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There's nothing more frustrating than a frozen app that just won't close. Fortunately, force quitting the app should solve the problem. This wikiHow will walk you through the different easy ways you can force quit an app on your Mac.
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1
Press ⌘+ ⌥ Option+Esc . The "Force Quit" dialog box will open.[1]
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Click on the app you want to quit.
- The note "(Not Responding)" will appear in red next to frozen apps.
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Click on Force Quit . The app will quit and can be restarted.
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Open the Apple menu. It's the black Apple on icon in the upper-left corner of the screen.
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Click on Force Quit… toward the middle of the menu.
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Click on the app you want to quit.
- The note "(Not Responding)" will appear next to frozen apps.
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Click on Force Quit . The app will quit and can be restarted.
- If your computer is frozen, you may need to restart it.
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Press ⌥ Option on your keyboard.
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Right-click or control-click the application in the Dock.
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Click Force Quit .
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Click on Spotlight. It's the magnifying glass in the upper-right corner of the screen.
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Type "Activity Monitor" in the search field.
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Click on Activity Monitor under "Applications."
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Click on the application you want to quit.
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Click on "Quit Process" in the upper-left corner of the window. This will stop the application from running.[2]
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Open the Terminal utility. By default, this is in the Utilities folder, located in the Applications folder.
- If a normal Force Quit doesn't work, you may need to use this method to end the program.
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Type "top" and press ⏎ Return . The "top" command displays information about the applications that are currently running.
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Find the program you want to close. Under the column titled "COMMAND", find the name of the application you wish to quit.
- The COMMAND list may use a truncated name for the program. Look for a name that looks similar to the program you are trying to close.
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Find the PID (Process ID). Once you find the name of program, find the number to the immediate left of it, under the PID column. Make a note of the PID number.
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Type "q". This will exit the list of applications and return you to the command line.
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Type "kill ###". Replace the "###" with the number from the PID Column you just located. For example: If you were trying to quit iTunes, and found iTunes to have PID number 3703, you would type "kill 3703".
- If the program does not respond to the "kill" command, type "sudo kill -9 ###", replacing ### with the PID number.
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Exit the terminal. The application should quit and you can be relaunched.
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Add New Question
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Question
What do I do if an application is not responding on a Mac?
Gonzalo Martinez is the President of CleverTech, a tech repair business in San Jose, California founded in 2014. CleverTech LLC specializes in repairing Apple products. CleverTech pursues environmental responsibility by recycling aluminum, display assemblies, and the micro components on motherboards to reuse for future repairs. On average, they save 2 lbs - 3 lbs more electronic waste daily than the average computer repair store.
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Expert Answer
You can access the Force Quit option by pressing Command + Option + Escape.
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Question
Can't force quit an application on Mac?
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
It is recommended that you try at least one, if not all, of the five methods for force quitting an application on a Mac as outlined above; one of these has the potential to work. If none of these work, there may be a fault with the app, the operating system or even your computer. It might be worth shutting down, especially if your computer has frozen as a whole, and restarting, to see whether this can make a difference.
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Question
How do I kill an application in Mac terminal?
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
Open the Terminal utility in the Utilities folder, type "top" and press Return. Select the program needing to be closed under the column COMMAND, noting that its name may be shortened. Find the PID - the number to the left of the program's name and note it down. Type "q" to exit and return to the command line, then type "kill ###", using the PID in place of the ###. If it still won't respond, type "sudo kill -9###", again using the PID in place of the ### in this example. More detail and images on this process are found above in this article.
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Question
What do you do when an application is not responding on a Mac?
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
You could try any of the five suggested "force quit" methods outlined above in this article, either to open the "Force Quit" dialog box or to use the Terminal facility.
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Question
When no programs will open, how do I shut down Firefox?
Margaret Althea Elvenshadow
Community Answer
Hold down Command and Option and press Escape.
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Question
What do you do if the force quit menu crashes?
Try using the Terminal & Kill command. If that doesn't work,you can try using the command line as a surefire way to force an app or process to quit by issuing the low-level kill command. Launch the Terminal and type the following command: killall [processname]
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Question
How do I relaunch an application after I force quit it?
Margaret Althea Elvenshadow
Community Answer
If it's in your dock, just click on its icon. If not, click on the magnifying glass in the top right corner of your screen, and search for the name of the application. It should come up. Click on it, and it should open.
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Video
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It is not possible to force quit Finder. If you select Finder, the "Force Quit" button will say "Relaunch".
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Before you click "Force Quit", double check that the application is still frozen. Sometimes the application un-freezes while you bring up the "Force Quit" window.
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Force quitting a running program can cause you to lose any unsaved changes in that program.
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About This Article
Article SummaryX
1. Open the Apple menu.
2. Click on Force Quit….
3. Click on the app you want to quit.
4. Click on Force Quit.
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Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Force-Quit-an-Application-on-a-Mac