Although macOS is known for its stylish, minimalist design and smooth user experience, it still cannot avoid unresponsive applications. If you are facing such a dilemma and want to know how to force close an app on a Mac, then please continue reading this blog. Here, we will introduce several built-in methods and alternative solutions to you. Finally, if you lose any unsaved work as a result, you can also follow our prompts to retrieve them.
Force closing is manually quitting a program on your Mac when it hangs or causes an issue. You should know that all functions of a frozen application cannot function properly, including the close option. In this case, Force Quit can help you close the application immediately without waiting for it to repair itself, and your computer will return to normal activity.
In general, programs on Mac run stably. However, here are some reasons why they freeze:
Understanding these causes helps you troubleshoot and avoid situations where an application needs to force close.
It is relatively simple, and depending on your preference or the nature of the freeze, there is more than one way to do it. We will look at various ways to force close a hung application.
Best for: Users who don't like window switching and need a quick way out but need the mouse and keyboard to respond.
How do I force quit an application on Mac? This is a simple process, and the most common method is to use the Dock. Here are the steps:
Best for: When your cursor becomes unresponsive due to application freezing
Keyboard shortcuts can help users complete many tasks more efficiently, like how to close frozen applications on Mac. Here is a guide:
Best for: The menu bar is accessible even when the application hangs up.
The Apple menu also allows users to force the closing of an app. Here's how:
Best for: Users who have some computer knowledge and like to check the status of frozen programs.
Activity Monitor is a powerful utility application that shows you real-time detailed information about all the running processes on your Mac, such as the percentage of CPU used and memory consumption. The following steps show how to force close an app in Mac from Activity Monitor:
Best for: Professional technicians who like to control every detail.
Would you like a more challenging solution to how to force quit an app on a Mac? Using the command line can unlock this skill. Here's how you do that:
Best for: You have enabled multi-window mode and there are hung applications
Macs allow users to create multiple desktops to organize their workspace better. However, an app freezing on one desktop can impact others. For this, you can swipe up with three fingers on your trackpad or press F3 to view all open desktops. Once in Mission Control, locate the desktop with the unresponsive app. And then close it using the standard force quit method above.
Best for: When the system cannot work because the program is not responding.
This method can only be used in the most serious situations, which may also cause your system to malfunction or lose data. As a last resort, you can need hold down the power button until the computer shuts down.
While the above solutions are great for quitting a problematic program, they might not always be enough. Whether you are trying to force quit a resource-intensive software or looking for an easier way to manage your Mac's performance, third-party apps may offer a better choice. Here, the following three options can help you force close a program on a Mac while guaranteeing a stable system.
CleanMyMac X is a multi-functional utility that cleans, optimizes and monitors your Mac. It is mainly used as a junk file cleaner and frees up system resources, but you can also use it to force close an application on Mac. To do this, you need to click on the Optimization option on the sidebar and then click View all items > Select the unresponsive application > Click Quit.
iStat Menus can display real-time performance data about Macs in the menu bar and provide extended statistical information related to CPU, RAM, disk usage, and network activity. You can force-quit an application from the menu when it is not responding.
You will find App Tamer useful if you often use resource intensive apps such as video editors, virtual, virtual machines, or complex spreadsheets. It can automatically slow down or pause running apps or processes, freeing up CPU resources for the apps you're using. When you need to close a hung app, you just force quit it from its interface.
If you are dealing with important data and lose your ongoing work due to forced exit, the following methods will be helpful to you.
Large applications like Microsoft Office or Adobe have built-in auto-save functionality to avoid unexpected data loss. If you lose your work because you are forced to quit such applications, just open them again and follow the prompts to recover.
If the program you force quit does not have an auto recovery feature or fails, try ToolGeeker FileRescuer for Mac, which has a unique algorithm designed for recovering unsaved files.
It is necessary for anyone to understand how to force close an app on a Mac. This will not only prevent the situation from getting worse but also keep your computer running smoothly. In addition, please use Activity Monitor from time to time to monitor the status of running applications and regularly use tools to clean up temporary files to effectively prevent such incidents from happening again.
Closing an application is to exit it normally through its built-in close option. When your application is not responding, and you need to terminate it, you will use force close to bypass the normal exit process.
This may cause you to lose unsaved data, as it will terminate the application immediately without allowing it to save any changes. It is recommended that you use this option only when necessary. If you must use Force Quit and files are lost, you can also try FileRescuer to retrieve them.
If that fails, you can try force-quitting the program using Activity Monitor, Terminal, and if necessary, restarting your Mac.
Any unsaved work or changes made in the app since the last save will be lost.
Keeping your system and applications up to date, managing system resources efficiently, and regularly restarting your Mac can help minimize the need to force close apps. Using tools like App Tamer can also help manage resource-heavy applications effectively.
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