What Is Force Quit Mac Shortcut? Ways to Force Quit Mac

Title: Force Quit Mac Keyboard Shortcut Overview

For many, the appeal of buying a Mac lies in its user-friendliness and longevity. While Windows remains a widely used operating system globally, many tech giants prefer Macs for boosting productivity and user satisfaction. However, while Mac apps generally perform well, there may be times when you need to force quit them due to freezing or slow performance.

The easiest way to force a Mac to quit is by using the Force Quit Mac keyboard shortcut. Windows users can close unresponsive programs with the ubiquitous Ctrl-Alt-Delete command. But if you're on a Mac, what's the Force Quit Mac keyboard shortcut? The answer is to press three keys together: Option (or Alt), Command, and Esc (Escape).

This will bring up the Force Quit window, from which you can select the unresponsive app and click “Force Quit.”

Forcibly quitting a Mac app is a drastic measure because it tells the app to stop what it's doing immediately without displaying any dialog boxes. While there's a risk of losing unsaved data, this method can be helpful when an app on your system is no longer responding to its initial state. Rather than wait for the frozen screen, try forcing unresponsive apps to quit right away.

If the above Force Quit Mac shortcut doesn't work for you, or if you'd like to create a custom keyboard shortcut to force quit all apps, this short video will show you how to make a new one on your Mac.

• 00: 22 - Creating a new shortcut in the Shortcuts app
• 01: 13 - Renaming a shortcut on a Mac
• 01: 28 - Adding a shortcut to the Mac menu bar
• 01: 34 - Quick ways to run a shortcut

Other Ways to Force Quit Mac Apps

While this is happening, a spinning beach ball icon appears on the menu bar, preventing you from selecting anything. If keyboard shortcuts aren't working to force quit on a Mac, try these methods to close an app.

1. Solution 1: Force Quit via Dock
2. Solution 2: Force Quit via Apple Menu
3. Solution 3: Force Quit via Activity Monitor

Method 1: Force Quit from the Dock

Step 1: Tap the Dock at the bottom of the screen.

Step 2: Find the app's icon.

Step 3: Right-click to open a context menu.

Step 4: At the bottom is the “Quit” option. Click it, and the app will close.

Force quit via Dock

If this doesn't work, press Alt when the menu appears, and the "Exit" option will change to "Force Quit." Click it, and the program will shut down immediately.

You can refer to this relevant article to address the issue of the Dock bar being missing or invisible.

How to Fix the Dock Disappearing Issue on macOS Ventura/Monterey/Big Sur

The Mac Dock might be set to hide by default. When your Mac Dock disappears from the desktop, it's usually due to one of these reasons...

# Method 2: Force Quit through the Apple Menu

You can also force an app to quit using the Apple menu.

Step 1: Switch to an app that's working correctly.

Step 2: Click the Apple icon.

Step 3: Select “Force Quit” from the drop-down menu.

Step 4: Select the frozen program and click "Force Quit".

Force quit via Apple Menu

When you get to Step 3, don't worry; it won't force quit the app you're currently using. It will simply provide a list of all open apps, from which you can select the frozen or unresponsive one to close.

Solution 3: Force Quit via Activity Monitor

If your system is misbehaving – say, you see a lot of spinning beachballs – Activity Monitor can show you what's going on.

Step 1: Open the Activity Monitor, which will display all apps and services using your CPU, memory, and network, among other things.

Step Two: Click on any app, and a separate window appears with details about it and what it's currently up to.

Step three: run an app that provides a report on its own activity over a short period. But this is a technical process that most people will find too difficult to follow.

Force quit using Activity Monitor

The “Quit” button, which closes the application, is also useful.

If any of these solutions work for you, please share this article with your friends and colleagues on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Solution: Force quit does not work

Occasionally, an app that's having issues can cause the whole system to freeze. While this doesn't happen often, it does occur from time to time. If your Mac becomes unresponsive and none of your apps will quit using the Force Quit Mac shortcut or other solutions, your next step would be to perform a hard restart on your MacBook or force shut down your Mac.

• Method 1: Control + Command + Power
• Method 2: Control + Power
• Method 3: Control + Option + Command + Power
• Method 4: Press the Power Button
• Method 5: Force Shutdown

Method 1: Control + Command + Power

Press and hold the Control, Command, and Power buttons until the screen goes black.

Here are some shortcuts to help you force-quit or restart your Mac without searching through the Taskbar or main Apple menu settings.

Method 2: Control + Power

A dialog box will ask if you want to restart or shut down your system. Some models may also ask if you want to put your Mac to sleep.

Method 3: Control + Option + Command + Power button

Holding all four keys together will force your Mac to shut down, closing all apps in the process. Any open windows with unsaved changes will prompt you to save before closing.

Method 4: Press the Power Button

Hold down the Power button on your Mac for several seconds. Normally, when you press this button, the system gets a message that you want to shut it down, and it responds by going to sleep. Holding the button down for longer brings up a dialog with options to "Restart," "Sleep," or "Shut Down." However, in a serious system crash, you may not even get this far.

Method 5: Discharge the Battery

If none of the above works, your device might be a rare exception. If this is the case, you can force a shutdown by draining the battery. Since MacBook Air and MacBook Pro batteries cannot be removed, unplug the power adapter and wait for the battery to drain on its own. For iMacs, Mac minis, Mac Pros, or any other desktop Macs, just unplug the power cable.

Eventually, when the battery is completely drained, the system will turn off on its own. Thereafter, plug in the power and charge for a few minutes, then hold down the power button for 10 to 12 seconds to turn it back on.

Force shutdown should be your last resort, as it can lead to loss of unsaved documents and damage files within the system. If you lost data due to a forced quit, you may attempt to recover it using a tool such as the Mac Data Recovery Wizard.

Conclusions

It can be frustrating when a Mac app suddenly gets stuck or freezes while you're using it. Sometimes, you want to close these frozen apps, but the annoyance and challenge multiply when you're unsure which option to choose or how to force quit. Use the tips and tricks mentioned above to force quit Mac applications. Hopefully, this guide will help you save time and use your system efficiently.