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

Free in WSL. Taken in Windows.Same port, two stories.

Port Detective shows the real owner of the port on the Windows host — including the wslrelay/wslhost forwarders that make WSL2 ports look like ghosts — so you stop guessing which stack to blame.

Port Detective shows who really owns the port on the Windows host — wslrelay/wslhost forwarders included — so WSL2 ports stop looking like ghosts. Pro adds IPv4 + IPv6 in one list.

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 port looks free in WSL — and Windows still says it's taken.

With WSL2 (especially mirrored networking), a port can be bound on the Windows side, the Linux side, or a forwarded path between them. You run `ss -ltnp` inside the distro, see nothing, switch to Windows, and `the process holding the port` still refuses to bind. The two network views disagree and you're stuck translating between them.

Where tooling usually breaks

Two networking stacks, one port number, zero clear answers.

`netstat` on Windows and `ss` in the distro show different worlds, and `wslrelay`/`wslhost` bindings make it worse. You end up guessing which side owns the port, killing things on both, and hoping. That's not debugging — that's superstition.

Where PortDetective lands

One Windows-side view of who actually holds the port.

Port Detective shows the real owner on the Windows host — including the `wslrelay`/`wslhost` forwarders that make WSL ports look like ghosts — with the process name and path, not just a PID. You stop guessing which stack to blame. Pro adds IPv4 + IPv6 in one list (the 127.0.0.1-vs-[::1] split that hides half the WSL story) so nothing about the port stays invisible.

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)

Who benefits

Real-world scenarios

The mid-sprint context switch

You alt-tab from a call, run your dev server, and it dies on the port. A crashed instance from an hour ago never let go of the socket, and your flow state goes with it.

You type the port into Port Detective, see the zombie process by name, and end it with one guarded click. Back in your editor in under ten seconds — no terminal archaeology.

The three-repo afternoon

You're juggling several services and two of them want the port. You can't remember which repo is already running, and Task Manager has no port column to tell you.

Port Detective's live list shows exactly which executable and path owns the port, so you stop the right one instead of killing blind. Pro lets you pin the ports you care about so the clash is flagged before it bites.

The port that keeps coming back

You free the port, start your app, and ten minutes later a background service has grabbed it again. You're playing whack-a-mole with the same socket all day.

Port Detective Pro's Port Guard watches the port every 250 ms and can auto-end an intruder and relaunch the right owner — so the port you reserved stays yours without you babysitting it.

Deep dive

Why WSL2 ports look bound on one side and free on the other

WSL2 runs in a lightweight VM with its own network namespace. Depending on your networking mode (NAT vs mirrored), a listener can live inside the distro, on the Windows host, or be bridged by `wslrelay`/`wslhost`. `ss` inside the distro and `netstat` on Windows are looking at different stacks, which is why they disagree about the port.

Port Detective reports the Windows-host view authoritatively — including the relay processes — so you always know whether to act on the Windows side. Pro shows IPv4 and IPv6 together, because the 127.0.0.1-vs-[::1] split is where half of these "phantom" WSL bindings hide.

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

the port is free inside WSL but taken on Windows. What gives?

WSL2 has its own network namespace, and `wslrelay`/`wslhost` can bridge ports to the Windows host. `ss` in the distro and `netstat` on Windows see different stacks. Port Detective reports the Windows-host owner authoritatively so you know which side to act on.

Is it safe to kill the process — and will I kill the wrong one?

That's the real risk with the manual approach: Windows recycles PIDs, so the number you copied from netstat can point at something else by the time you run taskkill. Port Detective verifies process identity with a Process Token before it ends anything. The free edition includes 5 of these safe kills to try; Port Detective Pro makes them unlimited.

What does Port Detective Pro add over the free edition?

Free is the everyday finder: live port list, instant search, process name and path, and 5 one-time safe kills (they don't reset). Pro unlocks unlimited kills and the active layer — a Port Guard watchdog that re-frees a port every 250 ms, TCP + UDP across IPv4/IPv6, remote and Docker-aware scans, deep process inspection, exportable connection history, per-port notes, and a Ctrl+K palette. One-time purchase, no subscription, no telemetry.

Is Port Detective local-first, and how do I get it?

Yes — it reads your machine's own networking stack with no account, no cloud, and no telemetry for core use, and installs from the Microsoft Store. The free edition and Port Detective Pro are both listed there.

Related pages

Free in WSL. Taken in Windows. Same port, two stories. Something's on port 3000. Find it. Free it. Get back to work. Something's on the port. Find it. Free it. Get back to work. Something's on port 5001. 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