keyboard shortcut to force quit on a mac

Go to Finder-> Applications-> Activity Monitor.

Find it in the default Other folder in the Launchpad.

Sometimes the issue might be harder to get rid of.Īctivity Monitor lets you pinpoint and force them to close when all else fails. The next way to force quit an application on Mac is by using the Activity Monitor.Īlthough rare, there are occasions when the culprit is an underlying background process or task. Just make sure to have the problematic program highlighted so you don’t force quit another one by accident. This method is especially useful if the unresponsive app prevents you from clicking anything in the menu bar or the Dock. That is of course if you’re good at remembering shortcuts. The next and probably easiest way is to use the Mac force quit shortcut - Shift + Option(Alt) + Command + Esc. That’s how you’ll know its not responding. If an app has completely frozen up, instead of Quit, the menu will show the Force Quit option. Here is an example where I force quit Preview on my Mac :

Right-click on the app’s icon in the Dock.

That’s why you should always make sure you have auto-save on.

Note that the device will not prompt you to save your work but will immediately shut the app down. There are several ways to do this, depending on the situation you're in. Now - how to tell your Mac to force quit some apps? Some users may immediately go for the power button to hard reset, however, you should only do this as a last resort.

Click the app name in the top-left corner of the menu bar (next to the apple icon) and select Quit from the drop-down menu (make sure to highlight the app first).

Right-click on the app icon in the Dock and press Quit.

If it doesn’t manage to sort itself out, you should try to close the application on your Mac by the usual means. When an app becomes unresponsive, more often than not, waiting a few seconds should do the trick. Let me teach you how to force quit on Mac How To Force Quit On Mac?

Leave it to Apple to make a literal rainbow-colored ball synonymous with anxiety. Macs are highly regarded for their consistently smooth performance.īut like all things, they aren’t perfect - apps may cause them to freeze up from time to time.Īside from a drop in performance, the definitive sign that the Mac gives you when it’s struggling is the spinning rainbow wheel.

Keyboard shortcut to force quit on a mac