Have you ever had an application freeze or become completely unresponsive on your Mac? I‘ve been there too. As a long-time Mac user and repair technician, I know first-hand how frustrating a crashed app can be when you‘re trying to get work done.
In this comprehensive guide, you‘ll learn what to do when an app refuses to quit normally on your Mac. Specifically, we‘ll cover:
- Common reasons apps become unresponsive and how to avoid it
- Multiple methods to force quit apps with step-by-step instructions
- How to identify problematic apps causing system slowdowns or crashes
- Expert troubleshooting tips to prevent issues before they start
- Answers to frequently asked questions on force quitting best practices
Let‘s dive in and finally conquer those annoying app hangs and freezes on your Mac!
Why Apps Sometimes Misbehave on Your Mac
Before learning how to force quit apps, it helps to understand exactly why apps start misbehaving in the first place. As a technician, the vast majority of Mac issues I see involve software problems versus hardware failure.
There are two primary causes of app crashes, freezes, or general unresponsiveness:
Bugs in the app code: Particularly after an update, bugs can inadvertently get introduced causing crashes or odd behavior. Developers rush to patch these bugs, but relying on older app versions leaves you vulnerable.
Over consumption of system resources: Apps use your Mac‘s CPU, memory, disk space, and graphics card to run. When resources are maxed out from too many app processes, the entire system slows and potentially locks up.
So while hardware failure is uncommon, you may encounter these preventable software issues:
| App Issue | Main Cause | Typical Remediation |
|---|---|---|
| Repeated crashes/freezes | Buggy app code | Update app or uninstall/reinstall |
| Beachballing during tasks | Maxed out CPU or memory | Force quit unused apps |
| Slow performance | Disk space >90% full | Free up disk space |
The key is properly maintaining your apps and system resources to prevent most problems upfront. But despite your best efforts, app issues do occur, leading to the dreaded lock up and unresponsiveness.
This is when the mighty force quit comes to the rescue!
Force Quit Keyboard Shortcuts for Each Mac OS
When your Mac is totally frozen, opening menus to force quit the usual way is impossible…or is it?
MacOS contains a keyboard shortcut designed just for these situations to force quit the frontmost unresponsive app, no mouse clicks required!
Let‘s review the specific keyboard combinations by MacOS version:
| MacOS Version | Force Quit Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Monterey 12 | Command (⌘) + Option + Esc |
| Big Sur 11 | Command (⌘) + Option + Esc |
| Catalina 10 | Command (⌘) + Option + Esc |
| Mojave 10 | Command (⌘) + Option + Esc |
| High Sierra 10 | Command (⌘) + Option + Esc |
| Sierra 10 | Command (⌘) + Option + Esc |
As you can see, the force quit keyboard shortcut has remained consistent for quite some time.
Let‘s walk through using this handy shortcut when an app hangs:
- Attempt normal app close methods – Click the X or Quit option in app menus
- Verify app is frontmost frozen app – Switch between apps if needed
- Press the keyboard shortcut Command + Option + Esc
- Check if issue resolved – App will force quit immediately
- Repeat if other apps freeze – Use shortcut multiple times if necessary
Easy as that! The keyboard shortcut route has some notable upsides vs. the Apple menu method covered next:
| Keyboard Shortcuts | Apple Menu |
|---|---|
| Faster access | Requires more navigation |
| No mouse interaction | Needs working mouse/trackpad |
| Force quits front app only | Can target any running app |
Now let‘s explore how to force quit from the standard Apple menu when dealing with intermittent issues or system-wide problems impacting multiple apps.
Step-by-Step: Force Quit Apps From the Apple Menu
When you can successfully navigate your Mac‘s menus and windows, force quitting misbehaving apps from the Apple menu is simple.
Follow these instructions when you encounter an unresponsive app:
- Click Apple menu – Located in top left by the icon
- Select Force Quit – Pick from ~5th option in the menu
- Choose application – Pick problematic app from list
- Select Force Quit button – Found at bottom of the popup window
And done! You just forcefully terminated the troubling app to resolve your issue.
Beyond allowing you to point and click your way to an app force quit, the main perk of the Apple menu route is the ability to target ANY currently running application.
With the keyboard shortcut, only the frontmost app gets force quit. But from this menu you can see all open apps and decide which to shut down.
This leads us nicely into how to best leverage the Apple menu Force Quit when dealing with more system-wide problems of overall slowness or multiple app crashes/hangs.
Detecting Rogue Apps with Activity Monitor
Ever have your whole Mac slow down seemingly out of nowhere? Or perhaps multiple apps are randomly becoming unresponsive around the same time despite working previously?
This likely indicates you have a resource intensive app hogging CPU, memory, energy, disk space in the background. Identifying and force quitting these "rogue" apps can work wonders.
Activity Monitor allows us to see precisely which apps are using the most resources behind the scenes. Follow these steps:
- Open Finder to Applications folder
- Navigate to Utilities folder
- Launch Activity Monitor
- Review CPU usage over time
- Check Memory tab for memory hogs
- Force quit top resource using apps
Here‘s an example of an Activity Monitor report revealing Google Chrome browser processes as the source of performance issues:
Based on the CPU and memory usage analysis, force quitting Chrome would be smart to regain system performance.
Close unnecessary apps manually or use a free utility like Quitter to auto-quit apps not in use. Combine this preventative maintenance with theActivity Monitor reactionary troubleshooting, and you‘ll avoid or resolve most real-world Mac issues!
Reset with a Forced Restart
Think of the forced restart as the last resort nuclear option when all else fails. If your Mac is completely bricked with no respond controls, holding the power button for 5+ seconds forces a hardware-level shut down.
Wait 30 seconds after powered off, then press power again to reboot your Mac from scratch. This wipes any temporary software glitches or processes causing freezes/lockups.
Just beware that forced restarts will result in data loss. So make 100% certain open documents and browser tabs are backed up beforehand in other apps like cloud storage or email. An ounce of prevention…
Additionally, since hardware stays running during restarts, first try the standard restart from Apple menu when possible to resolve crashes. This menu restart closes apps cleanly before rebooting to prevent file corruption.
Avoid Issues Proactively
No one wants to forcefully quit apps or lose work restarts. The ultimate goal is avoiding those outcomes entirely!
Here are 5 troubleshooting tips:
- Update your apps – Download latest versions containing bug/security fixes
- Close inactive apps – Apps left open hog resources in the background
- Check available disk space – Low space under 20% often causes odd errors
- Toggle off problematic Login items – Launch agents might conflict or drag performance down
- Consider uninstalling/reinstalling consistently crashing apps – Flushing app data by reinstalling can help
Think of force quitting as the "break glass in case of emergency" last resort. Maintaining your apps and system properly makes that big red button rarely necessary!
FAQs on Force Quitting
Let‘s wrap up by answering some frequently asked questions on force quit best practices:
Is force quitting bad for my Mac?
Nope! Force quitting is perfectly safe and won‘t damage anything when used properly. It essentially flushes out temporary app data to cleanly close.
How often should I force quit apps?
Ideally never! Only force quit as an absolute last resort if the issues can‘t be resolved through normal means or gentle restarts.
Can I lose unsaved work when force quitting?
Yes, definitely. Any open documents will be closed immediately without allowing apps time to prompt you to save. So get in the habit of auto-save features within apps if available.
What should I do after force quitting to prevent future issues?
First, restart your Mac to clear out any lingering temporary glitches. Then check for app updates, free disk space if low, or search online for similar instances of others with app problems after recent MacOS updates perhaps. Finally, monitor Activity Monitor for signs of continued resources spikes.
Take Control by Mastering Force Quits
We covered a ton of ground here on tackling those stubborn app crashes and freezes. While incredibly disruptive in the moment, you now have the knowledge to get any Mac app forcefully closed within seconds.
Follow the step-by-step methods for keyboard shortcuts or Apple menu force quits. Or leverage Activity Monitor when dealing with larger system issues to find and terminate problematic apps.
Getting stuck in a frozen app paradox feels helpless. But by learning effective force quit approaches fit for tech experts, you can confidently get your Mac back up running.
No more losing work or time thanks to unresponsive apps! Bookmark this page and feel free to share if you found these Apple platform best practices useful.