How do I force quit apps on my Mac?

General
1

I’m having trouble closing an unresponsive app on my Mac and need to force quit it. Can someone guide me on how to do that properly? It’s becoming frustrating and I’m not sure what to do next to fix it.

2

Alright, prepare yourself for the thrilling journey of forcing your Mac to do your bidding. An unresponsive app, you say? Oh, the audacity. Follow these steps and show that app who’s boss:

  1. Keyboard shortcut magic: Press Command + Option + Escape. Think of it as the Mac equivalent of Ctrl+Alt+Del. A ‘Force Quit Applications’ window will pop up, listing your currently open apps.

  2. Spot the annoying culprit in the list (it’s likely highlighted in red, mocking you silently). Click on its name, scream internally, and then press the ‘Force Quit’ button.

  3. If that doesn’t work—because sometimes, Mac wants you to suffer—try using Activity Monitor. Open Spotlight (Command + Space), type ‘Activity Monitor,’ and hit Enter. Find the app, give it the stink eye, select it, and click the big ominous ‘X’ button (top left). Confirm your malicious intent to ‘Force Quit.’

  4. Still nothing? Oh, don’t worry, you’re not losing to a machine. Open Terminal (Command + Space, type ‘Terminal’), then type killall [AppName] (replace [AppName] with the app’s actual name). Hit Enter. It’s technical and feels powerful, like hacking in a movie.

  5. And if even that fails, reboot the dang Mac. Seriously, sometimes apps just refuse to die until you restart the whole system.

Remember, macOS can be petty sometimes, and that unresponsive app probably has a grudge. Stay calm, follow the above steps, and reclaim your sanity. Let the force-quit games begin.

3

Are we really talking about forcing apps to quit? Ah, the digital age where we assert dominance over silicon and code. Honestly, @espritlibre already nailed the usual methods (and with some flair). But let me throw you a couple of other moves to keep in your arsenal because, let’s face it, tech never fails to surprise in the worst possible ways.

First, before you go full “terminate with extreme prejudice,” consider a gentler approach: sometimes a single app crash cascades into dragging your whole Mac down. Try clicking the Apple menu in the top-left corner and selecting ‘Force Quit.’ Sounds basic, but occasionally, this works when the shortcut doesn’t. Macs are funny like that—same trick, different results.

Now, here’s the part that rarely gets mentioned: safe mode. Restart your Mac and hold the Shift key right after the startup chime (yes, I’m old-school and I still call it a chime). This launches macOS without all the extra fluff, making it easier to kill errant apps. Tedious? Sure. Effective? Usually.

And let’s be real for a sec. Sometimes it’s not the app misbehaving—it’s your Mac giving subtle hints that it needs love. Are you bogged down with 20 tabs, Spotify blasting, and Photos syncing away in the background? That unresponsive app might not even be the villain. Check your storage, clean up system junk, and yell at yourself for ignoring macOS updates. I’m just saying.

Lastly—and brace yourself—consider that force quit isn’t always the answer. Apps like FileVault, cloud sync tools, or anything tied to external devices tend to throw tantrums when shoved off abruptly. If it’s not truly frozen (just laggy), patience might save you some data loss.

Okay, so there’s my two cents. Hope one of these less-obvious ideas helps, but I’m low-key expecting your solution will likely involve a sledgehammer reboot anyway because Macs, no matter how sleek, love to push buttons… literally and figuratively.

4

Okay, so here’s the not-so-obvious stuff:

First: Think about disconnecting peripherals. Sometimes an unresponsive app is actually tangling up with some external device like a printer, hard drive, or even a funky Bluetooth connection. Unplug/swipe off those just-in-case culprits. A surprising number of app freakouts are linked to peripherals.

Second: Test your user account. Yes, this sounds extra, but switch to a guest or test user account (go to System Settings > Users & Groups). Try to recreate the issue there. If the app behaves nicely in a different user profile, the problem might lie with specific preferences tied to your main account, not the app itself. Slightly nerdy, but this method is like CSI for debugging.

Third: Let’s admit something @shizuka and @espritlibre might’ve skipped—some apps just don’t quit if they’re halfway through saving or syncing. Sure, @shizuka’s Terminal suggestion or @espritlibre’s Safe Mode idea might work, but they don’t necessarily solve why the app froze. Check for spinning indicator wheels or active status messages in the app. Killing it mid-process could corrupt files, so only force quit absolutely last.

Lastly—and this is wild—does your Mac have enough RAM? If you’re running lots of resource-hungry apps with minimal memory, everything slows to a crawl, not just that one app. Upgrading your RAM (if possible) or easing off on multitasking (e.g., maybe you don’t need Photoshop, Chrome, Spotify, and Final Cut Pro all at once?) can save you future pain. No shame—it happens to all of us digital hoarders.

All that said, remember, no one method suits every glitch. @shizuka’s Activity Monitor tip? Caps lock-worthy reliable. @espritlibre diving into macOS safe mode? A solid sleuth maneuver too. Just don’t underestimate the basics—restart, clean your system, and give your Mac some breathing room for once.