Do you encounter a frozen app on your Mac and can’t quit it normally? That spinning beach ball makes you crazy? Instead of just sitting and getting more frustrated, force quit an app that’s not responding. Thankfully, you’ve got options to close the unresponsive apps.

Close Apps from the Force Quit Window. This is a must-have for every Mac user. From any screen, you can simply use ‘Command + Option + Esc’ keyboard shortcut to open up the Force Quit Applications menu. Select the app name using cursor and use the force quit option from the bottom to close the app. The chosen app or apps will be forcibly closed on your Mac. Force Quit Current App With A Keyboard Shortcut. The above method lets you force quit any of the running apps on your Mac. But if you would like to only force quit the app you are currently in, you can do so without opening the force quit dialog box on your Mac. Your selected app will be force closed. 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. Find the app you want to force quit in the Dock of your Mac.

We’ve prepared five Mac force quit ways, so you can pick the one that works best for you. Moreover, we’ll tell you how to prevent the programs from hanging and what to do if your whole Mac stops responding.

• Quit current app. You can use Command + Option + Shift + Escape to force the currently active app to quit, just hold the sequence down for a few seconds. Control-Option-click (Ctrl-Alt-Click) an app icon on the Dock and you should see the Force Quit option appear, tap it to Force Quit the app.
• Or choose Force Quit from the Apple menu in the top left-hand 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.
• Next, click on the unresponsive App in the Application Manager and then click on the blue Force Quit button to close the unresponsive app. Depending on the App that you are quitting, you may see a pop-up asking to confirm that you do want to Force Quit the App. Tap on the blue Force Quit button to quit from the unresponsive App. Force Quit Apps On Mac Using Apple Menu Bar.

How to Force Quit Mac Applications

Force quit from the Apple menu

Here’s how to force quit an app from the Apple menu:

1. Click on the Apple logo in the top left corner of your screen.
2. Select Force Quit.
3. Choose the app that’s not responding.
4. Click on the Force Quit button.

Force quit from the Dock

If you wonder how to force quit an app on Mac using the Dock, check out these simple steps:

1. To open the dock menu, right-click on the application icon you want to shut down or click on the item and hold.
2. Hold an Option (Alt) button, so the Quit menu changes to Force Quit.
3. Click Force Quit.

As simple as that!

Force quit using the keyboard shortcut

Alternatively, you can use a force quit Mac shortcut to close an unresponsive app. Do the following:

1. Press and hold the following keys: Command + Option + Esc.
2. Select the program you want to quit from the dialogue box.
3. Click Force Quit.

This method of force quit command Mac is especially useful if your mouse cursor is lagging a bit.

Force quit using the Terminal

If you prefer a command line method to solve the problems, you can quit an unresponsive app via Terminal. Here’s what you should do:

1. Launch the Terminal.
2. Type the following command: killall [application name]. For example, if Safari isn’t responding, type killall Safari.
3. Click Enter. Your application will be shut down immediately.

Note that the killall command works at the system level and the auto-save option doesn’t work. Be careful not to lose your unsaved data.

A better way to force quit apps — CleanMyMac X

A smart maintenance app like CleanMyMac X has a problem of force quit on Mac covered. You can easily force quit program on your Mac with an Optimization utility. It has a special Hung Applications tool that allows to identify and fix the unresponsive app right away.

A direct access saves you time and allows to fix a frozen app in a matter of seconds. CleanMyMac also takes care of other performance issues, so if you want to get alerts when something goes wrong on your Mac, download CleanMyMac X for free and give it a try.

Fixing an app that hangs frequently: Short tips

You may notice that a particular app freezes quite often. It is natural to assume that there is something wrong with that application. But don’t worry, there are a few things you can do to fix the hanging app.

First of all, update an app to the latest version. App developers are constantly working on improvements, trying to deliver the best experience to users. The latest update may resolve all problems with the freezing app.

The next step is to clear the app’s cache, especially if you use it frequently. If there’s not enough free storage, a program won’t run smoothly. Once you delete the cache files, an app may start working normally.

You may also try to delete an app and reinstall it. Usually it resolves the problem of a frozen app.

How To Force Quit An App In Mac Os

What to do when your Mac freezes

Typically it’s just an app that hangs, but on rare occasions the Mac may freeze entirely and become completely unresponsive to anything. This is often accompanied by fans that work quite loudly, demonstrating a fully frozen Mac. To solve the problem, you need to shut down your computer and boot it again.

Here’s how to force reboot your Mac:

1. Hold down the Power button until your Mac shuts down completely. This may take about 5 seconds.
2. Wait a few seconds and then hit the Power button again to boot the Mac.

As you may presume, this method is not perfect. Any unsaved information may be lost due to the sudden shutdown. However, sometimes it’s the only way to make your computer running.

That’s it. We hope this guide has helped you to force close Mac app that’s not responding. Keep in mind, with regular maintenance, your computer will be at tip-top shape, running at its best. And software like CleanMyMac X can help you keep an eye on your Mac. It can reset and delete apps, free up RAM, clean up the system, take care of the startup programs that slow down your computer, and speed up your Mac with its maintenance scripts. And that’s what will help you avoid problems with frozen apps on your Mac.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

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Although it is very rare, Mac users face the spinning ball kind of app freezing issue on their computer as well. Despite having such good configuration, you might have already encountered with such problem when your PC stopped working like usual. Like Windows, you need to close the non-responding application to fix the issue and run your Mac like nothing happened. Therefore, you should check out this article to know the best ways to force quit apps on Mac. No matter whether you have MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, you can certainly follow this tutorial and fix the frozen application issue.

#1: Use General Panel

How To Force Quit An App On Mac Without Mouse

There is a simple method that can be used to force quit apps on MacBook Pro as well as MacBook Air. It is quite easy, and most of the people use this method only to get the job done. The good thing is there is no need to use any third-party software or anything else since it can be done with the help of in-built options. However, in this case, you need to use the trackpad or mouse.

At first, click the Apple logo visible on the top-left corner of your screen or navigation bar. Here you can find an option called ‘Force Quit.’

Click on this option. It should open the Force Quit Applications panel. Mac app integrate google tasks. Now, you can choose an app, and click the Force Quit button.

How To Force Quit An App On Mac Terminal

That selected will be closed forcefully.

#2: How To Force Quit An App On Mac Without Mouse

If your trackpad or mouse pointer is frozen along with the application, and you want to force quit an app on Mac without mouse or trackpad, here is what you can do. This is same as the previous trick. In other words, you need to use a keyboard shortcut to open the Force Quit Applications panel. The keyboard shortcut is Option+Command+Esc. You need to press these three buttons together.

After that, the corresponding panel would appear. Now, you need to select the app using up/down arrow. If you want to close the selected app, hit the Return button.

Then you need to confirm the whole thing.

#3: Use Option Key

Force Quit Imac

Option or Alt key plays a vital role in various cases, including this one. You can force quit an application without opening the Force Quit Applications window. All you need to do is to use the Option key on your keyboard. In this case, you need to use mouse s well as keyboard to get the job done.

To use this method, make sure you are on the frozen app window. After that, press and hold the Option key. Now right-click on the app icon in the Dock. Here you should find an option called Force Quit. Use this option to force quit apps on Mac.

#4: Force Quit Apps On Mac Using Terminal

If you cannot force quit apps on Mac using those aforementioned methods, you can do the same with the help of Terminal. Like Command Prompt on Windows, Terminal is an in-built program for Mac. Being said that, you do not need to install anything to use Terminal. To close a running process using Terminal, you need to follow this method.

Open the Terminal first. After that, type ‘Top’ and hit the Return button. Following that, find out the corresponding PID number of the running process that you want to close.

Return to the Command Prompt panel, and type a command like this-

kill PID

The process will be closed immediately.

#5: Use Activity Monitor To Force Quit All Apps on Mac

You can use the Activity Monitor tool to force quit apps on Mac. No matter how many apps are frozen, you can certainly close them all with the help of Activity Monitor. This tool is mainly designed to check all the running processes and some system-related background processes.

To utilise this tool, you need to open it first. Following that, select the process that you want to kill. After selecting, click the close button. Here you can find two options, i.e. Force Quit and Quit. You need to use the Force Quit option to get the job done.

That’s all! These are some of the best methods to force quit apps on Mac. However, many people ask whether it is bad to force quit apps on Mac or not. The answer is yes and no. If you are working on a document in the Pages app and you force quit the app, your work won’t be saved. It would be deleted immediately. On the other hand, if you do not kill the app, you need to stay with a concurrent spinning ball.