5 Ways To Force Quit Apps On Your Mac.
Although most applications on your Mac will never cause any problems, as they are known to be stable, at any moment something can go wrong and the applications can start to malfunction on your computer. In such cases, even the default application close options stop working.
Some of the common symptoms of an application freezing include the application not responding to your actions, not closing even when dragging windows, and other unpleasant behavior.
The best thing to do when an app stops responding on your Mac is to force close the app. The Mac operating system has several built-in ways to force close applications on your computer. These methods will shutdown unresponsive applications so they no longer interfere with other applications on your computer.
Force quit apps with Apple Dialog
One of the easiest ways to close unresponsive applications on your Mac is to use the built-in force close dialog on your computer. Your Mac comes with this feature, which lists all open applications on your Mac. Then you can select the apps you want to force close and they will do their job for you.
There are two ways to access this dialog box on your Mac. You can use a keyboard shortcut or use the Apple menu to open a dialog box.
To open the dialog from the Apple menu, simply click the Apple logo in the upper left corner of the screen and select Force Quit from inside the application window.
To open a dialog box using a keyboard shortcut, press Command + Option + Esc at the same time. A dialog box will open.
You will find a list of all running applications on your Mac. Select the application that is not responding and you want to force quit and click the button that says Force Quit.
The selected app or apps will be forcibly closed on your Mac.
Force quit the current application with a keyboard shortcut
The above method allows you to force close any of the running applications on your Mac. But if you only want to force quit the app you’re currently in, you can do so without opening the force quit dialog on your Mac.
While in the application window, simultaneously press Command + Option + Shift + Esc on your keyboard. This will force you to close the application you are currently in on the Mac.
Remember that the keyboard shortcut does not ask you for permission to close the application. Therefore, if you have unsaved work and the application allows you to save it, do so before pressing the keyboard shortcut to exit the application.
Force close apps from the Dock
It’s also easy to use and you can force close your application with one click. Those of you who like to use the Dock to launch and manage applications will love this method.
Find the app you want to force close in the Dock on your Mac.
Once you’ve found the app, hold the Option key on your keyboard, right-click the app in the Dock, and select the option labeled Force Quit.
The dock will forcefully close the selected application on your Mac. Again, you won’t receive an invitation, so make sure you don’t close an app where your work isn’t saved.
Use Activity Monitor to kill your apps
Activity Monitor on Mac is similar to Task Manager on Windows PC. This allows you to view all running applications as well as their processes on your computer. To use this utility to kill an application, all you have to do is locate the process related to the application in question and then kill it.
Completing the process will close the application on your Mac. Here’s how to do it on your computer.
Launch Activity Monitor in any way you like on your Mac.
When it starts, make sure you are on the CPU tab. In the list of applications on the screen, find and double-click the one you want to force close. Alternatively, you can select an application from the list and click the X at the top.
A dialog box will open on your screen. Click the Sign Out button below.
Click “Force Quit” on the next screen to force quit the app on your Mac.
Activity Monitor ensures that the application is terminated so that it no longer remains active on your computer.
Force an application to terminate from the terminal
If you enjoy performing tasks from Terminal, you’ll be glad to know that you can also force close applications from your favorite command line editor.
There is a command that you can run from Terminal to kill any running application on your Mac.
The first thing you need to do is find the PID of the application you want to force close. Launch the Terminal application on your Mac, type the following command and press Enter.
top
You will get a list of all running processes on your system. Take a look at the column labeled COMMAND and find the app you want to force close. Then write down the PID number next to the application name.
Press the q key on your keyboard to exit the process list. Then enter the following command, replacing the PID with the actual PID of the application you want to close and press Enter.
kill PID
Terminal will kill the application that matches the entered PID on your Mac.
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