How to Force Quit a Frozen App on Mac

_How to Force Quit Apps on a Mac Close Frozen Apps_How to Force Quit Apps on a Mac Close Frozen Apps

When you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Your Mac has an application that is currently frozen and not responding to your commands. You can close the unresponsive program immediately using the steps below.

  1. Click the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen and select “Force Quit” from the dropdown list. [0:20]
  2. Choose the specific app that is not responding from the list of open programs, then click the “Force Quit” button to shut it down. [0:40]
  3. Alternatively, press the Command (⌘) + Option + Esc keys simultaneously on your keyboard to open the Force Quit window immediately. [0:54]
  4. Select the frozen app from the list and click Force Quit to close it.

Ninja Tip: If the app still won’t close, open Activity Monitor via Spotlight (Command + Space), search for the app name, select it, and click the “X” button at the top to kill the process manually.

If the entire system is unresponsive, hold the physical power button on your Mac until it shuts down completely.

Keep Reading