How to Force Quit on a Mac: 5 Quick Ways to Close an App

To force quit an app on a Mac, press Option–Command–Esc, select the unresponsive app, and click Force Quit. This closes the app, not the entire Mac. Any changes the app has not saved may be lost, so try a normal quit first if the app still responds.

Before you force quit

A normal quit gives an app a chance to save changes and close files cleanly. If you can still use the app, save your work and press Command–Q or choose Quit from the app’s menu in the menu bar. Use Force Quit when that does not work or the app is clearly stuck. Apple notes that an unresponsive app may lose unsaved changes when it is forced to close; see Apple’s force-quit instructions.

1. Use the keyboard shortcut

This is usually the quickest way to force quit a frozen Mac app.

1. Press Option + Command + Esc together. On some keyboards, Option is labeled Alt. If your Mac has a Touch Bar, Esc is on its left side.
2. In the Force Quit Applications window, select the app that is not responding. macOS may show “Not Responding” beside it.

3. Click Force Quit. If macOS asks you to confirm, click Force Quit again.

If the frozen app is Finder, select Finder in the list and choose Relaunch. Finder is part of macOS and normally stays open, so relaunching it restores the desktop and file windows.

2. Choose Force Quit from the Apple menu

Use this route if you prefer the menu or do not remember the shortcut.

1. Click the Apple menu in the upper-left corner of the screen.
2. Choose Force Quit.
3. Select the frozen app, click Force Quit, and confirm if prompted.

3. Force quit from the Dock

If the app appears in your Dock, its shortcut menu can close it directly.

1. Control-click the app’s icon in the Dock. A right-click or two-finger click on a trackpad also opens the shortcut menu.
2. Choose Force Quit. If that command is not visible, use the keyboard shortcut or Activity Monitor instead.

Apple’s Dock guide lists Control-clicking an unresponsive app and choosing Force Quit as the direct method.

4. Use Activity Monitor

Activity Monitor is useful when you want to locate a specific app or process. It also shows which processes macOS marks as unresponsive.

1. Press Command–Space to open Spotlight, type Activity Monitor, and press Return.
2. In the Process Name list, select the app or process you want to close. An unresponsive process appears in red with “Not Responding.”

3. Click the Stop button near the upper-left corner of the Activity Monitor window.
4. Choose Force Quit in the confirmation dialog. Choose Quit instead if you want macOS to try a normal close first.

Force Quit ends the process immediately. If that process has open files, unsaved data may be lost, and other apps that depend on it may be affected. Apple’s Activity Monitor guide also notes that quitting a process owned by another user may require an administrator password.

5. Send a termination command in Terminal

Terminal is an advanced option because commands target process names rather than app windows. Use it only when you know which process you mean; for most people, the graphical Force Quit window or Activity Monitor is easier to verify.

1. Open Terminal from Spotlight.
2. Enter killall Safari as an example, replacing Safari with the exact process name, then press Return.

killall sends a termination signal to matching processes. It may not close an app that cannot respond to that signal, and a name can match more than one process. If you are unsure, do not add commands such as sudo or target a macOS service; use Activity Monitor and select the app by name.

If the entire Mac is frozen

Force Quit closes one app. If the pointer, keyboard, and Force Quit window all stop responding, wait briefly to see whether macOS recovers. If you can interact with the Apple menu, choose Restart. If the Mac will not restart, press and hold its power button for up to 10 seconds until it turns off. On a Mac laptop with Touch ID, hold the Touch ID/power button. Then press and release the power button to start the Mac again. This forced shutdown can also discard unsaved work.

If the same app keeps freezing

After reopening it, check for an app update and confirm that it supports your macOS version. Try opening a different file in the app; the original file may be the problem. If the freezing began after connecting a printer, drive, or other accessory, disconnect it and test again. Restarting the Mac may help, but repeated freezes can point to an app, plug-in, file, or hardware issue. Apple’s troubleshooting guide for apps that freeze covers these next steps.