How to Force Quit an App on a Mac

macOS is generally a very stable operating system, but occasionally, an application will freeze, stop responding to your clicks, and display the dreaded spinning “beach ball” cursor. When this happens, clicking the red close button or trying to quit the app normally from the menu bar will not work.

Instead of restarting your entire computer and losing your work in other open applications, you can use the Force Quit feature. Here are the three most effective ways to force an unresponsive app to close on a Mac.

Method 1: The Keyboard Shortcut (The Fastest Way)

If you are accustomed to pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete on a Windows PC to open the Task Manager, macOS has a very similar and equally powerful keyboard shortcut.

1. Press and hold these three keys simultaneously: Option (Alt) + Command + Escape.
2. A small “Force Quit Applications” window will pop up in the center of your screen.
3. This window lists every program currently running on your Mac. Find the application that is frozen (macOS will often helpfully label it as “Not Responding” in red text).
4. Click on the frozen app to highlight it.
5. Click the blue Force Quit button in the bottom right corner of the window.
6. macOS will ask you to confirm your decision, warning you that any unsaved changes in that app will be lost. Click Force Quit again.

The app will terminate immediately, freeing up your system resources.

Method 2: Using the Apple Menu

If you prefer using your mouse or trackpad, you can access the exact same Force Quit menu directly from the top of your screen.

1. Look at the very top-left corner of your screen and click on the Apple logo ().
2. From the drop-down menu, select Force Quit….
3. The “Force Quit Applications” window will appear.
4. Select the unresponsive app and click the Force Quit button.

Pro Tip: If you hold down the Shift key while clicking the Apple menu, the “Force Quit” option changes to “Force Quit [Name of Current App]”. Selecting this will instantly kill the app you are currently viewing without even opening the confirmation window.

Method 3: Forcing a Quit via the Dock

You can also force an app to close directly from its icon in the Dock at the bottom of your screen.

1. Locate the icon of the frozen app in your Dock.
2. Usually, if you right-click (or two-finger tap) on an open app in the Dock, the bottom option in the menu is “Quit”. However, a frozen app will ignore this command.
3. To change the command, open the right-click menu on the icon, and then press and hold the Option (Alt) key on your keyboard.
4. Watch the menu closely: the word “Quit” will magically change into Force Quit.
5. While still holding the Option key, click Force Quit.

What If Finder Freezes?

Finder is the core file management application in macOS. It is always running in the background and cannot be permanently closed. However, if your desktop icons disappear or Finder itself freezes, you can use the Force Quit tool to reboot it.

Open the Force Quit window (Option + Command + Escape), select Finder from the list, and notice that the blue button now says Relaunch instead of Force Quit. Click it, and Finder will quickly restart itself, restoring your desktop to normal without requiring a full system reboot.