Check If A Process Is Running As 32-Bit Or 64-Bit

A Windows Process generally runs In the background, performing tasks dedicated to the objective of the program or service that's responsible for It's execution. Each Process Is assigned a unique PID (Process ID), that can help with debugging and troubleshooting purposes, and operates In either a 32-bit or 64-bit environment. It's Important to Identify It's architecture, so In this tutorial, I will show you how to check If a Process Is running as a 32 or 64-bit.


Before I begin, this Is on the grounds that you have the 64-bit architecture of Windows Installed- as this supports both 32-bit & 64-bit applications/processes, hence either of the two could be running In the background. A 32-bit version of Windows, can only run 32-bit processes, thus there's no point In checking.

So what's the purpose of Identifying the process architecture? Well, perhaps you're planning to upgrade a particular Installed application, or wish to download one that's similar In nature. If the application Is running at It's optimal state without loss of functionality, sticking to the current architecture, makes perfect sense.

As such, I will demonstrate how to check your running processes, by using the good old Windows Task Manager. It's a very straightforward procedure, yet a few parts are unbeknownst to some advanced users. So without further delay, let's get this tutorial started.

Step One:

The first thing you need to do, Is open Task Manager. There are a number of ways to do this, one of which Is to access the Run menu, enter taskmgr and hit OK.

Step Two:

By default, Task Manager will open In the Processes tab. The easiest way to Identify the architecture of each running process, Is to see whether there's anything next to the process name. If there Isn't, It's 64-bit as shown below. You can also see (32-bit) for those operating In that environment.

Step Three:

For a more Identifiable output, click on the Details tab, right-click on Description (or anywhere on the header bar), and hit Select columns.

Step Four:

Now scroll down until you locate Platform, select It's checkbox and hit OK.

Last Step:

As you can see, each process Is now Identified with It's respective architecture, namely 32-bit or 64-bit.

Final Thoughts:

There are many reasons why you'd want to know the architecture that a given process Is operating In, but It's beyond the scope of this article to cover the lot. As per Step Four above, there's absolutely no harm In keeping the Platform column active, so be sure to do so when you've finished reading this article. You'll then have a detailed view with a few clicks of the mouse.