If an application freezes on your Mac computer, here we cover 4 ways to help you force quit the app on Mac. To recover lost data or mistakenly deleted files on a Mac computer, MiniTool software provides a professional Mac data recovery program.
When a program is not responding on your Mac computer, you can force quit the app to close it on Mac. How to do it? In this tutorial, we introduces 4 ways to help you force quit Mac.
How to Force Quit an App on Mac – 4 Ways
Normally you can shut down an application on Mac by clicking Quit from the app menu bar, or you can press Command + Q key on the keyboard at the same time to close the app.
If you can’t close the app in the normal way, you can try the 4 ways below force an app to quit on Mac.
Method 1. Force Quit Mac Keyboard Shortcut
Is there a Ctrl + Alt + Delete Mac function to help force quit applications on Mac?
Unlike Windows, Mac computer doesn’t use the typical Ctrl + Alt + Delete keyboard shortcut to force close a program. The equivalent keyboard shortcut keys to open the Force Quit window on Mac is Command + Option + Esc.
Step 1. You can press Command + Option + Esc keys simultaneously on Mac to open Force Quit Applications dialog.
Step 2. Choose the app that doesn’t respond in Force Quit Applications window, and click Force Quit button to force quit the app on Mac.
Method 2. How to Force Quit on Mac from Apple Menu
Step 1. You can also click Apple icon at the top-left corner of Mac screen and select Force Quit from the Apple menu to access Force Quit Applications window.
Step 2. You can see the list of all running applications in Force Quit window. Find the frozen application and click it. Then hit Force Quit button to close it on Mac.
Method 3. How to Force Quit on a Mac with Activity Monitor
We know that the Ctrl + Alt + Delete shortcut is used to open the Task Manager window. There is a similar alternative on Mac to monitor and end unresponsive process in task manager Mac. This alternative to Windows Task Manger is called Activity Monitor.
You can force kill an app on Mac using Activity Monitor.
Step 1. Open Activity Monitor on Mac. You can press Command + Space key at the same time to open Activity Monitor. You can also click the Spotlight icon at the upper-right corner of Mac screen, and type activity monitor to open it.
Step 2. Click the app you want to close, and click the X icon at the top-left corner to force a process to quit on Mac.
Method 4. Mac Force Quit with Dock
You can find the app icon in the Dock at the bottom of the screen. Press the Option key on the keyboard and right-click the app icon in the Dock. The Quit option in the list would turn to Force Quit. Click Force Quit to force the application to shut down on Mac.
At last, if Force Quit Mac is not working, you can force restart Mac computer.
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