Why Doesn't Mac Close Button Quit App

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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:

Nov 03, 2016  This means that when you close a window, you close the application as well (as long as it’s the last window of that application that’s open). On a Mac, a window is treated more like a document than the app itself. When you close a window, you close the specific document you were looking at, but the application itself keeps running. The window is not the application in MacOS, in MacOS the windows connects to the application. That is why the application doesn't exit when you close a window. On Windows the window is the application, that is why the application should exit when you hit the exit button.

Force Quit Applications

Nov 11, 2016  Why force quit might not work in the first place. A lot of the time, this can happen when an app isn’t well built. When this happens, all kinds of havoc can be wreaked on your hardware that makes it tough for your Mac to process the tools necessary to force quit an app. Memory leaks can be a big source of these kinds of issues. But sometimes this also quits the app entirely. There is a logic behind this, based on how the app operates. Apps that allow multiple windows for multiple documents usually only use the red button to close a window. But apps that normally operate with a single window and have no other reason to stay open, will quit. Mac OS X: One of Mac's most confusing features is the red close button, which you think would shut down an application but often doesn't. RedQuits is a free utility that closes applications when.

Why Doesn't Mac Close Button Quit Apply

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.

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.

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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To quit (close) a Mac app normally, choose Quit from the app's menu in the menu bar, or press Command (⌘)-Q. If the app doesn't quit, follow these steps to force the app to quit.

How to force an app to quit

Why Doesn't Mac Close Button Quit App Download

  1. Press these three keys together: Option, Command, and Esc (Escape). This is similar to pressing Control-Alt-Delete on a PC. Or choose Force Quit from the Apple () menu in the upper-left corner of your screen.
  2. Select the app in the Force Quit window, then click Force Quit.
Why

Learn more

Why Doesn't Mac Close Button Quit Application

  • You can also force the Finder to quit, if it stops responding. Select Finder in the Force Quit window, then click Relaunch.
  • If none of your apps are responding, you can force your Mac to restart.
  • You can also force an app to close on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.