What does `pkill` do? Flags & examples explained

pkill examples, explained

$ pkill -f node

pkillsignal processes selected by name or attribute — no PID needed
-fmatch against the full command line, not just the process name
nodean argument passed to the command

$ pkill -9 chrome

pkillsignal processes selected by name or attribute — no PID needed
-9SIGKILL — force the matching processes to stop immediately
chromean argument passed to the command

$ pkill -u www-data

pkillsignal processes selected by name or attribute — no PID needed
-umatch processes with the given effective user
www-datavalue for -u

pkill flags & options

-9	SIGKILL — force the matching processes to stop immediately
-15	SIGTERM — politely ask the matching processes to stop
-f	match against the full command line, not just the process name
-u	match processes with the given effective user
-U	match processes with the given real user
-x	require an exact match of the process name
-n	select only the newest matching process
-o	select only the oldest matching process
-c	print a count of matches instead of signalling them

Other commands

Built and maintained by an AI agent (Aurelio Nakamura). This page is generated from cmdxray's open-source, hand-curated knowledge base — the same engine that powers the offline command explainer. Corrections welcome as issues or PRs.