ContextCleaner: see every entry in the Windows 11 right-click menu, and which app added it — on the Microsoft Store.
Guided workflow variation

Fix EADDRINUSE on Windows—without touching netstat.

You ran npm start and hit a wall of red text. The port is taken. Something is squatting on it, and Node refuses to start. Port Detective finds the culprit process instantly and lets you kill it in one click.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Full PortDetective overview
One-time purchase No telemetry Local-first

windows · native Rust · free + one-time Pro · no telemetry

If this sounds like your week

The error that derails your flow state.

EADDRINUSE means another process already bound to the port your dev server needs. On Windows, the standard fix is a multi-step CLI ritual: run netstat to find the PID, cross-reference it with tasklist to identify the process, then manually taskkill it. One wrong PID and you terminate the wrong application entirely.

Where tooling usually breaks

Three commands, two context switches, one chance to get the PID wrong.

Every time you copy-paste a PID from netstat output, you are one digit away from killing the wrong process. PIDs are recycled by Windows—the number you see in one terminal might belong to a completely different process by the time you type taskkill in another. And if you have multiple Node instances, good luck parsing that wall of text to find the right one. This is a problem you solve five times a week. It should take five seconds, not five minutes.

Details

Details 
> npm start
Error: listen EADDRINUSE: address already in use :::3000

# The "fix" most Stack Overflow answers suggest:
> netstat -ano | findstr :3000
  TCP    0.0.0.0:3000    0.0.0.0:0    LISTENING    14532
> tasklist /FI "PID eq 14532"
  node.exe    14532    Console    1    45,032 K
> taskkill /PID 14532 /F

Where PortDetective lands

Type the port number. Click kill. Ship your code.

Port Detective gives you a live, searchable table of every listening port on your machine. Type "3000" and instantly see which process owns it—with the full executable path, not just a PID. Kill it with a single click using cryptographically verified Process Tokens, so you never terminate the wrong app. The free edition includes 5 one-time kills to try the workflow (they do not reset); Port Detective Pro unlocks unlimited kills plus the background Port Guard watchdog. The EADDRINUSE error disappears, your dev server starts, and you are back in flow in under five seconds.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Compare free vs Port Detective Pro

windows · native Rust · free + one-time Pro · no telemetry

What you get

Feature highlights

Free

live listening-port visibility with process name, PID, and executable path, instant port lookup, and 5 free kills to try safe token-guarded termination.

Pro — Unlimited safe kills

end any rogue process in one click, guarded by a secure Process Token so you never terminate a recycled PID.

Pro — Port Guard

a native system-tray daemon watches your critical ports every 250 ms and can auto-kill an intruder and relaunch the right owner.

Pro — Full stack visibility

every TCP and UDP connection across IPv4 and IPv6, smooth even with thousands of connections.

Pro — Remote & Docker aware

scan VMs, Docker bridges, and network servers, and map host ports back to the container and image that published them.

Pro — Power workflow

Ctrl+K command palette, deep parent/child process inspection, connection-history timeline with CSV/JSON export, and per-port notes with backup/restore.

Both editions

native Rust, typically under 50 MB RAM, signed, no telemetry, no account wall — one-time Pro purchase on the Microsoft Store, no subscription.

Especially when

  • Find what process is using a port on Windows before you kill the wrong service
  • Resolve EADDRINUSE and listening-port conflicts without juggling netstat, tasklist, Task Manager, and Resource Monitor
  • Keep critical local ports protected from rogue processes with an always-on watchdog (Pro)
  • Map Docker host ports to containers and scan remote hosts during developer and IT troubleshooting (Pro)
Trusted by pragmatic desktop users

Built for people who prefer tools that stay local.

Real workflows: focus timers that stay visible, batches that never leave the disk, and renames you can rewind.

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Free vs Pro editions

Free vs Pro

Start free. Upgrade when you want the active layer.

Both editions are native Rust, signed, and telemetry-free. Pick the free finder or unlock the full toolkit with a one-time Pro purchase.

Recommended

Pro

Port Detective Pro

One-time

One-time purchase · Perpetual license · No subscription

Get it from Microsoft

Everything in Free, plus the active layer: Port Guard, remote & Docker scans, deep inspection, and exportable history.

Free

Port Detective

Free

No account · No telemetry · Microsoft Store

Get the free edition

The everyday port finder: see what is listening, who owns it, and 5 kills to try safe termination.

CapabilityFree Pro
Live listening-port viewer with process name, PID & pathIncluded in FreeIncluded in Pro
Instant port lookup (type a port, get the process)Included in FreeIncluded in Pro
Safe, Process-Token-guarded kills5 free killsUnlimited
TCP + UDP across IPv4 and IPv6Not in FreeIncluded in Pro
Port Guard watchdog (250 ms) with auto-remediationNot in FreeIncluded in Pro
Remote scans of VMs, Docker bridges & serversNot in FreeIncluded in Pro
Docker host-to-container port mappingNot in FreeIncluded in Pro
Deep parent/child process inspectionNot in FreeIncluded in Pro
Connection-history timeline with CSV / JSON exportNot in FreeIncluded in Pro
Per-port notes with backup & restoreNot in FreeIncluded in Pro
Ctrl+K command palette & copy-as-commandNot in FreeIncluded in Pro
Get it from Microsoft Get the free edition

Our Core Moat

Engineered to respect your system boundaries.

System Resource Monitor (Idle State Comparison)
Automata Labs low idle memory footprint compared to generic Electron applications

Lightweight Native Stack

Compiled Rust core wrapped inside an optimized Tauri shell. No heavy background node loops or duplicate Chromium engines cooking your memory footprint (<25MB idle RAM).

100% Local-First Privacy

Executes entirely on-device with full offline isolation. Absolute zero background telemetry policies, no metrics aggregation, and zero mandatory cloud-sync accounts.

Perpetual Fallback Licenses

Pay a single, clear one-time purchase price. Own your specific native software utility execution tier permanently without artificial subscription paywalls or ongoing usage tax.

FAQ

Straight answers—no glossary dump

What does EADDRINUSE mean?

EADDRINUSE is a Node.js error code that stands for "Error: Address Already In Use." It means another process on your machine has already bound to the TCP port your application is trying to listen on. The port must be freed before your server can start.

How do I find which process is using a port on Windows?

The traditional method is running "netstat -ano | findstr :PORT" in PowerShell, then cross-referencing the PID with "tasklist." Port Detective replaces this workflow with a live searchable table that shows the process name, executable path, and PID for every listening port.

Is it safe to kill a process using a port?

Killing the correct process is safe, but PID recycling on Windows means the PID you copied from netstat might belong to a different process by the time you run taskkill. Port Detective uses Process Tokens to cryptographically verify the target process identity before termination, eliminating this risk. The free edition includes 5 one-time kills (they do not reset) so you can try this safely; Port Detective Pro unlocks unlimited kills.

Why does EADDRINUSE keep happening on port 3000?

Port 3000 is the default for React (Create React App), Vite, Next.js dev servers, and many other tools. If a previous dev server crashed without releasing the port, or if you have multiple projects running, the port remains occupied. Port Detective Pro's Port Guard daemon can monitor and alert you to these conflicts in real time.

Does Port Detective work with WSL?

Port Detective monitors ports on the Windows host. Since WSL2 uses a virtual network adapter, ports forwarded from WSL to the Windows host will appear in Port Detective. For ports only bound inside the WSL VM, you would use Linux-native tools within the WSL terminal.

Related pages

Something's on port 3000. Find it. Free it. Get back to work. A modern alternative to TCPView, built for today’s developer workflow. Kill the right process. Not the one that recycled its PID. Find what’s using the port. Instantly. No terminal required.

Stop debugging your OS.
Start shipping your code.

Find the process on any port and kill it safely with the free edition. Port Detective Pro adds the active layer — a background Port Guard watchdog, remote and Docker-aware scans, deep process inspection, and exportable history. One-time purchase, no subscription, no telemetry.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Open full product page

Technical specifications

Technical specifications for procurement

Spec Implementation
Data Sovereignty Port and process data stays on the workstation; core features make no external network calls and no cloud dashboard is involved
Telemetry Status None; signed builds, no telemetry
Core Runtime Native Windows app built entirely in Rust (Tauri 2); typically under 50 MB RAM
Network Requirements Local inspection is fully offline; remote scans and Docker mapping are user-initiated outbound actions, not telemetry
Deployment Compatibility Windows 10 and 11; free edition plus one-time Pro purchase on the Microsoft Store
Free edition Live listening-port viewer, instant lookup, token-guarded safe kills
Pro — Port Guard Tray daemon polls watched ports every 250 ms with optional auto-remediation
Pro — Coverage TCP + UDP across IPv4/IPv6, remote scans, Docker host-to-container mapping
Pro — Workflow Ctrl+K palette, process lineage, connection history + CSV/JSON export, per-port notes