How to Quit an Unresponsive App on a Mac: Step-by-Step Guide

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Force an unresponsive application to quit with these easy methods
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Force-quitting a frozen application on your Mac is an easy fix. This wikiHow will walk you through the different easy ways you can force quit an app on your Mac with some expert tips from computer and phone repair specialist Gonzalo Martinez.

Ways to Force Quit Apps on a Mac

Press Option/Alt + Cmd + Esc to force quit the active application on your Mac. You can also click the Apple menu and select Force Quit… , then the unresponsive application, to force it to close down as well. If you prefer, you can also Ctrl-click on the unresponsive app in the Dock and select Quit .

Method 1
Method 1 of 5:

Using a Keyboard Shortcut

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  1. The "Force Quit" dialog box will open. According to Martinez, you can use the Option key on either side of the spacebar. [1]
    • If your Mac has a Touch Bar, look for the Esc key on the left side of the Touch Bar. [2]
  2. The note "(Not Responding)" will appear in red next to frozen apps.
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  3. The app will quit and can be restarted.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 5:

Using the Apple Menu

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  1. It's the black Apple on icon in the upper-left corner of the screen.
  2. It's toward the middle of the menu.
  3. The note "(Not Responding)" will appear next to frozen apps.
  4. The app will quit and can be restarted.
    • If your computer is frozen, you may need to restart it.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 5:

Using the Dock

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  1. Control-clicking is how Mac users can right-click (sometimes called a secondary click).
  2. The app will quit after a few moments and can be restarted.
    • If the app isn't unresponsive, you'll see an option that says Quit instead of Force Quit .
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Method 4
Method 4 of 5:

Using Activity Monitor

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  1. It's the magnifying glass in the upper-right corner of the screen.
  2. Search for "Activity Monitor" and click on the result to open it.
  3. Your open applications are listed in the left hand sidebar.
  4. It looks like an octagon with an X in the middle. Select Force Quit from the menu that pops up. This will stop the application from running.
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Method 5
Method 5 of 5:

Using Terminal

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  1. 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.
  2. The “top” command displays information about the applications that are currently running.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
    • It may be difficult to spot the PID you want since the processes will shift around in the list.
  5. This will exit the list of applications and return you to the command line.
  6. 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.
  7. The application should quit and can be relaunched.
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Expert Q&A

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  • Question
    What do I do if an application is not responding on a Mac?
    Gonzalo Martinez
    Computer Specialist
    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.
    Gonzalo Martinez
    Computer Specialist
    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?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    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.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
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  • Question
    How do I kill an application in Mac terminal?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    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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      Tips

      • 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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      Warnings

      • Force quitting a running program can cause you to lose any unsaved changes in that program.
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      References

      1. ↑ Gonzalo Martinez. Computer & Phone Repair Specialist. Expert Interview. 30 March 2021
      2. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/102586
      3. ↑ Gonzalo Martinez. Computer & Phone Repair Specialist. Expert Interview. 30 March 2021

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      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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