Similar to Task Manager in Windows, Macs also have a “task manager” - it’s called Activity Monitor. Or you can simply press the keyboard shortcut – Option + Command + Esc to perform the action) Close the Application from Activity Monitor Select the application that is unresponsive and tap “Force Quit”.Force quit is the system forcing the program to be shut down when the program itself will not do so on its own. Quit is the program shutting down in it’s normal fashion. There is a difference between quit and force quit. You will be directed to a new window called “Force Quit Application” Matthew, force quite does not appear as an option when right clicking on programs in the doc.Select the application you want to shut down. You will be directed to the new window named Force Quit Application listing all the apps you have open on your Mac. From the drop-down list, click the Force Quit option. Click the Apple icon in the upper-left corner To force quit an application, simply do the following: Click on the Apple logo ( Apple menu) at the upper left corner of your screen.This is the most efficient and convenient way to close frozen applications on a Mac. This will force shut the applicationįorce Quit an App on macOS Use the Apple Menu or Keyboard Shortcut Right-click the unresponsive app > choose End Task.Browse the list of running apps and locate the app that isn’t responding Use the Dock to Force Quit Applications: Press the Option key on the keyboard or use right-click on the application present in the dock.Launch Task Manager by right-clicking the Taskbar and selecting Task Manager.You can also use Task Manager to force quit applications that are unresponsive. If you see an app reaching 100% CPU usage, it means that the application is running very high and likely hogging all sorts of memory (this can sometimes be the cause of frozen programs). Task Manager does many things one of its features allows you to see system resource usage of a running program.
#HOW TO FORCE SHUT DOWN PROGRAMS ON MAC WINDOWS#
Use the Task ManagerĮvery application running on Windows is listed in the Windows Task Manager. This combination of keys tells the operating system to terminate the currently active window. The most common way to close an unresponsive app on Windows is to use the keyboard shortcut of Alt + F4.
Force Quit an App on Windows Use your keyboard Now right-click on the app icon in the Dock. After that, press and hold the Option key. With that said, here are a couple of methods to force quit on Windows and macOS, respectively. To use this method, make sure you are on the frozen app window. However, when you force-quit, you may end up losing data or files - we’ve all had this happen! Thus, it is important to “save often” and use this method only as a last resort. When you close an application in the traditional way, you may be prompted to save your work before closing. Now, while force-quitting may be the easiest option, it can lead to unwanted consequences. Posted in: Apple, Microsoft or Windows, Tech Tipsįorcing a frozen application to quit in Windows and macOS is sometimes the only way get out of an unresponsive program.