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Dedar Alam
Dedar Alam

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How to clear port 8080 in windows

#webdev #beginners #windows

How to Free Up a Port on Windows

If you've ever tried to start a local server and been greeted with an error like "port already in use," you're not alone. It usually means another process is still holding onto that port — often a leftover dev server that didn't shut down properly. Here's a quick, reliable way to find and kill it using the Windows command line.

Step 1: Find the Process Using the Port

Open Command Prompt (cmd.exe). You may need to run it as an administrator, though this isn't always required.

Run the following command, replacing <Port Number> with the port you're trying to free up:

netstat -ano | findstr <Port Number>
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This lists any active connections on that port, along with a PID (Process ID) — the number you'll need in the next step.

Example

Let's say something is hogging port 18080:

netstat -ano | findstr 8080
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TCP  0.0.0.0:18080    0.0.0.0:0     LISTENING    19788
TCP  [::]:18080       [::]:0        LISTENING    19788
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Here, the PID is 19788.

Step 2: Kill the Process

Now use taskkill to terminate that process:

taskkill /F /PID <Process Id>
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Following the example above:

taskkill /F /PID 19788
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SUCCESS: The process with PID 19788 has been terminated.
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And that's it — the port is now free to use again.

A Quick Word of Caution

Before killing a process, double-check what it actually is, especially if you're working on a shared machine or aren't sure what's running. Killing the wrong process can close unsaved work or disrupt something you didn't mean to touch.

Source: CodeGrepper

Top comments (1)

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair •

The area circled in red shows the PID (process identifier

There's no area circled in red.