} quit ``` This will list all active screen sessions using the `screen -ls` command, extract the session IDs using `awk`, and then pass each session ID to the `screen -X -S` command to quit the session. [Share](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/753767 "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://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/753767/edit) Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications answered Aug 11, 2023 at 3:11 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/582189/mahesh-belnekar) [Mahesh Belnekar](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/582189/mahesh-belnekar) 2111 bronze badge [Add a comment](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.") \| This answer is useful 1 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. The following command will terminate all inactive screens: ``` perl -e 'while (map { kill 9, [split /\./]->[0] } grep { /Detached/ } split /\n/, qx{screen -ls}) { sleep 1 } exec qw(screen -wipe)' ``` [Share](https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/524160 "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://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/524160/edit) Follow Follow this answer to receive notifications [edited Jun 11, 2019 at 9:43](https://unix.stackexchange.com/posts/524160/revisions "show all edits to this post") [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/20752/kevdog777) [Kevdog777](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/20752/kevdog777) 3,2741818 gold badges4545 silver badges6767 bronze badges answered Jun 11, 2019 at 9:04 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/357278/michael-vu) [Michael Vu](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/357278/michael-vu) 1111 bronze badge 1 - This one works. WestCoastProjects – [WestCoastProjects](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/66602/westcoastprojects "133 reputation") 2020-02-18 18:40:23 +00:00 [Commented Feb 18, 2020 at 18:40](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens#comment1056697_524160) [Add a comment](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/94527/how-do-i-kill-all-screens "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.") \| ## You must [log in](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/login?ssrc=question_page&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Funix.stackexchange.com%2Fquestions%2F94527) to answer this question. Start asking to get answers Find the answer to your question by asking. [Ask question](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/ask) Explore related questions - [linux](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/linux "show questions tagged 'linux'") - [bash](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/bash "show questions tagged 'bash'") - [gnu-screen](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/gnu-screen "show questions tagged 'gnu-screen'") - [kill](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/kill "show questions tagged 'kill'") See similar questions with these tags. - The Overflow Blog - [After all the hype, was 2025 really the year of AI agents?](https://stackoverflow.blog/2026/03/20/was-2025-really-the-year-of-ai-agents/?cb=1) - [AI is becoming a second brain at the expense of your first one](https://stackoverflow.blog/2026/03/19/ai-is-becoming-a-second-brain-at-the-expense-of-your-first-one/?cb=1) #### Related [6](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/19395/how-to-kill-two-or-more-processes-with-one-kill-command?rq=1 "Question score (upvotes - downvotes)") [How to kill two or more processes with one kill command?](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/19395/how-to-kill-two-or-more-processes-with-one-kill-command?rq=1) [8](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/20435/killing-multiple-gnu-screen-sessions-with-the-same-name?rq=1 "Question score (upvotes - downvotes)") [Killing multiple GNU screen sessions with the same name](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/20435/killing-multiple-gnu-screen-sessions-with-the-same-name?rq=1) [6](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/38987/kill-all-processes-related-to-an-application?rq=1 "Question score (upvotes - downvotes)") [Kill all processes related to an application](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/38987/kill-all-processes-related-to-an-application?rq=1) [126](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/50555/kill-many-instances-of-a-running-process-with-one-command?rq=1 "Question score (upvotes - downvotes)") [Kill many instances of a running process with one command](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/50555/kill-many-instances-of-a-running-process-with-one-command?rq=1) [2](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/57605/i-want-to-kill-all-processes-that-result-from-the-following-command?rq=1 "Question score (upvotes - downvotes)") [I want to kill all processes that result from the following command](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/57605/i-want-to-kill-all-processes-that-result-from-the-following-command?rq=1) [2](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/265799/find-all-idle-screens?rq=1 "Question score (upvotes - downvotes)") [Find all idle screens](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/265799/find-all-idle-screens?rq=1) [1](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/403531/how-to-kill-all-child-processes-after-parent-process-died-and-they-all-switched?rq=1 "Question score (upvotes - downvotes)") [How to kill all child processes after parent process died and they all switched to init?](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/403531/how-to-kill-all-child-processes-after-parent-process-died-and-they-all-switched?rq=1) [1](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/409079/bash-script-to-check-whether-python-scripts-are-running-in-screens-restart-if?rq=1 "Question score (upvotes - downvotes)") [Bash script to check whether python scripts are running in screens - restart if not](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/409079/bash-script-to-check-whether-python-scripts-are-running-in-screens-restart-if?rq=1) [0](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/559172/how-do-we-terminate-screen-sessions-based-on-their-attached-or-detached-properti?rq=1 "Question score (upvotes - downvotes)") [How do we terminate screen sessions based on their attached or detached properties or their IDs?](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/559172/how-do-we-terminate-screen-sessions-based-on-their-attached-or-detached-properti?rq=1) #### [Hot Network Questions](https://stackexchange.com/questions?tab=hot) - [What is the default keyboard shortcut to split a pane in Microsoft Terminal?](https://superuser.com/questions/1936032/what-is-the-default-keyboard-shortcut-to-split-a-pane-in-microsoft-terminal) - [Proper torque damages wire - should I still apply that torque?](https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/329666/proper-torque-damages-wire-should-i-still-apply-that-torque) - [In the millennia of fighting between Shadows and Vorlons was it ever the Vorlons who “lost”?](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/303754/in-the-millennia-of-fighting-between-shadows-and-vorlons-was-it-ever-the-vorlons) - [Is the first "r" in "February" now considered a silent letter?](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/639281/is-the-first-r-in-february-now-considered-a-silent-letter) - [What is the temperature of light?](https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/870313/what-is-the-temperature-of-light) - [How does one write an emergency alert notification in a novel?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/72315/how-does-one-write-an-emergency-alert-notification-in-a-novel) - [Weird behavior of \`Message\` and \`Echo\`?](https://mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/319050/weird-behavior-of-message-and-echo) - [Absoluteness of Sharps](https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/5129566/absoluteness-of-sharps) - [How do physicalists explain rational oughts?](https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/137158/how-do-physicalists-explain-rational-oughts) - [rapid pronunciation of когда](https://russian.stackexchange.com/questions/29766/rapid-pronunciation-of-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%B4%D0%B0) - [How do physicalists define moral "oughts" based on preferences when multiple individuals have incompatible subjective preferences?](https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/137196/how-do-physicalists-define-moral-oughts-based-on-preferences-when-multiple-ind) - [What is this weapon in English ? 仕込み棍/ Shikomikon](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/111885/what-is-this-weapon-in-english-%E4%BB%95%E8%BE%BC%E3%81%BF%E6%A3%8D-shikomikon) - [Does Exempli Gratia Fecit make sense?](https://latin.stackexchange.com/questions/27126/does-exempli-gratia-fecit-make-sense) - [Why do some mathematical truths have physical meaning, and others don't?](https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/137207/why-do-some-mathematical-truths-have-physical-meaning-and-others-dont) - [If a planet had no tilt and a ring at the same tilt of the planet, what would the temperature be at the equator](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/272941/if-a-planet-had-no-tilt-and-a-ring-at-the-same-tilt-of-the-planet-what-would-th) - ["set a limit" vs "set the limit" and "a number of" vs "the number of"](https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/374353/set-a-limit-vs-set-the-limit-and-a-number-of-vs-the-number-of) - [Need help with ECDSA implementation mathematics](https://crypto.stackexchange.com/questions/119456/need-help-with-ecdsa-implementation-mathematics) - [Is there a general formula for the density of a given substance at a given temperature and pressure?](https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/870319/is-there-a-general-formula-for-the-density-of-a-given-substance-at-a-given-tempe) - [Was Eli sarcastic in his reply to Samuel in 1 Sam 3:18?](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/115408/was-eli-sarcastic-in-his-reply-to-samuel-in-1-sam-318) - [Why did the Buddha forbid nuns from criticizing monks but not the other way around? On AN 8.51](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/55489/why-did-the-buddha-forbid-nuns-from-criticizing-monks-but-not-the-other-way-arou) - [Are the 153 fish in John 21:11 explained by the 153,000 strangers of 2.Chronicles 2:17?](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/115433/are-the-153-fish-in-john-2111-explained-by-the-153-000-strangers-of-2-chronicle) - [SF novel where warring humans manage to enormously reduce fertility, and later lose a war to aliens](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/303781/sf-novel-where-warring-humans-manage-to-enormously-reduce-fertility-and-later-l) - [Is Isaiah 64:6's "filthy rags" taken out of context?](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/115424/is-isaiah-646s-filthy-rags-taken-out-of-context) - [xint: calc array with binomial coefficients only one time](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/761061/xint-calc-array-with-binomial-coefficients-only-one-time) [Question feed](https://unix.stackexchange.com/feeds/question/94527 "Feed of this question and its answers") # Subscribe to RSS Question feed To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader.  lang-bash # Why are you flagging this comment? It contains harassment, bigotry or abuse. This comment attacks a person or group. Learn more in our [Abusive behavior policy](https://unix.stackexchange.com/conduct/abusive-behavior). It's unfriendly or unkind. This comment is rude or condescending. Learn more in our [Code of Conduct](https://unix.stackexchange.com/conduct/abusive-behavior). Not needed. This comment is not relevant to the post. ``` ``` Enter at least 6 characters Something else. A problem not listed above. Try to be as specific as possible. ``` ``` Enter at least 6 characters Flag comment Cancel You have 0 flags left today #  # Hang on, you can't upvote just yet. You'll need to complete a few actions and gain 15 reputation points before being able to upvote. **Upvoting** indicates when questions and answers are useful. [What's reputation and how do I get it?](https://stackoverflow.com/help/whats-reputation) Instead, you can save this post to reference later. Save this post for later Not now ##### [Unix & Linux](https://unix.stackexchange.com/) - [Tour](https://unix.stackexchange.com/tour) - [Help](https://unix.stackexchange.com/help) - [Chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/?tab=site&host=unix.stackexchange.com) - [Contact](https://unix.stackexchange.com/contact) - [Feedback](https://unix.meta.stackexchange.com/) ##### [Company](https://stackoverflow.co/) - [Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/) - [Stack Internal](https://stackoverflow.co/internal/) - [Stack Data Licensing](https://stackoverflow.co/data-licensing/) - [Stack Ads](https://stackoverflow.co/advertising/) - [About](https://stackoverflow.co/) - [Press](https://stackoverflow.co/company/press/) - [Legal](https://stackoverflow.com/legal) - [Privacy Policy](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy) - [Terms of Service](https://stackoverflow.com/legal/terms-of-service/public) - Cookie Settings - [Cookie Policy](https://policies.stackoverflow.co/stack-overflow/cookie-policy) ##### [Stack Exchange Network](https://stackexchange.com/) - [Technology](https://stackexchange.com/sites#technology) - [Culture & recreation](https://stackexchange.com/sites#culturerecreation) - [Life & arts](https://stackexchange.com/sites#lifearts) - [Science](https://stackexchange.com/sites#science) - [Professional](https://stackexchange.com/sites#professional) - [Business](https://stackexchange.com/sites#business) - [API](https://api.stackexchange.com/) - [Data](https://data.stackexchange.com/) - [Blog](https://stackoverflow.blog/?blb=1) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/officialstackoverflow/) - [Twitter](https://twitter.com/stackoverflow) - [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/company/stack-overflow) - [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/thestackoverflow) Site design / logo © 2026 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under [CC BY-SA](https://stackoverflow.com/help/licensing) . rev 2026.3.20.41360 Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. This site is not affiliated with Linus Torvalds or The Open Group in any way.

This question shows research effort; it is useful and clear 153 Save this question. Show activity on this post. I accidentally created over 1000 screens. How do I kill them all with one command? (Or a few) asked Oct 10, 2013 at 21:57 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/45867/brainstone) 5 This answer is useful 189 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. You can use : ``` pkill screen ``` Or ``` killall screen ``` *** In OSX the process is called SCREEN in all caps. So, use: ``` pkill SCREEN ``` Or ``` killall SCREEN ``` [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/208146/stephen-rauch) answered Oct 10, 2013 at 22:03 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/28434/rahul-patil) 5 This answer is useful 20 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. If the screens are dead, use: ``` screen -wipe ``` answered Dec 2, 2014 at 2:20 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/87878/adam-g) 1 This answer is useful 16 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. Have recently begun to familiarize myself with awk I put together this and it served its purpose. I posted it since its quite easy to understand. `screen -ls | grep '(Detached)' | awk 'sys {screen -S $1 -X quit}'` Where `screen -ls` lists all current screens. `grep 'pattern'` filters out all matching rows. We can then get a handle for all detached screens and with `awk sys {command}` we can copy and paste together a command and execute it with `sys`, `$1` refers to the first argument picked up by awk. Finally we execute the quit command with `screen -X quit`. answered Oct 25, 2017 at 14:35 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/257361/eliassen) 1 This answer is useful 7 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. ``` str=$(screen -ls) array=$(echo $str|tr "." "\n") for V in $array do if [ $V -gt 0 ] then screen -S $V -X quit fi done ``` [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/79818/archemar) [Archemar](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/79818/archemar) 32\.3k18 gold badges75 silver badges107 bronze badges answered Sep 3, 2015 at 14:39 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/131522/don-wei) This answer is useful 5 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. ``` for scr in $(screen -ls | awk '{print $1}'); do screen -S $scr -X kill; done ``` [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/117549/jeff-schaller) [Jeff Schaller](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/117549/jeff-schaller)♦ 69k35 gold badges122 silver badges268 bronze badges answered Sep 9, 2019 at 10:22 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/370823/user370823) This answer is useful 3 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. I'm a bit puzzled over how you managed to create 1000 "screens". Did you perhaps mean 1000 screen windows (1000 different terminal windows within a single screen session)? If you meant 1000 windows within a single screen session, then a more elegant solution would be to quit screen using the command `C-a \` (ctrl-a followed by \\). answered Oct 11, 2013 at 0:53 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/48976/railgun2) 4 This answer is useful 2 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. You can use the screen command itself to list all active screen sessions and then kill them one by one. Here's an example: ``` screen -ls | awk '{print $1}' | xargs -I{} screen -X -S {} quit ``` This will list all active screen sessions using the `screen -ls` command, extract the session IDs using `awk`, and then pass each session ID to the `screen -X -S` command to quit the session. answered Aug 11, 2023 at 3:11 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/582189/mahesh-belnekar) This answer is useful 1 Save this answer. Show activity on this post. The following command will terminate all inactive screens: ``` perl -e 'while (map { kill 9, [split /\./]->[0] } grep { /Detached/ } split /\n/, qx{screen -ls}) { sleep 1 } exec qw(screen -wipe)' ``` [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/20752/kevdog777) [Kevdog777](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/20752/kevdog777) 3,27418 gold badges45 silver badges67 bronze badges answered Jun 11, 2019 at 9:04 [](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/357278/michael-vu) 1 ## You must [log in](https://unix.stackexchange.com/users/login?ssrc=question_page&returnurl=https%3A%2F%2Funix.stackexchange.com%2Fquestions%2F94527) to answer this question. Start asking to get answers Find the answer to your question by asking. [Ask question](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/ask) Explore related questions See similar questions with these tags.