> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://herd.laravel.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Restarting Services

# Restarting Herd Services

It might happen that Herd displays that a service like `CGI-PHP` is not running for a specific PHP version. This can happen if Herd is unable to properly shut down all background services when you close the app.

## Via the GUI

You may force a restart of all Herd services by stopping all running services and starting them again. Under the hood, this stops all existing instances of a service and might even stop services that you've installed separately.

## Via the terminal

To kill all stray services, open Powershell with admin privileges and perform the `taskkill` command for every service that is still running, naming the services.

## Force a shutdown of all Herd services

```shell theme={null}
# Stop main services
taskkill /F /IM php-cgi.exe
taskkill /F /IM nginx.exe

# Stop Pro services
taskkill /F /IM mysqld.exe
...
```

## Restarting the HerdHelper Windows Service

Herd uses a Windows Service to manage your `hosts` file and add or remove domains to this file. If the HerdHelper isn't running, you can not access your sites via their domain.

You can restart the HerdHelper via the system Services window.