- Hi Armadillo12, As per the issue description mentioned above, Acrobat DC on Mac won't quit when shutting down computer, is that correct? If there is any trouble closing the application directly then you need to quit it from the Activity Monitor.
- I try to quit the application, it restarts. I FORCE QUIT it, it restarts. I go into Preferences, change the 'Open Spotify automatically after you log into the computer' option to NO then Quit it, it restarts. I check the 'Open Spotify automatically after you log into the computer' option again. It's auto-selected MINIMIZED.
- Force Quit with Mac Shortcut. To do the same thing but faster, use Mac shortcut keys to close frozen applications. On your keyboard, press and hold Command + Option + Esc. It will immediately bring up a “Force Quit Application” window. Select the frozen application from the dialogue box and select “Force Quit.”.
- Here you will see the Force Quit option in the drop-down menu. Click on it, and this shows you the list of all the running applications. Select the application you want to force close on Mac. Now click on the Force Quit button.
Go to Apple menu (left upper corner – ) Hold Shift (⇧) Click on appeared option Force Quit Finder (⌥⇧⌘⎋) This method as well as relaunching of Finder via shortcut ⌘+⇧+ ESC (Command + Shift + Esc) was the only one available in previous OS X versions, thus many websites recommend it as the only possible. Dec 10, 2019 (70%). Select the process and then click the Quit icon and then click the Force Quit icon. If this problem occurs again next time, try starting your Mac in Safe Mode. This may fix your problem. Here is how: Shut down your computer, if you experience this problem, Force Quit the Finder app. Turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold the.
While working on Mac, if an application starts acting weird, you need to close it. But what if you can’t close the app, then the next solution is to forced shutdown the program on a Mac. This method is needed to be known by the Mac users as it can get handy. In this article, we solve this issue for you as we have stated five methods on how to force quit applications on Mac.
Methods to force quit an application on Mac
Mac is a clean operating system with wonderful features, but sometimes, it can act strangely. This might be due to the fact of some error or outdated operating system. Remember to keep your system updated, and the disk storage decluttered. As it directly impacts the performance on Mac and issues like application refuses to close occurs.
1. Using Menu Bar
When you find yourself in this situation, the first thing to do, open the Menu bar. It is the given feature to force quit an application on Mac.
Here you will see the Force Quit option in the drop-down menu. Click on it, and this shows you the list of all the running applications.
Select the application you want to force close on Mac. Now click on the Force Quit button.
2. Using Dock Panel
To learn how to force quit an application on Mac using Dock, follow the option steps given below. Another secure method is to use the mouse together with your keyboard. Press the Alt key on your keyboard. When you see your application icon on the Dock, use the mouse to right-click on it.
Here you will see the Force Quit option appearing in the options visible. Click on it to force quit an application on Mac.
Note: If you right click on the app icon on Dock without pressing the Alt key, the option only shows Quit option.
3. Using Activity Monitor
Activity monitor is the best bet when you want to learn how to quit a program on Mac. It shows all the running applications and comes with an option to quit. To open Activity Monitor, go to Launchpad.
Now to force quit a program on Mac you need to click on the CPU tab on Activity Monitor.
Here you will see the names of the applications, select the one which is hanging. Locate the cross icon on the top left, click on it.
You will see the prompt message appearing on the screen – “Are you sure you want to quit this process? “
Click on Force Quit option.
4. Using Terminal
If all of the above steps did not help, then you still can force shut down the application via the command line.
To learn how to close the application on Mac using Terminal, follow the steps given below:
1. Open Spotlight from the Menu Bar.
2. Now type Terminal and open it.
3. Launch Terminal.
4. Start the forced shutdown of the program on Mac by typing this command-killall “Name of application”.
Note: This command is case sensitive, so please enter the name of the application as it is. For example Killall FaceTime
5. Click Enter.
6. Use TuneupMyMac
TuneupMyMac is a Mac cleaner tool that helps clear app cache which refreshes the app. This means when the app launches the next time, you can use it as new. It is one of the finest tools for Mac to clean the junk files interrupting the regular operation of closing applications. Once you install TuneupMyMac, it will thoroughly scan your Mac. It can remove junk files, unwanted log-in items or system files which are most likely to be causing trouble.
TuneupMyMac can also be used to uninstall an application on Mac completely. So, So if you looking for a way to refresh app or close any app try using TuneUpMyMac. This one click mac optimizer will do wonders.
Conclusion
So if you find yourself stuck with the application, use any of the above methods to force quit an app on Mac. Declutter the disk storage with TuneupMyMac, as it is a great application to clean your Mac and help it to run all functions smoothly. It is one of the methods to use when all others fail to force shut down an application on Mac.
We hope that this method helps you understand how to force quit an application on Mac. We would like to know your views on this post to make it more useful. Your suggestions and comments are welcome in the comment section below. Share the information with your friends and others by sharing the article on social media.
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Imagine this: you’re working happily on your Mac when the dreaded beach ball of death appears. A program stops responding or worse, the macOS (or OS X) itself refuses to do anything but stare at you, blankly. You have a frozen Mac app or an OS X freeze. Mac OS not responding can lead to lost productivity or even lost work. Let's go over why it happens, what to do when your Mac freezes or when an Mac OS app stops responding, as well as some tips for preventative maintenance.
We’ll go over frozen apps first, so if your whole Mac freezes, you can jump to the part about fixing a frozen Mac.
Fixing a frozen app: Why Mac OS apps freeze
There can be a few reasons why apps freeze on Mac. First, sometimes an app freezes on its own, and sometimes it takes down the whole Mac with it. Here's what could be happening:
- Apps freeze in the background.
This could mean there are some apps running that you didn't open, they opened themselves. Probably, they're featured in your startup items, so they automatically launch when you start your Mac. If this happens repeatedly, you need to check what apps are running in the background and launch with the startup. - Processes freeze in the background.
This one is different from apps. One app may be running multiple processes, also system processes can be running on their own. - Too many apps and processes running.
Same logic as with the previous issue. But the question here is how many is too many? There is no definite answer to this, it very much depends on the hardware capacity of your Mac. You can read how to check it and fix it below. - Mac system is too cluttered with junk to run even simple tasks.
This is fixable, you can get a Mac optimizing app like CleanMyMac X for the job. Run a scan to find and remove the stuff you don't need, and there's a high change your apps will stop freezing after that.
What to do if an app freezes on your Mac
A frozen app becomes unresponsive and brings your work to a halt. In the worst case scenario, it can lead to lost work or a corrupted file. Fortunately, there are several options to try, and most are quite simple. Here’s what you can do when a program freezes on your Mac. First, you need to quit it. Then, if the app keeps freezing when you launch it, try the next options.
How to quit a frozen or unresponsive program
Quitting and then re-starting an app is a good way for Mac OS to handle a crash. You can do this from the OS X Dock or from the Force Quit window. To force-quit an app from the OS Dock, follow these simple steps:
Can't Force Quit Spotify Mac Os
- Click anywhere outside of the program
- Right-click (or Control-click) on the frozen app’s icon in the Dock. A menu appears.
- Hold down the Option key on your keyboard so that Quit in that menu changes to Force Quit.
- Select Force Quit.
That’s it. The app is instantly closed. Re-launch it and try again. If you prefer to work with the Dock hidden — or if the Dock itself is unresponsive — you can simply bring up the Force Quit dialog box to perform the same task.
Here’s how:
- On your Mac’s keyboard, hit the Option, Command and Escape keys simultaneously (alt + ? + esc).
- The Force Quit dialog box appears with a list of running programs.
- Select the frozen app and then click Force Quit.
- The software will stop running and you’re free to re-launch it at this point.
If you’re using a maintenance utility like CleanMyMac X, it has freezes covered. When CleanMyMac spots an unresponsive app, a notification window with a Quit button pops up, so you could force-quit the app without rummaging around in its menu.
CleanMyMac keeps an eye on other performance issues, too, so if you'd like to get alerts like this one when anything goes wrong, download CleanMyMac X for free and give it a try.
How to fix Mac apps that keep freezing
First, check what apps are running in the background and launch with the startup.
To do it go to Settings > Users and Groups > Login items.
Uncheck anything you think might be causing trouble. In fact, just to be sure, uncheck every app and restart your Mac.
Now, find out which process or program is causing the problem. How to see what programs are running on Mac in general? You need launch Activity monitor.
How to find Activity Monitor on Mac: You can do it via the Spotlight Search or just open Launchpad and type it in.
How to open Activity Monitor in Finder: launch it from Applications > Utilities folder > Activity Monitor.
When it opens, you'll probably see hundreds of processes in each tab, but the ones you need now are CPU and Memory tabs. Click on the % CPU sign to sort processes by their influence on your Mac's work. The heaviest ones will show up on the top. They could be your main issue, but don’t rush to deal with them. Some, like kernel, are important system processes and you shouldn’t mess with them.
How to kill a process on Mac OS
However, sometimes your problem does lie within a specific process, you can force quit it (Apple doesn't call it 'to kill a process on Mac', they make it sound fancy). But we're not at Apple HQ, so here's how to kill a Mac OS process:
- Open Activity Monitor.
- You see a list of processes. You can sort them by clicking on %CPU or % Memory in relevant tabs.
- Find the process you want to kill and choose it.
- Click on the octagon with an X sign.
- Done.
Occasionally the problem isn’t with the Mac app, but with the Mac OS itself. If you’re experiencing troubles regularly, it’s time to ask why your Mac keeps freezing. There are several possible reasons, so let’s start with the simplest potential solution.
First, the file you were working with at the time of the freeze may be the issue. To help determine if this is true, try opening a different file with that app and work with it for a while. If it behaves normally, quit and then go back to the file you were working with at the time of the crash. If the errant behavior persists, you may have found your problem. Salvage what you can into a new file.
How To Quit Spotify Subscription
Make sure that your software and OS X are up-to-date. This is easy to do with software purchased from the Mac App Store. The same goes for OS X. Launch the Mac App Store on your Mac, and you’ll see the list of pending updates, including any for the OS X itself. For third-party software purchased outside of the App Store, visit the manufacturer’s website.
What to do if Mac OS X freezes
If you cannot force-quit a program, or if the Mac OS is completely unresponsive, it’s time for the most obvious action — a reboot.
You can bring up the Restart/Sleep/Shutdown dialog box instantly by hitting Control plus the Power button. Option four, Shut Down, is selected by default.
Alternatively, you can press and hold the Power button for 1.5-2 seconds to bring up the same dialog box. If things aren’t hopelessly messed up, you’ll get a chance to save your work before your Mac shuts down. If that still doesn’t work, a more drastic option is available.
How to force reboot a frozen Mac
Press Command ?, Control and Power (on earlier MacBook models, use the Media Eject key instead of the Power button) to restart your Mac immediately. Note that you won’t have the option of saving anything in this scenario, but it will definitely reboot your icy Mac.
Once your Mac has restarted, you might find that the hard restart has corrupted the file you were working on. Salvage what you can from it and create a new file.
How to fix a frozen Mac
After the reboot, ensure that your Mac has enough free hard drive space for the OS X, and enough free RAM to do what you want. CleanMyMac X can help you here, too. It removes all the useless files that take up space on your hard drive: app leftovers, mail attachments, cache files, and so on. That way, you can free up additional disk space for the OS X without deleting any of your own files. Plus, CleanMyMac X keeps tabs on how much RAM you’re using and lets you free some up with a tap.
Finally, if system cleanup also fails to fix the problem, you can try to run a clean install of your Mac OS. Just follow the instructions: How to clean install macOS Sierra 10.12
Note: If you don’t know which system your Mac runs, click the apple icon in the top left corner and choose About this Mac. You’ll see the name on the popup window.
That’s it, we hope this guide has helped you fix a frozen Mac. Remember, with day-to-day maintenance, your Mac can offer years of reliable work. On the rare occasion of a frozen program or even frozen OS X, these tips will help get you working and productive again. And software like CleanMyMac X can do some of the monitoring and maintenance for you, so you can focus on what needs to be done.