How to Find Recently Closed Apps in Windows 11/10 (Built-in + Free Tools)

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Sure, you may examine just lately closed apps in Home windows 11 or 10, however not precisely. Nevertheless, to some extent, you are able to do so by utilizing Reliability Monitor, Occasion Viewer, or third-party instruments like NirSoft’s LastActivityView. Home windows itself doesn’t present a direct “just lately closed apps” historical past; nonetheless, these strategies assist you to monitor software closures successfully, with various ranges of element and complexity.

In contrast to smartphones that supply handy “latest apps” buttons, Home windows 11 and Home windows 10 don’t present an easy checklist of packages you’ve simply closed. Microsoft designed the working system with totally different priorities in thoughts, focusing extra on present processes than historic ones.

Nonetheless, many people may need to know which purposes had been just lately closed, particularly in case you are utilizing a shared PC or laptop computer. Or perhaps you’re troubleshooting a system crash and must know what was operating earlier than issues went sideways. However don’t fear — there are a number of intelligent workarounds and beneficial instruments that may aid you monitor this info successfully.

All through my years of troubleshooting Home windows and administering methods, I’ve found a number of strategies for figuring out just lately closed purposes, starting from built-in Home windows utilities like Reliability Monitor and Occasion Viewer to sturdy third-party options, corresponding to NirSoft’s LastActivityView. On this article, we be taught that monitoring just lately closed purposes in Home windows may be surprisingly difficult.

Methodology 1: Utilizing Home windows Reliability Monitor ( for Troubleshooting)

Reliability Monitor might be probably the most user-friendly built-in device for checking software historical past. It’s primarily designed to trace system stability, and it additionally logs when purposes cease working or crash.

Find out how to Entry Reliability Monitor:

1. Press Home windows + R to open the Run dialog
2. Sort perfmon /rel and press Enter
3. Wait just a few seconds for the reliability historical past to load

The interface shows a timeline view with each day reliability scores and numerous occasions marked by icons. Search for the yellow warning triangles and purple X marks — these typically point out software closures, particularly sudden ones.

Studying the Timeline:

The graph exhibits your system’s stability over time, with every day represented as a column. Click on on any day to see detailed occasions beneath:

• Utility failures (packages that crashed or stopped responding)
• Home windows failures (system-level points)
• Miscellaneous failures (driver issues, and many others.)
• Warnings (non-critical occasions)
• Informational occasions (profitable updates, installations)

Professionals and Cons:

Professionals:

• Simple to make use of with no technical information required
• A visible timeline makes it easy to identify patterns
• Exhibits further context like error messages
• No set up wanted

Cons:

• Solely reliably exhibits crashes and errors, not regular closures
• Restricted to the final 30 days of knowledge
• Could not seize all software occasions
• Focuses on issues moderately than common utilization

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Methodology 2: Utilizing Occasion Viewer for Detailed Monitoring

For extra complete software monitoring, Occasion Viewer gives granular particulars about course of begins and stops. This technique requires extra technical experience however provides much more info than Reliability Monitor.

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Proper-click the Begin button and choose Occasion Viewer

2. Navigate to Home windows Logs → Utility
3. Search for occasions with an Occasion ID associated to software crashes or software hangs.

3. For extra detailed course of monitoring, go to Functions and Providers Logs → Microsoft → Home windows → AppModel-Runtime.

Making a Customized View:

To filter out the noise and deal with software closures:

1. Click on Create Customized View in the precise panel
2. Choose By log and select Utility
3. In Occasion IDs, enter: 1000, 1001, 1002
4. Title your view “Just lately Closed Apps“
5. Click on OK to save lots of

Now you’ll have a filtered view that exhibits solely software termination occasions, together with timestamps, course of names, and closure causes.

Superior Filtering Suggestions:

It’s also possible to use PowerShell to question Occasion Viewer extra effectively:

Get-EventLog -LogName Utility -EntryType Error,Warning | 
The place-Object {$_.TimeGenerated -gt (Get-Date).AddHours(-24)} | 
Choose-Object TimeGenerated, Supply, Message

This command exhibits software occasions from the final 24 hours.

Professionals and Cons:

Professionals:

• Extraordinarily detailed info
• Can monitor each regular and irregular closures
• Historic information goes again weeks or months
• Filterable and searchable

Cons:

• Steep studying curve for learners
• Data overload with out correct filtering
• Requires understanding of Home windows occasion IDs
• Time-consuming to arrange initially

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Methodology 3: Activity Supervisor’s App Historical past Tab

Activity Supervisor contains an often-overlooked characteristic that tracks useful resource utilization for purposes over time. Whereas it doesn’t explicitly present when apps had been closed, it gives beneficial utilization statistics that may point out latest exercise.

Accessing App Historical past:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Activity Supervisor
2. Click on Extra particulars if in simplified view
3. Navigate to the App Historical past tab

You’ll see a listing of apps with columns for:

• CPU time
• Community utilization
• Metered community utilization
• Tile updates

Vital Limitations:

This characteristic primarily tracks Microsoft Retailer (UWP) apps, not conventional desktop packages. The info proven represents cumulative utilization because the final reset, not particular classes or closure instances. To reset the statistics, click on “Delete utilization historical past,” however be aware that this motion erases all historic information.

When This Methodology Works Finest:

Regardless of its limitations, Activity Supervisor’s App Historical past proves useful for:

• Monitoring Retailer app utilization patterns
• Figuring out resource-heavy purposes
• Monitoring community consumption over time
• Fast checks with out putting in further software program

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Methodology 4: Home windows Timeline and Current Recordsdata

Whereas Home windows 10 beforehand included a complete Exercise Historical past characteristic with timeline help, Home windows 11 has considerably modified or eliminated this performance in latest updates. Microsoft has been phasing out the Timeline characteristic since 2021. Nevertheless, there are nonetheless methods to trace latest software utilization by way of various built-in options.

What Occurred to Exercise Historical past:

In Home windows 11 model 22H2 and later, Microsoft eliminated the Exercise Historical past settings from the Privateness part. The Timeline characteristic (Home windows + Tab) now solely exhibits presently open home windows and digital desktops, not historic exercise. For those who’re utilizing an older model of Home windows 10 or an early Home windows 11 construct, you might nonetheless see these choices; nonetheless, they’re now not accessible in present variations.

Various: Utilizing Current Recordsdata and Bounce Lists:

As an alternative of Exercise Historical past, you may nonetheless monitor just lately used purposes by way of:

1. File Explorer’s Current Recordsdata:
   • Open File Explorer
   • Click on “Fast entry” within the left sidebar
   • View “Current recordsdata” to see just lately accessed paperwork
   • Proper-click any file to see “Open file location,” which frequently reveals the app used
2. Utilizing the Run command
   • We are able to open the Current recordsdata or used objects utilizing the Run field command
   • For that, press Win + R keys and sort – shell:latest
   • It will open a folder with shortcut icons to just lately used objects on Home windows

3. Bounce Lists on Taskbar:
   • Proper-click any pinned app in your taskbar
   • View just lately opened recordsdata inside that software
   • This works for apps like Chrome, Phrase, Excel, and many others.

4. Begin Menu Current Part:
   • Open Begin Menu
   • Search for the “Really useful” part (if enabled)
   • Exhibits just lately used apps and recordsdata
   • Might be enabled in Settings → Personalization → Begin

For Home windows 10 Customers:

For those who’re nonetheless on Home windows 10, Exercise Historical past may nonetheless be accessible:

1. Go to Settings → Privateness → Exercise historical past
2. Allow “Retailer my exercise historical past on this system”
3. Use Home windows + Tab to view the timeline

Nevertheless, Microsoft has introduced that this characteristic will finally be faraway from Home windows 10 as effectively.

When built-in Home windows options fall brief, third-party utilities supply extra specialised monitoring capabilities. Listed below are probably the most dependable choices I’ve examined over time.

NirSoft LastActivityView

LastActivityView stands out as probably the most simple answer for monitoring software utilization. This free, moveable device creates an in depth log of program executions with out requiring set up.

Key Options:

• Exhibits precise open and shut instances for purposes
• Shows executable paths and descriptions
• Exportable reviews in a number of codecs
• Zero system influence when not operating
• Utterly free with no commercials

Find out how to Use:

1. Obtain LastActivityView from NirSoft’s official web site
2. Extract the ZIP file to any folder
3. Run LastActivityView.exe as administrator
4. The device instantly shows latest software exercise

The interface exhibits columns for course of title, open time, shut time, length, and full path. You may type by any column and export information to CSV, HTML, or XML codecs for additional evaluation.

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Course of Monitor (Microsoft Sysinternals)

For energy customers and IT professionals, Course of Monitor provides real-time monitoring of all system exercise, together with the creation and termination of processes.

Setting Up Course of Monitor:

1. Obtain from Microsoft’s official Sysinternals web page
2. From the downloaded zipped file, extract and run Procmon.exe as an administrator
3. Click on on Present solely course of and thread exercise
4. Allow “Drop Filtered Occasions” to cut back log dimension

Creating Efficient Filters:

• Filter by Operation: Course of Create, Course of Exit
• Exclude system processes to cut back noise
• Save filter units for various monitoring situations

Course of Monitor captures all the pieces, which suggests large log recordsdata if left operating. Use it for focused monitoring classes moderately than steady monitoring.

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DIY Methodology: PowerShell Script for Customized Logging

For full management over software monitoring, create your individual logging system with PowerShell. Right here’s a script I’ve developed and refined for monitoring course of begins and stops:

# Utility Exercise Logger Script
# Saves to C:AppLogsactivity_log.txt

$logPath = "C:AppLogs"
$logFile = "$logPathactivity_log.txt"

# Create log listing if it would not exist
if (!(Check-Path $logPath)) {
    New-Merchandise -ItemType Listing -Path $logPath
}

# Operate to jot down timestamped log entries
operate Write-Log  Out-File -FilePath $logFile -Append


# Monitor course of creation occasions
Register-WmiEvent -Question "SELECT * FROM Win32_ProcessStartTrace" -Motion {
    $processName = $occasion.SourceEventArgs.NewEvent.ProcessName
    Write-Log "STARTED: $processName"
}

# Monitor course of termination occasions
Register-WmiEvent -Question "SELECT * FROM Win32_ProcessStopTrace" -Motion {
    $processName = $occasion.SourceEventArgs.NewEvent.ProcessName
    Write-Log "STOPPED: $processName"
}

Write-Host "Utility monitoring began. Press Ctrl+C to cease."
Write-Log "Monitoring session began"

# Hold script operating
whereas ($true) {
    Begin-Sleep -Seconds 60
}

Putting in the Script:

1. Copy the script to a file with extension .ps1, instance – AppLogger.ps1
2. Run PowerShell as Administrator
3. Execute: Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned (if wanted)
4. Run the script: .AppLogger.ps1

The script creates a textual content log with timestamps for each software begin and cease. You may modify it to filter particular purposes, ship electronic mail alerts, or combine with different methods.

Customization Concepts:

• Add filters for particular purposes
• Embody course of ID and mum or dad course of info
• Ship notifications for sure app closures
• Create a each day log rotation
• Export to database for long-term evaluation

Methodology	Ease of Use	Exhibits Regular Closures	Actual-Time Monitoring	Historic Information	Finest For
Reliability Monitor	Very Simple	Principally crashes/errors	No	30 days	Learners troubleshooting crashes
Occasion Viewer	Medium	Sure (with setup)	No	Months	Tech-savvy customers needing particulars
Activity Supervisor	Simple	Restricted data	No	Basic customers wanting a easy historical past	Monitoring Retailer apps
Exercise Historical past	Simple	Partial	No	Variable	Cross-device monitoring
NirSoft LastActivityView	Simple	Sure	No	Relies on logs	Basic customers wanting easy historical past
Course of Monitor	Superior	Sure	Sure	Session solely	IT professionals and debugging
PowerShell Script	Medium	Sure	Sure	Limitless	Customized logging necessities

Incessantly Requested Questions

Conclusion

Monitoring just lately closed apps in Home windows 11 and Home windows 10 requires some creativity, as Microsoft hasn’t constructed this characteristic immediately into the working system. Nevertheless, as we’ve explored, a number of options exist to satisfy totally different wants and ability ranges.

For learners and informal customers, I like to recommend beginning with NirSoft’s LastActivityView. It’s free, requires no set up, and gives precisely what most individuals want — a easy checklist of when purposes opened and closed. The training curve is just about nonexistent, and it received’t influence system efficiency.

Energy customers and IT professionals ought to contemplate Course of Monitor for real-time monitoring throughout troubleshooting classes, mixed with Occasion Viewer for historic investigation. These instruments present the granular element wanted for severe system evaluation, although they require extra technical information to make use of successfully.

These wanting a center floor may discover the PowerShell script method ultimate. It provides customization with out the complexity of enterprise instruments, permitting you to tailor it exactly to your particular necessities.