How To Force Quit Apps On Mac

Many times it happens that you are busy doing your work on your Mac machine and suddenly it ceases to respond. Even upon trying to close it, you are unable to. To avoid the frustration in such circumstances, Apple has given a feature to force quit apps on Mac whenever they hang.

Why Apps Hang/Freeze?

There are ample reasons behind an app getting unresponsive or freezing. Here are some:

● Incompatible Apps:
Many times, the main reason behind an app freezing is due to compatibility issues. If the app is not compatible with the version of the Mac, it cannot function properly and freezes.

● Buggy Apps:
Cases when there are bugs in the apps also make them unresponsive and do not let them function properly.

● RAM:
Having a handful of RAM on your Mac machine can also be a cause of slow performing app and hence a user may need to force quit application on Mac.

Also Read: Best Mac Cleaner and Optimizer Software

Learn How To Force Quit Application On Mac

How to Force Quit an App on Mac

Now that we are aware of the common reasons behind an app freezing on Mac, lets see how we can force quit applications on Mac and resume normal functioning.

1. Force Quit an App From the Dock

The normal method of quitting any app from the Dock is to right click and simply click on Quit. However, if you want to force quit any app on Mac through the Dock, you must follow the steps below:
● Right-click on the app you want to force quit.
● Hold down the Option key.
● When you hold the Option key, the quit option gets converted to Force Quit. Click on it and force close the app.

2. Force Quit App On Mac Using The Menu Bar:

Another way to force quit a program in Mac is by using the Menu bar. To do this:
● Navigate to the Apple’s main menu from the top-left corner of the screen.
● From the drop-down menu click on Force Quit.
● Clicking on Force Quit will open the applications window from where you can choose and force close applications on Mac.

Also Read: How To Speed Up A Slow Mac Or MacBook

3. Force Quit Application On Mac Using Shortcut:

Another method to force close an app on Mac, when it hangs, or freezes is to do it via keyboard Shortcut.
To do so,
● Press Cmd + Option + escape simultaneously to open the Force Quit Application window on Mac.
● Here, choose the app you want to force close on Mac and then click Force Quit.

4. Use Activity Monitor Ro Force Quit an App:

Activity Monitor on Mac is similar to Task Manager on Windows and keeps a track of all the processes running on the Mac machine.
In order to force quit an app on mac using the Activity Monitor follow the steps below:
● Navigate to the Applications folder Via Finder.
● Select Utilities folder and then click on Activity Monitor.
● Once in Activity Monitor, click on CPU.
● Here you will see the list of all the processes running on your Mac machine.
● Select the app, tap on the Stop button and then finally click on Force Quit.

It is not uncommon to face app freezing or behaving abnormally. While there are many reasons why an app functions abruptly or hangs, there are many workarounds using which you can force close apps on Mac. Using any one of the above-mentioned methods to force quit applications on Mac you can easily resume normal functioning of the apps.