How to get process handle from process name in C#

By FoxLearn 2/11/2025 4:03:57 AM   656
To get the process handle from a process name in C#, you need to use the System.Diagnostics namespace, specifically the Process class.

The System.Diagnostics.Process class provides a method called GetProcessesByName(), which retrieves all processes with a given name. The parameter passed to this method should be the process's name without the .exe extension. Since multiple processes can share the same name, the method returns an array of Process objects, potentially containing more than one process instance.

How to get process handle or process id from running process name in C#?

The Id and Handle properties in the Process class represent the native process ID (PID) and the native handle value, respectively. The Id is a unique identifier for the process in the operating system, while the Handle is a pointer to the native handle associated with the process.

For example, c# get process id by name

// get notepad.exe processes using c# getprocessesbyname
var processes = Process.GetProcessesByName("notepad");
foreach (var process in processes)
{
    // c# get process id
    Console.WriteLine("PID = {0}", process.Id);
    // c# getprocesshandle
    Console.WriteLine("Process Handle = {0}", process.Handle);                
}

In this example:

  • Using Process.GetProcessesByName(processName) to retrieve an array of Process objects that match the given name. If no processes with the specified name are found, it returns an empty array.
  • Next, Use process.Handle property of the Process class gives you a pointer (IntPtr) to the process handle. However, accessing the handle might require elevated privileges depending on the system configuration and the target process.

C# Get Process name

To get the name of a process in C#, you can use the System.Diagnostics namespace and its Process class.

For example, c# process name

// Get the current process
Process currentProcess = Process.GetCurrentProcess();
        
// Get the process name (without the extension)
string processName = currentProcess.ProcessName;
        
Console.WriteLine("Current process name: " + processName);

C# Get Process Id

For example, Get the name of a specific process by its process ID

int processId = 1234; // Replace with the actual process ID
// Get the process by ID
Process process = Process.GetProcessById(processId); // c# get process name by id
// Get the process name (without the extension)
// c# process name
string processName = process.ProcessName;
            
Console.WriteLine("Process name for ID " + processId + ": " + processName);

In these examples:

  • Process.GetCurrentProcess().ProcessName gives you the name of the current process.
  • Process.GetProcessById(processId).ProcessName retrieves the name of a process by its ID.

If you want to get a list of all running processes and their names, you can use Process.GetProcesses().