How-To Close an Unresponsive Program with 'XKill'
Have you ever had a program to stop working or just "freeze up" on you? I have. When I used to use MS Windows it happened a lot; however, I could press CTRL + ALT + DELETE keys at the same time to bring up the Task Manager. Then I could select the program that was not responding and select the End Task button to close the program. Linux is known for its stabilty, but there are times that I find a program that stops responding or "freezes up" on me. It is rare, but it does happen and when it does I don't panic because Ubuntu MATE has a much more simpler way to close an unresponsive program. Actually, you have multiple ways to close an unresponsive program. I will focus on the command xkill.
How to use XKill
Press Alt + F2 to bring up the Run Application dialog box.
How to use XKill
Press Alt + F2 to bring up the Run Application dialog box.
Type xkill (all lower case letters) and click the Run button.
Your mouse pointer will change into a little cross. Place the little cross over the application that has stop responding and click the left mouse button. This willl close the program that froze up on you. If you change your mind, click the right mouse button to exit xkill.
That's it! That was simple. You can also run xkill in the Terminal.
How to Add XKill to the Menu
Click on the System menu, highlight Preferences, then highlight Look and Feel, and then click on Main Menu.
Click on the System menu, highlight Preferences, then highlight Look and Feel, and then click on Main Menu.
When the Main Menu dialog box appears, click on System Tools in the left column and then click the New Item button on the right.
A Create Launcher dialog box will appear to allow you to enter the name of your command.
Enter the following:
Type: Application
Name: XKill
Command: xkill
Comment: Starts the XKill mouse pointer. Click on any window you want to end.
Then click on the icon button in the upper left corner.
Type: Application
Name: XKill
Command: xkill
Comment: Starts the XKill mouse pointer. Click on any window you want to end.
Then click on the icon button in the upper left corner.
Locate and select your icon when the Choose an Icon dialog box appears. Then click the Open button. If you need an icon, then scroll to the bottom of this page and save the icon I used.
Now click the OK button and then click the Close button to save the command in the System Tools menu. .
Now open up an application to test out your XKill command in the menu. Then click on the Applications menu, highlight System Tools, and locate XKill. Click on it to execute XKill.
Place the X shaped mouse pointer over the application you want to close and click the left mouse button.
The application should immediately close.
Assigning a Keyboard Shortcut
You can assign a custom keyboard shortcut to kill an application when it becomes unresponsive.
Click on the System menu and then click on Control Center.
You can assign a custom keyboard shortcut to kill an application when it becomes unresponsive.
Click on the System menu and then click on Control Center.
Click on Keyboard Shortcuts under the Hardware section.
Click the Add button when the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box appears.
Enter xkill for both the Name and Command. Then click the Apply button.
Click the Disabled field to assign a keyboard shortcut.
Press Ctrl + Alt + K at the same time to assign these keys to the xkill command. Then click on the Close button.
Whenever an application become unresponsive, you can just press the shortcut key Ctrl + Alt + K to make your cursor become a X. Then click the X on the unresponsive application and it will kill it or close it down.
I hope this has helped you.
Take care!
I hope this has helped you.
Take care!