How to force quit apps on Mac

Force closing applications in macOS is quite simple. Just go in and learn how to do it.

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Despite the fact that for almost any type of work, probably on more than one occasion you will have come across that some applications have been completely frozenwith no possibility of closing them or doing anything inside them.

If the application still does not respond after a few minutes of waiting, it is likely that something has happened and it is hanging. The quickest solution to get out of this situation is to force close the app in question, and that is what we come to teach you today.

How to force quit an app on Mac

There are several methods to force close . Of course, they are interchangeable, and whenever you can’t use one, you always have the possibility to use the other. Just keep reading and follow the steps which we will leave you below.

Method 1: The fastest way to force close an app on Mac

This is the fastest method. If an app is having trouble on your Mac, all you have to do is press the Option key and right-click the application icon in the Dock.

You will see that an option appears that reads “Force Exit“. Tap it and the app will magically close. This is the quickest and easiest method, but in case you can’t get it to work at any point, we’ll leave several more below.

Method 2: If the first one doesn’t work…

There is a second method to force close an application on Mac. You just have to follow these instructions to make it:

  1. Click on the Apple logo in the menu bar.
  2. Select the option “force exit” of the list.
  3. A list of applications will open in a window. Unresponsive applications will be marked with the message “does not answer” to the side, so you’ll know which one it is.
  4. Touch the app, and then click “force exit“.
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Method 3: Force close apps on your Mac using Activity Monitor

Another of the ways that exist to close apps that present problems on your Mac is using the Activity Monitor. The monitor will allow you to force close of these apps that are causing problems on your computer.

First, you have to enter ‘Applications‘ and then to the ‘Utilities’ folder:

  1. open the app Activity Monitor.
  2. Find the name of the application you want to close under the ‘Process Name’ list. Also you can search for it using the tool search in the upper right corner.
  3. In case the app is not responding, the tag “does not answer” will appear next to your name.
  4. Select the app and tap the button (x) in the top left-hand corner.
  5. In a new window, the system will ask you if you want to close the application, force it to close or cancel. Choose “Force closing“, option that will close the application immediately.

Keep in mind that force quitting, no matter which method you followed, could cause you to lose the most recent app data. Also, if any of the other applications depend on this process, it is quite likely that they will start to present problems if you force the exit However, a reboot should be enough to fix it.

You should have regained control of your Mac by now. If the app still keeps crashing for no apparent reason, try updating it from the App Store or running your device. This should fix the issues, and if it doesn’t, at least you now know how to reset the apps on your Mac.

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