We don't have to activate anything in order to stop a workflow. You could try to use some PowerShell commands to cancel workflows as a workaround if you can't stop it in UI.
PowerShell:
Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$web = Get-SPWeb "http://your-sharepoint-site-url"
#Get the List
$list = $web.Lists["Your-List-Name"]
#Get the specific workflow, Associated with the list
$WorkFlowToCancel = "your workflow name"
# Iterate through all Items and all Workflows on Items
foreach ($item in $list.Items)
{
foreach ($wf in $item.Workflows)
{
#Check for the particular workflow
if( ($wf.ParentAssociation.Name -eq $WorkFlowToCancel) -and ($wf.IsCompleted -ne $true) -and($wf.StatusText -ne "Canceled" ))
{
write-host "Previous workflow status:" $wf.InternalState
#Cancel Workflow
[Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow.SPWorkflowManager]::CancelWorkflow($wf)
write-host "Workflow Cancelled at $($list.title)! "
}
}
}
For Reference: Cancel Workflows in SharePoint using PowerShell
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