frida-kill

Apr 22, 2026 00:00:00

frida-kill

Command-line tool for terminating processes on local or remote devices. Accepts a process name or PID as the target.

Prerequisites: frida-tools Python package (pip install frida-tools). For remote/USB targets, frida-server must be running on the target device.

Synopsis

frida-kill [options] <process>

<process> is either a process name (string) or a PID (integer). Use frida-ps to discover available processes and their PIDs.

Device Selection Options

Flag	Description
`-D ID`, `--device ID`	Connect to device with the given ID (obtain IDs via `frida-ls-devices`)
`-U`, `--usb`	Connect to USB-attached device
`-R`, `--remote`	Connect to remote `frida-server` (default host)
`-H HOST`, `--host HOST`	Connect to remote `frida-server` on HOST
`--certificate CERT`	Speak TLS with HOST, expecting CERTIFICATE
`--origin ORIGIN`	Set `Origin` header when connecting to remote server
`--token TOKEN`	Authenticate with HOST using TOKEN
`--keepalive-interval N`	Keepalive interval in seconds; `0` to disable (default: `-1`)
`--p2p`	Establish peer-to-peer connection with target
`--stun-server ADDRESS`	Set STUN server ADDRESS (used with `--p2p`)
`--relay addr,user,pass,turn-TYPE`	Add TURN relay for `--p2p` (repeatable)
`--device-option option`	Override backend-specific option (repeatable)

Global Options

Flag	Description
`-O FILE`, `--options-file FILE`	Text file containing additional command line options
`--version`	Print Frida version and exit

Usage Examples

1# Kill process by PID on a specific USB device
2frida-kill -D 1d07b5f6a7a72552aca8ab0e6b706f3f3958f63e 5029
3
4# Kill process by name on USB device
5frida-kill -U Safari
6
7# Kill a local process by PID
8frida-kill 1234

Typical Workflow

 1# Step 1: List running applications on device to find PID
 2$ frida-ps -D 1d07b5f6a7a72552aca8ab0e6b706f3f3958f63e -a
 3
 4 PID  Name                Identifier
 5----  ------------------  -------------------------------------------------
 64433  Camera              com.apple.camera
 74001  Cydia               com.saurik.Cydia
 84997  Filza               com.tigisoftware.Filza
 94130  IPA Installer       com.slugrail.ipainstaller
103992  Mail                com.apple.mobilemail
114888  Maps                com.apple.Maps
126494  Messages            com.apple.MobileSMS
135029  Safari              com.apple.mobilesafari
144121  Settings            com.apple.Preferences
15
16# Step 2: Kill the target process
17$ frida-kill -D 1d07b5f6a7a72552aca8ab0e6b706f3f3958f63e 5029
18
19# Step 3: Confirm the process is gone
20$ frida-ps -D 1d07b5f6a7a72552aca8ab0e6b706f3f3958f63e -a
21
22 PID  Name                Identifier
23----  ------------------  -------------------------------------------------
244433  Camera              com.apple.camera
254001  Cydia               com.saurik.Cydia
264997  Filza               com.tigisoftware.Filza
274130  IPA Installer       com.slugrail.ipainstaller
283992  Mail                com.apple.mobilemail
294888  Maps                com.apple.Maps
306494  Messages            com.apple.MobileSMS
314121  Settings            com.apple.Preferences
32# Safari (PID 5029) is no longer listed

Notes

On exit, frida-kill produces no output on success; errors are printed to stderr.
Killing an iOS/Android application via frida-kill is equivalent to force-quitting it from the OS.
Device IDs for -D are obtained from frida-ls-devices.
To kill a process by name, pass the exact process name string (e.g., Safari, not com.apple.mobilesafari).