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

Find what’s using the port.Instantly. No terminal required.

Your dev server won’t start. Something is already on port 3000, 8080, or 5432. Port Detective shows you exactly which process owns any port on your Windows machine—with auto-tagged labels for Vite, React, Postgres, MySQL, and dozens more.

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

You just want to start your dev server.

You open your project, run the start command, and get an error. The port is taken. Now instead of writing code, you are debugging your operating system. Which process is it? Is it a leftover from your last session? A background service? Another project you forgot to stop? On Windows, answering this question means opening PowerShell and running commands most developers have to look up every single time.

Where tooling usually breaks

The answer is always five clicks and two commands away.

Task Manager does not show ports. Resource Monitor shows ports but is buried in the Performance tab behind two extra clicks, and its interface was designed for IT ops, not developers. netstat works but gives you PIDs instead of process names. Every path to the answer requires multiple steps, context switching, and translating between identifiers. Meanwhile, your hot reload is waiting, your terminal is blocked, and your momentum is gone. This happens multiple times per week for most developers working on more than one project.

Where PortDetective lands

Known Ports: your dev stack, auto-identified.

Port Detective’s Known Ports dictionary automatically recognizes and labels common development tools. Port 3000 shows "Vite / React Dev Server." Port 5432 shows "PostgreSQL." Port 6379 shows "Redis." You do not need to memorize port numbers or cross-reference PIDs—the app tells you what is running in plain language. Open Port Detective, glance at the table, and know exactly what is using every port on your machine. Time from launch to answer: under two 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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Customer review 02

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Customer review 03

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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

How do I check what process is using a port on Windows?

You can use "netstat -ano | findstr :PORT" in PowerShell and then "tasklist /FI PID eq <number>" to identify the process. Port Detective provides a faster alternative: open the app, type the port number, and instantly see the process name, path, and PID in a searchable table.

What is using port 8080 on my Windows machine?

Port 8080 is commonly used by web servers, API backends, and development proxies. Tools like Spring Boot, Tomcat, and various Node.js frameworks default to 8080. Port Detective's Known Ports feature auto-identifies the specific tool using the port so you don't have to guess.

What is using port 3000 on Windows?

Port 3000 is the default for many JavaScript development servers including React (Create React App), Vite, Next.js, Express, and Ruby on Rails. If your dev server can't start on port 3000, a previous instance likely didn't shut down cleanly.

Why can't Task Manager show which ports a process is using?

Task Manager is designed for process and performance monitoring, not network diagnostics. It shows CPU, memory, and disk usage per process but does not include network socket information. Resource Monitor (resmon.exe) has a Network tab with port info, but it is not optimized for quick port lookups.

What ports do common dev tools use?

Common defaults: React/Vite (3000 or 5173), Next.js (3000), Express (3000), Angular (4200), Django (8000), Spring Boot (8080), PostgreSQL (5432), MySQL (3306), Redis (6379), MongoDB (27017). Port Detective's Known Ports dictionary includes these and many more, auto-labeling them in the interface.

Related pages

Kill the right process. Not the one that recycled its PID. You can't harden what you can't see listening. Something's on the port. Find it. Free it. Get back to work. Something's on port 8080. Find it. Free it. Get back to work.

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