microsoft / microsoft/calculator
Multiple instances of app don't appear as separate processes in Task Manager
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- C#
- Stars
- 31.1k
- Forks
- 5.8k
- PR merge metrics
- No merged PRs in 30d
Description
Problem Statement
Calculator supports multiple windows today, but they are all part of a single process. This means that a crash or hang in one instance brings down all instances and that it is not possible to terminate individual instances via Task Manager.
Evidence or User Insights
Terminating one instance will shut down all.

Proposal
Instead of handling multiple views of the app within a single process, we should use the new platform APIs to enable an app to be multi-instance. That will allow instances to be tracked in Task Manager, and if one instance crashes the other instances will remain alive.
Goals
- Refactor current multi-window architecture to leverage platform APIs and enable true multi-instance Calculator
- Maintain existing reliability/performance targets
Non-Goals
- None
Low-Fidelity Concept
N/A
Requested Assignment
I'm just suggesting this idea. I don't want to implement it.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by locating the current multi-window architecture and the entry points that create or manage Calculator windows. Read the platform multi-instance API documentation alongside that code, then define how separate processes should be launched and tracked while preserving existing reliability and performance targets.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- csharp
- Domain
- desktop, operating-systems
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 20/100