Force Quit Background App Mac

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NB: This post has been updated (20/1/18) and now features 6 ways to restart your Mac and a seventh tip to help you relaunch a frozen Finder.

Mac users is this happening or has it happened to you: You’re working away at something and have multiple windows open on your Mac and suddenly it stalls. You need to quit your apps but the spinning beach ball is spinning spinningly and nothing seems to work. Try working through these sequences:

Jul 07, 2015  Use the Force-Quit Window. Another option to make an app close down is to use the Force-Quit Applications Window. On your Mac, just press ‘Command’ plus ‘Option’ plus ‘Escape’, which will initiate the force-quit window. Next, select the name of the unresponsive app and click on the ‘Force-Quit’ button in order to immediately. May 06, 2020  Once you hit force quit, it’s too late for all of that, and MacOS will immediately shut the app down without any prompts. Just a word of warning — using force quit should be a last resort. Nov 28, 2019  While Force Quit will fix the problem, it’s a temporary solution. If you’re determined to identify the source of crashing apps and prevent them from happening, use Spindump on Mac. It’s a hang reporting tool that alerts you about the crash and helps share the details with the app developer.

Force Quit Applications

Type Command+Option+Escape to invoke the ‘Force Quit Applications’ window. Now you can quit on app names to select one and then tap Force Quit to quit the app. (Never underestimate the power of the Option key).

Quit current app

You can use Command + Option + Shift + Escape to force the currently active app to quit, just hold the sequence down for a few seconds.

Use the Dock

Control-Option-click (Ctrl-Alt-Click) an app icon on the Dock and you should see the Force Quit option appear, tap it to Force Quit the app.

Force Quit Background App Mac

Apple menu

While in the app you want to quit, hold down Shift while you tap on the Apple menu at the top left corner of the screen. Look down the drop down menu that appears and you should see Force Quit and the name of the app you are in. Select the command to quit the app.

Activity Monitor

Because I always have too many browser windows open I always have Activity Viewer running on my Mac. I use Activity Monitor to identify which apps or operations are eating my memory and slowing performance. Unresponsive apps will appear in red, you can help your system by selecting these and then tapping the X button at the top left of the app window to invoke the Force Quit command. Tap Force Quit to leave that app. I find Activity Monitor the most reliable of the bunch when all else fails.

Jul 18, 2019  Technitium, NoVirus Thanks & SMAC MAC are free MAC Address Changer Tools for Windows 10, that let you change the MAC Address or Media Access Control Address easily. Jun 08, 2016  MAC address assigned in a factory and it’s legal to change your device’s MAC address. So here in this article, we are going to show how to change or spoof MAC address in your Windows Operating System. Although, we are providing this guide through our Windows 10 OS but steps are similar for Windows 8.1, 8 and 7 OS. There are plenty of free MAC address spoofing tools for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 platform available on the web that allows you to change the unique address of your network adapters, but we have hand-picked some of the best MAC address changer software for you to choose from. Jul 28, 2017  A lightweight MAC address spoof software for Windows, MadMAC comes with a compact and a moderate graphical user interface. In order to spoof the MAC address you simply need to choose the network card interface, input the MAC address manually and then eventually save the settings to bring the change to the MAC address. https://thegreenomg.netlify.app/mac-spoofing-windows-10-software.html.

Use the Terminal

You can also quit an app in Terminal. The least complex way to achieve this is to use the killall command, which almost immediately quits the app. Here is the command:

  • To quit Safari you would type
  • To quit Mail you would type

Beware — you may find that any windows you have open in the application you quit using this command may not be remembered by the app. You will likely also find that Auto-Save doesn’t work, so anything you are working on will also be gone.

It is, however, a really quick way to quit an app.

Force Quit Finder

You can also Force Quit the Finder. This is a useful fix if the Finder becomes unresponsive for any reason. There’s two very easy ways to do this:

  • Option 1: Select Finder in the Force Quit menu item window, then click Relaunch.
  • Option 2:Option click the Finder icon in the Dock and choose Relaunch.

In both cases, the Finder will be unavailable for a few moments while it restarts and you may experience a little system lag — don’t worry, this is temporary.

If all of this seems complicated, just be thankful you aren’t involved in extensions management on Mac OS 8, speaking of which, here’s a little video trip down memory lane:

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Although it is quite rare, you must have come across incidents of apps becoming unresponsive or frozen once in a while on your Mac. You will find below multiple ways to Force Quit Apps or Programs on your Mac, instead of waiting forever and getting frustrated.

Force Quit Apps or Programs on Mac

Most native Apps and Services on your Mac are designed to run smoothly, without freezing up or lagging in any way. However, some third party Apps that are not exactly optimized to run efficiently on a Mac may end up freezing or becoming completely unresponsive.

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In such cases, it becomes difficult to close the unresponsive App in a normal way and the only option left is to Force Quit the application on your Mac.

Unlike regular closing of the Apps, Force Quitting abruptly closes the application and does not save your work or settings. However, sometimes you need to be prepared to lose unsaved work and settings, in order to get your Mac back to its normal self.

Force Quit Apps or Programs Using Dock

Perhaps the easiest way to Force Quit Apps on a Mac is through the Dock, located at the bottom of your Mac’s screen.

1. Locate the App that you want to close on the Dock of your Mac

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2. Next, right-click on the App icon and then click on Force Quit in the little menu that appears (See image below).

Note: The Force Quit option may also appear as “Quit” in some cases, however most of the times when the application is frozen or unresponsive it appears as “Force Quit”.

3. Depending on the App that you are Force-quitting, you may see a pop-up asking to confirm that you do want to Force Quit the App. Tap on the blue Force Quit button to quit the unresponsive app.

Force Quit Apps or Programs on Mac Using Keyboard

You can also force quit Apps on your Mac by using keyboard shortcuts. There are 2 keyboard shortcuts which allow you to Force Quit unresponsive apps.

1. On the keyboard of your Mac, press Command + Option + Esc key combination to Force Quit any unresponsive App. In case you are using a Windows keyboard with your Mac, press Windows + Alt + Esc keys.

Note: Do not press all 3 keys at the same time, rather press them in a sequence, first Command then Option and then Esc.

2. Pressing above keys will open the Force Quit Application Manager Window on your Mac (See image below)

Canoscan 8800f software for mac. 3. Next, click on the unresponsive App in the Application Manager and then click on the blue Force Quit button to close the unresponsive app.

4. Depending on the App that you are quitting, you may see a pop-up asking to confirm that you do want to Force Quit the App. Tap on the blue Force Quit button to quit from the unresponsive App.

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Force Quit Apps On Mac Using Apple Menu Bar

Another way to Force Quit Apps on your Mac is by accessing the Force Quit Applications manager by using the Apple Menu Bar.

1. Click on the Apple icon in the top menu bar on your Mac and then click on Force Quit… option in the drop-down menu (See image below)

2. Clicking on Force Quit will open the Applications Manager Window on the screen of your Mac.

3. In the Application Manager, click on the App that you want to Force Quit and then click on the Blue Force Quit button to Quit the selected App on your Mac (See image below)

4. Depending on the App, you may see a pop-up. Click on the blue Force Quit button in the pop-up to close the selected App.

Force Quit Apps On Mac Using Activity Monitor

The Activity Monitor on a Mac is quite similar to the Task Manager as found on a Windows Computer. The Activity Manager on a Mac allows you to take a look at the amount of Memory, CPU, and Storage space used by the apps and also allows you to Force Quit Apps.

1. Click on the Finder icon (Happy Face!) in the Dock of your Mac (See image below)

2. Next, click on Applications and then click on the Utilities Folder.

3. In Utilities Folder, locate Activity Monitor and click on it (See image below)

4. On the Activity Monitor screen, click on the app that you want to Force-close and then click on the X icon, located in top left corner of the window (See image below)

Force Quit Mac Not Working

5. Next, you may see a pop-up, asking you to confirm that you do want to Force Quit the application. Click on Force Quit (or Quit) to close the application.

Force Quit Apps On Mac Using the Terminal Window

Force Quit Mac Command

In addition to above ways, you can also make use of the Terminal Window to Force Quit Apps on your Mac.

Force Quit Background App Mac Computer

1. On the keyboard of your Mac, press Command + Spacebar to open the Spotlight Search

2. Once Spotlight Search opens up on your Mac, type the word Terminal and click on the Top Hit suggestion Terminal to open the Terminal Window on your Mac (See image below)

3. On the Terminal Window, type in ps –ax (there is a space after ps) and press the Enter key (See image below).

Note: There is a space after ps

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4. The above Terminal Command will list all the processes that are currently running on your Mac. Locate the App that you want to Force-close and note down its PID Number (See image below)

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5. Once you have noted down the PID number of the app. Type kill (PID number) in the Terminal Windows and hit the enter key (See image below)

Once you type in the above command, the unresponsive/frozen application will be closed. For example, in our case we closed the stuck Safari App on our Mac by typing kill 279 in the terminal Window.