diff --git a/act/container/host_environment.go b/act/container/host_environment.go
index 03f453a1..023e3fdc 100644
--- a/act/container/host_environment.go
+++ b/act/container/host_environment.go
@@ -322,6 +322,30 @@ func (e *HostEnvironment) exec(ctx context.Context, command []string, cmdline st
 	cmd.Stderr = e.StdOut
 	cmd.Dir = wd
 	cmd.SysProcAttr = getSysProcAttr(cmdline, false)
+
+	// On Windows a step often launches a process tree (a shell that starts a
+	// child which spawns further GUI or background processes). The default
+	// context cancellation only kills the direct child, leaving the rest of the
+	// tree running; and because the orphans inherit cmd's stdout/stderr pipe,
+	// cmd.Wait() would block forever, hanging the runner. Kill the whole tree
+	// via a Job Object on cancellation, and bound the wait so a leftover pipe
+	// writer can never hang Wait indefinitely.
+	var killer atomic.Pointer[processKiller]
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		cmd.Cancel = func() error {
+			if k := killer.Load(); k != nil {
+				return k.Kill()
+			}
+			if cmd.Process != nil {
+				return cmd.Process.Kill()
+			}
+			return nil
+		}
+		// Once the step process has exited, give its I/O pipes at most this long
+		// to drain before Wait force-closes them and returns (Go's WaitDelay).
+		cmd.WaitDelay = 10 * time.Second
+	}
+
 	var ppty *os.File
 	var tty *os.File
 	defer func() {
@@ -351,6 +375,18 @@ func (e *HostEnvironment) exec(ctx context.Context, command []string, cmdline st
 	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		// Assign the started process to a Job Object so cmd.Cancel can kill the
+		// whole descendant tree. Children spawned afterwards are auto-included.
+		// On failure (e.g. nested-job restrictions) we fall back to the default
+		// single-process kill; WaitDelay + end-of-job cleanup still apply.
+		if k, kerr := newProcessKiller(cmd.Process); kerr != nil {
+			common.Logger(ctx).Warnf("process tree kill setup failed, falling back to single-process kill: %v", kerr)
+		} else {
+			killer.Store(k)
+			defer k.Close()
+		}
+	}
 	err = cmd.Wait()
 	if err != nil {
 		var exitErr *exec.ExitError
diff --git a/act/container/process_other.go b/act/container/process_other.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a08e60b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/act/container/process_other.go
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+// Copyright 2026 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+//go:build !windows
+
+package container
+
+import "os"
+
+// processKiller is a no-op on non-Windows platforms. The Job Object based
+// tree-kill is only wired in on Windows (see exec()); elsewhere the default
+// exec.CommandContext cancellation and Setpgid handling apply.
+type processKiller struct{}
+
+func newProcessKiller(_ *os.Process) (*processKiller, error) { return &processKiller{}, nil }
+
+func (k *processKiller) Kill() error { return nil }
+
+func (k *processKiller) Close() error { return nil }
diff --git a/act/container/process_windows.go b/act/container/process_windows.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7ad61dca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/act/container/process_windows.go
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+// Copyright 2026 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+package container
+
+import (
+	"os"
+
+	"golang.org/x/sys/windows"
+)
+
+// processKiller terminates a step process together with its entire descendant
+// tree via a Windows Job Object.
+//
+// Background: a step often launches a process tree (a shell that starts a
+// child which in turn spawns further GUI or background processes). The default
+// exec.CommandContext cancellation only kills the direct child, so cancelling a
+// job left the rest of the tree running. Because those orphans inherited the
+// step's stdout/stderr pipe, cmd.Wait() also blocked forever and the runner hung.
+//
+// Assigning the step process to a Job Object lets us kill the whole tree
+// atomically on cancellation (TerminateJobObject), which also closes the
+// inherited pipe handles so cmd.Wait() can return.
+type processKiller struct {
+	job windows.Handle
+}
+
+// newProcessKiller creates a Job Object and assigns p (an already-started
+// process) to it. Children spawned by p afterwards are automatically part of
+// the job. The job does NOT use JOB_OBJECT_LIMIT_KILL_ON_JOB_CLOSE, so closing
+// the handle on normal completion does not kill legitimate background
+// processes; the tree is only torn down by an explicit Kill (cancellation).
+func newProcessKiller(p *os.Process) (*processKiller, error) {
+	job, err := windows.CreateJobObject(nil, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	h, err := windows.OpenProcess(windows.PROCESS_SET_QUOTA|windows.PROCESS_TERMINATE, false, uint32(p.Pid))
+	if err != nil {
+		windows.CloseHandle(job)
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer windows.CloseHandle(h)
+
+	if err := windows.AssignProcessToJobObject(job, h); err != nil {
+		windows.CloseHandle(job)
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &processKiller{job: job}, nil
+}
+
+// Kill terminates every process currently assigned to the job (the step process
+// and all of its descendants).
+func (k *processKiller) Kill() error {
+	if k == nil || k.job == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return windows.TerminateJobObject(k.job, 1)
+}
+
+// Close releases the job handle. It does not terminate the processes.
+func (k *processKiller) Close() error {
+	if k == nil || k.job == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	h := k.job
+	k.job = 0
+	return windows.CloseHandle(h)
+}
diff --git a/act/container/process_windows_test.go b/act/container/process_windows_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c06cfbf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/act/container/process_windows_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+// Copyright 2026 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+package container
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"golang.org/x/sys/windows"
+)
+
+// processAlive reports whether pid refers to a still-running process.
+func processAlive(pid int) bool {
+	h, err := windows.OpenProcess(windows.PROCESS_QUERY_LIMITED_INFORMATION, false, uint32(pid))
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	defer windows.CloseHandle(h)
+	var code uint32
+	if err := windows.GetExitCodeProcess(h, &code); err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	const stillActive = 259 // STILL_ACTIVE
+	return code == stillActive
+}
+
+// TestProcessKillerKillsTree verifies that a process assigned to the Job Object
+// is terminated together with a child it spawns afterwards. This mirrors a step
+// that launches a child which spawns further processes, where cancelling the
+// job must take down the whole tree, not just the direct child.
+func TestProcessKillerKillsTree(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	pidFile := filepath.Join(dir, "child.pid")
+
+	// Parent powershell spawns a detached, long-lived child powershell (writing
+	// its PID to a file) and then sleeps. The child is launched AFTER the parent
+	// has been assigned to the job, so it must be captured by the job too.
+	script := fmt.Sprintf(
+		`$c = Start-Process powershell -PassThru -ArgumentList '-NoProfile','-Command','Start-Sleep -Seconds 600'; `+
+			`Set-Content -LiteralPath %q -Value $c.Id; Start-Sleep -Seconds 600`, pidFile)
+	cmd := exec.Command("powershell.exe", "-NoProfile", "-Command", script)
+	require.NoError(t, cmd.Start())
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = cmd.Process.Kill() })
+
+	killer, err := newProcessKiller(cmd.Process)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer killer.Close()
+
+	// Wait for the child PID to be reported.
+	var childPID int
+	require.Eventually(t, func() bool {
+		b, e := os.ReadFile(pidFile)
+		if e != nil {
+			return false
+		}
+		s := strings.TrimSpace(string(b))
+		if s == "" {
+			return false
+		}
+		childPID, _ = strconv.Atoi(s)
+		return childPID > 0 && processAlive(childPID)
+	}, 20*time.Second, 200*time.Millisecond, "child process should start")
+
+	// Killing the job must terminate both the parent and the detached child.
+	require.NoError(t, killer.Kill())
+
+	require.Eventually(t, func() bool {
+		return !processAlive(cmd.Process.Pid) && !processAlive(childPID)
+	}, 20*time.Second, 200*time.Millisecond, "parent and child should both be terminated")
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 3cb863a1..c0a969e2 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/timshannon/bolthold v0.0.0-20240314194003-30aac6950928
 	go.etcd.io/bbolt v1.4.3
 	go.yaml.in/yaml/v4 v4.0.0-rc.3
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.44.0
 	golang.org/x/term v0.43.0
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.11
 	gotest.tools/v3 v3.5.2
@@ -106,7 +107,6 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.50.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/net v0.53.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/sync v0.20.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/sys v0.44.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/warnings.v0 v0.1.2 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 6c013146..1689762f 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 code.gitea.io/actions-proto-go v0.4.1 h1:l0EYhjsgpUe/1VABo2eK7zcoNX2W44WOnb0MSLrKfls=
 code.gitea.io/actions-proto-go v0.4.1/go.mod h1:mn7Wkqz6JbnTOHQpot3yDeHx+O5C9EGhMEE+htvHBas=
-connectrpc.com/connect v1.19.2 h1:McQ83FGdzL+t60peksi0gXC7MQ/iLKgLduAnThbM0mo=
-connectrpc.com/connect v1.19.2/go.mod h1:tN20fjdGlewnSFeZxLKb0xwIZ6ozc3OQs2hTXy4du9w=
 connectrpc.com/connect v1.20.0 h1:6TNDAB+WeNd2uolWNlYczB5E0KNNaVMNUEx8JEUsPmQ=
 connectrpc.com/connect v1.20.0/go.mod h1:A2ygJrukXwWy32vkCAAHNVguZrqZ+jeZ9rGRnGR4dN4=
 cyphar.com/go-pathrs v0.2.3 h1:0pH8gep37wB0BgaXrEaN1OtZhUMeS7VvaejSr6i822o=
@@ -149,8 +147,6 @@ github.com/opencontainers/go-digest v1.0.0 h1:apOUWs51W5PlhuyGyz9FCeeBIOUDA/6nW8
 github.com/opencontainers/go-digest v1.0.0/go.mod h1:0JzlMkj0TRzQZfJkVvzbP0HBR3IKzErnv2BNG4W4MAM=
 github.com/opencontainers/image-spec v1.1.1 h1:y0fUlFfIZhPF1W537XOLg0/fcx6zcHCJwooC2xJA040=
 github.com/opencontainers/image-spec v1.1.1/go.mod h1:qpqAh3Dmcf36wStyyWU+kCeDgrGnAve2nCC8+7h8Q0M=
-github.com/opencontainers/selinux v1.14.1 h1:a7XlXV/nN/l5zFP1FWZYoExpClu1QOPMfWUV2CZ8kEQ=
-github.com/opencontainers/selinux v1.14.1/go.mod h1:LenyElirjUHszfxrjuFqC85HIeXZKumHcKMQtnaDlQQ=
 github.com/opencontainers/selinux v1.15.0 h1:4Gs40e/R2FvM8PC1HPaPncLLaDor8Y2WDfk5gjU9o5M=
 github.com/opencontainers/selinux v1.15.0/go.mod h1:LenyElirjUHszfxrjuFqC85HIeXZKumHcKMQtnaDlQQ=
 github.com/pjbgf/sha1cd v0.6.0 h1:3WJ8Wz8gvDz29quX1OcEmkAlUg9diU4GxJHqs0/XiwU=