Master Interactive Process Killing with Fkill: Install and Use on Linux, macOS, Windows

Overview

Fkill (Fabulous Kill) is a cross‑platform command‑line utility written in Node.js. It provides an interactive interface for searching and terminating one or more processes by PID, name, or listening port on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Installation

Arch Linux and derivatives : install from the AUR with any AUR helper, e.g. $ yay -S fkill Other Linux distributions : ensure Node.js is installed (see the official Node.js installation guide), then install the CLI globally via npm: $ npm install --global fkill-cli macOS : install Node.js first, then run the same npm command.

Windows : install Node.js (Windows installer) and run the npm command in a PowerShell or Command Prompt.

Interactive mode

Run fkill without arguments to start the interactive UI. The UI lists running processes together with their PID, name, and listening ports.

Navigate the list with the Up and Down arrow keys.

Type the first few characters of a process name to filter the list in real time.

Press Enter to send a termination signal to the selected process.

Press Ctrl+C to exit the UI.

Killing specific processes

You can also kill processes directly from the command line:

# Kill a single PID
$ fkill 2236

# Kill multiple PIDs (space‑separated)
$ fkill 2237 2312

# Kill by process name (case‑insensitive)
$ fkill safari

# Kill a listening port – prefix the port number with a colon
$ fkill :3306

Command‑line options

Display the built‑in help with fkill --help. The most useful options are: --force or -f: forcefully terminate the process (equivalent to kill -9 on Unix). --verbose or -v: show full command‑line arguments of each process. --silent or -s: suppress error output and always exit with status 0.

Help output (excerpt)

Fabulously kill processes. Cross‑platform.

Usage
  $ fkill [<pid|name|:port> ...]

Options
  --force, -f    Force kill
  --verbose, -v  Show process arguments
  --silent, -s   Silently kill and always exit with code 0

Examples
  $ fkill 1337
  $ fkill safari
  $ fkill :8080
  $ fkill 1337 safari :8080
  $ fkill   # launch interactive UI

The process name matching is case‑insensitive.
Prefix a port with a colon to kill the listening service.