I wrote about [how to check which application is using which port](https://veerasundar.com/blog/how-to-check-which-application-is-using-which-port/) a long time ago. I was using command line tools then to find out the ports.

Now after a decade, I am using a much simpler way tp find the ports of my servers running locally.

## Using Resource Monitor to find out port

1. Go to Windows `Start` menu, type in `Resource Monitor` and then open the application.
2. Once opened, go to  `Network` tab.
3. You will see the below window.

![Windows Resource Monitor](/img/resource-monitor-port.png)

The `Resource Monitor / Network` shows all the running process and their corresponding listening ports, along with the number of bytes sent and received by this process.

## Killing a process that's running on specific port

Say if you want to kill an application server that is listening to specific port, but you don't know which application server was it. You can use `Resource Monitor / Network` for this.

For example, I want to kill the node process that's listening on port 3000. In the above screenshot, I can see that the node process with PID 8672 is running on port 3000. Now, I can find this process with PID 8672 in the `Processes with Network Activity` panel at the top and then right click on process name. Now, I will have the option to  either `End process` or `End process tree` which both will kill the current process.

Hope this article helped you to find the application that was running on a port and then kill it if necessary.




How to see which application is using which port in Windows


<Notification>
  There's an updated article on{" "}
  <a href={"/blog/how-to-see-which-application-using-which-port-windows-gui/"}>How to see which application is using which port in Windows</a> that talks about the GUI for checking ports.
</Notification>

Today I found an easy way to check which application is using which port in my system. Here I'm sharing the steps. These steps are applicable for the **Windows Operating System**.

## Checking which application is using a port:

1.  Open the command prompt - **start → run → cmd** or **start → All Programs → Accessories → Command Prompt.**
2.  Type `netstat -aon | findstr '[port_number]'`. Replace the _[port_number]_ with the actual port number that you want to check and hit enter.
3.  If the port is being used by any application, then that application's detail will be shown. The number, which is shown at the last column of the list, is the PID  (process ID) of that application. Make note of this.
4.  Type `tasklist | findstr '[PID]'`. Replace the _[PID]_ with the number from the above step and hit enter.
5.  You'll be shown the application name that is using your port number.

## Checking which port is being used by a application:

This is exactly the reverse of the above steps.

1.  Open the command prompt - **start → run → cmd** or **start → All Programs → Accessories → Command Prompt.**
2.  Type `tasklist | findstr '[application_name]'`. Replace the _[application_name]_ with the application that you want to check (for example, apache) and hit enter.
3.  Make note of the PID (second column) from the details shown.
4.  Type `netstat -aon | findstr '[PID]'`. Replace the _[PID]_ from the above step and hit enter.
5.  You'll be shown the application detail and the corresponding port to which it is listening.


How to check which application is using which port


If you've installed both [XAMPP][1] and Skype in you system and wondering why the things are not going well when you run these two applications simultaneously, then you are not alone. There are a good number of folks who are complaining about this conflict between XAMPP and Skype. The reason behind this is simple - both Skype and XAMPP by default uses the same port number 80. So, when you start one application first and the other application later, there will be port conflict and the second application will fail to work properly.

[1]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/xampp-apache-mysql-php-perl-environment-in-windows "XAMPP - Apache, MySQL, PHP, Perl environment in Windows"

So, how to fix it? Easy. Change the port number of XAMPP server or disable the usage of port 80 in Skype. To do the first one you can check out my earlier post [How to change XAMPP server port][2]. To disable the port 80 in Skype, follow below steps:

[2]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/how-to-change-xampp-server-port "How to change XAMPP server port?"

1.  Start Skype.
2.  Go to **Tools >> Options >> Connections**.
3.  Uncheck the use of Port 80 as an alternative port.

And, you are done!


XAMPP conflicts with the Skype port


Follow these steps to change the XAMPP server port number:

1.  Stop the XAMPP server, if it is running already.
2.  Open the file **[XAMPP Installation Folder]/apache/conf/httpd.conf**.
3.  Now search for the string `Listen 80` (I'm assuming that your XAMPP was using the port 80. Otherwise, just search for the string 'Listen'). This is the port number which XAMPP uses. Change this 80 to any other number which you prefer.
4.  Then search for the string `ServerName` and update the port number there also.
5.  Now save and re-start XAMPP server and you are done.

## Why do we need to change the port number?

Because, these days, it is very common that a web developer needs to have multiple web servers running, all at the same time. For example, an XAMPP server can be used to run the local WordPress blog, while a JBoss server also needs to be up for testing a java web applications. In such scenarios, if two or more servers are trying to use the same port number, then the late comer will fail to get the port. So, it becomes necessary to change any one server's port number to avoid the conflict.


#port (4)