How to Force Quit an Application on a Mac. This wikiHow teaches you how to quit an application that has stopped responding on your Mac. Open the Apple menu. It's the black Apple on icon in the upper-left corner of the screen. 2.) In the “Force Quit Applications” window that appears, click the name of the app you want to quit. 3.) Click the “Force Quit” button. 4.) You’ll be prompted to confirm that you wish to force quit the app, warning that you will lose any unsaved changes in the app. Click the “Force Quit” button in the new prompt. Or choose Force Quit from the Apple menu in the upper-left corner of your screen. (This is similar to pressing Control-Alt-Delete on a PC.) Then select the app in the Force Quit window and click Force Quit. You can even force the Finder to quit, if it stops responding: Select Finder in the Force Quit window, then click Relaunch.
Ok, I get it. There is no equivalent to the PC’s Ctrl+Alt+Del shortcut on a Mac® to force quit an application. So how do I quit that annoying program that’s not responding?
Luckily, Apple® has you covered and gives you multiple options. The shortcut actually exists, and moreover, there are a few other extremely convenient ways to fight buggy apps. Today I’m going to list three easy ways to force-quit an application on a Mac, without harming the system.
Let’s dive in!
Is it Safe to Force Quit?
Forcing a frozen application to quit is the same as killing the symptoms when we get sick versus curing the virus. We need to see the bigger picture and understand what causes the problem and how to cure it while understanding how to avoid it from happening again.
The number one reason we have a problem with frozen applications in a Mac is insufficient RAM—or, in other words, a lack of computer memory to operate the system compared to the number of applications you usually open (including those numerous open tabs in a browser). So anytime your system utilizes all of its existing resourses to run the task, it becomes unresponsive. Think of RAM like a physical workbench. The more space (memory) you have to work, the more projects you can have out to work on. Less space? Less ability to work on multiple things at once.
Forcing Mac to quit the application does resolve the problem but may have downsides. When you close an application in the traditional manner, it will clean everything it runs in the background and alert you to save the work. When you force close on Mac, you may end up losing files and data, or mess things up on the drive. Although the effect will only be related to that one particular application that got stuck, sometimes it can hurt.
Using a smart app like Parallels Toolbox can help you to free up unused memory on the fly and prevent the applications from getting frozen over and over again. The package includes over 30+ useful apps for everyday needs that any Mac user will benefit from, including downloading videos and music from sites like YouTube, taking screenshot or record videos, optimize your Mac performance, free up extra space and so much more.
Paperless office apps mac. You can download Toolbox and try it out for free here (no registration needed).
1. Force Quit Using the Apple Menu
The most conventional and effective way to close frozen programs is to go to the macOS® menu bar, located along the top of the screen in the Finder menu.
To force quit an application, simply do the following:
If you don’t know which application is stuck, pay attention to the ones that have the note “Not Responding.” This usually appears next to frozen applications.
2. Force Quit with Mac Shortcut
To do the same thing but faster, use Mac shortcut keys to close frozen applications.
This could be your go-to method if the mouse or trackpad is lagging.
3. Close Application from Activity Monitor (Ctrl+Alt+Del Alternative)
Here’s the pinnacle of this article.
Very few Apple owners know that macOS provides an almost identical alternative to the traditional PC Control+Alt+Delete shortcut—and does it better. Yes, we all know that in Windows that keyboard shortcut is often used to open the Task Manager window. (To be honest, it’s needed too often, which is why we’re on a Mac.) From Task Manager, you can track applications, services, performance, and processes, and kill some of them when they’re unresponsive.
You can easily do all of that and more on the macOS native application called Activity Monitor.
To kill an application using Activity Monitor, do the following.
1. On your keyboard, press Command + Space, or click on Spotlight in the top-right corner of the screen.
2. In the “Spotlight Search” window, start typing “Activity Monitor.”
How To Force Quit And App Mac Download
3. Once Activity Monitor is highlighted, hit Enter.
Mac Force Quit Keystrokes
4. In the Activity Monitor processes list, select the application you want to quit and click “Force a process to quit” in the left corner.
What to Do If Force Quit Isn’t Working?
If all the applications stop responding and you can’t quit them using one of the methods described above, you can force your Mac to restart. To do so, press and hold the Control+Command+Power buttons.
Alternatively, you can force Mac to shut down by pressing and holding the power button, or use one of the many other shortcuts.
What’s the Solution?
Since your Mac doesn’t have enough space to run all those applications you need, the most obvious step would be to increase the RAM. If you own an iMac® or the older generation of MacBook Pro®, you can simply buy memory and upgrade your existing computer. With the new Mac generation, you don’t have that option anymore because the RAM is glued and soldered to the motherboard. You either buy a new computer or struggle.
Alternatively, you can clean your memory to free up space using Parallels® Toolbox. Parallels designed a tool set for macOS and PC users to efficiently manage their computer with just a few clicks—without any professional knowledge needed. Within the application (which is available to try for free), you can easily free up unused computer memory, clean your drive, and help your Mac run at max speed with a dozen other useful utilities.
If you’re interested in learning how easily one click can save precious disk space, check out how much space I took back with the Parallels Toolbox tool Clean Drive:
In one click (and about 10 seconds), I successfully removed 4 GB of clutter and reclaimed space on my hard drive.
So there you have it. Take care of your Mac with those quick tips, and remember to always save your work!
by Sophie GreenUpdated on 2019-12-25 / Update for Mac OS
If your Mac apps stop responding or if they stay stuck at some point no matter what you do, it might be helpful to learn how to force quit an app on Mac. This way, you can force your apps to close no matter what they are doing and what their current status is. It helps you get rid of your unresponsive apps so you can focus and work on the ones that you actually want.
There are actually multiple ways to force quit an app on Mac. You can use any of the available methods to force an app to close, and regardless of which method you go for, they all ultimately do the same thing.
If you have any unsaved work in any of the apps that you are force closing, you might not want to close the app as this will make you lose your work. However, if you do not have any other option, then you can proceed to exit the app on your Mac.
Part 1. 5 Easy Ways to Force Quit an App on Mac
As said earlier, you have multiple ways to force quit an app on your Mac and here we show all of the available methods to do the task. You will want to use the one that you think is the best and most convenient for you. Here are some of the ways on how to force quit an app on a Mac.
1. Force Quit an App on Mac Using Keyboard shortcut
The easiest way to forcibly quit an app on a Mac is to use a keyboard shortcut. By just pressing the combination of three keys on your Mac, you can easily get rid of an app that is stuck on your screen for hours.
The keyboard shortcut for force quitting an app is Command + Option + Esc. While you are inside the app that you want to force quit, simply press these keys at the same time and the app will be forced to close.
2. Force Quit an App on Mac from Apple MenuHow To Force Quit And App Mac Os
Another way to force close an app on your Mac is to use the default Apple menu on your system. It is located at the top part of your screen letting you access various system functions of your Mac.
Using the menu to close an app is pretty easy and the following is how do you force quit an app on Mac using this Apple menu.
Your selected app will be force closed.
How To Force Quit And App Mac Download3. Force Quit Mac App from Dock Panel
In addition to letting you launch apps, the Dock on your Mac also lets you force quit apps on your Mac. All you basically have to do is select the app, choose an option, and your app will be force closed.
4. Force Close Frozen App on Mac via Activity Monitor
How to copy from imolview app to mac. Activity Monitor helps you keep a tab on your Mac's activities and you can use it to force close apps as well. If you have been wondering 'how do I force quit an app on Mac', this should answer it for you.
5. Force Close Frozen App on Mac Using Terminal
Terminal lets you force quit apps as well and the following shows how to do it.
Part 2. What Happens when Force Quit Doesn't Work on Mac?I tried option-cmd-esc, clicking force quit on the app, activity monitor and terminal. I read that sometime restarting helps, but it won't even do that. Everything works fine, except I can't shut down my laptop or use the app.
If force closing an app does not work for some reason for you, you can try force rebooting your Mac to see if that helps fix the issue.
Click on the Apple logo at the top and select Restart to reboot your Mac.
One More Tip: Best Mac Data Recovery Software – 2020
One of the issues you could come across while force closing is an app is losing your data. If this has already happened to you, you might want to do something to recover your lost data. There is a good app for that called Tenorshare 4DDiG for Mac Data Recovery that helps you recover files on your Mac. It comes with the following features in it:
The following shows how you can use it on your Mac.
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Your files are now recovered.
Conclusion
How would you quit/exit a program that is frozen or not responding on a Mac computer? Is one of the most asked questions by Mac users. The above guide aims to answer the question and offers some of the ways to fix stuck apps on your machine. And Tenorshare 4DDiG for Mac Data Recovery is highly recommended if you want to recover data from Mac even if your Mac won't turn on, or get dead, crashed.
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