Guide

How To Quit Force On Mac – Complete Guide

Published

3 years ago

Mac users will tell you that there are few things more aggravating than the spinning rainbow wheel — also known as the wait cursor — which indicates that your computer is straining to keep up with the tasks it is currently doing.

When a programme isn’t responding the way it should, you might try to wait until your screen unfreezes before continuing. Sometimes, though, it is impossible to predict how long it will take. When confronted with a spinning wheel, the most straightforward course of action is to forcibly quit the frozen programme.

Force quit is a feature that allows you to effectively shut down an application that is not responding. Force closing a frozen programme such as Microsoft Word or any web browser, on the other hand, should be done with caution since if your work isn’t saved, you may lose it if the application becomes unresponsive.

How to force quit on Mac from the Apple menu

To begin, locate the application that is not responding. The most straightforward technique to identify an unresponsive programme when you have numerous applications open is to glance at the pointer. In this case, the programme is still responsive even though the cursor seems to be normal. If the cursor has the appearance of a rainbow spinning wheel, the programme is not responding properly.
Following the identification of the unresponsive programme, go to the taskbar at the top of your screen and click it. To open the dropdown menu, pick the Apple logo on the far left of the screen.
Select “Force Quit…” from the drop-down menu that appears.

A new window will appear, displaying all of the programmes currently running on your Mac. Choose the application that you want to force to close. If you wish to forcibly quit numerous applications at the same time, use the Command to pick multiple options.

Select Force Quit from the drop-down menu. A pop-up will appear to notify you that any changes that have not been saved will not be preserved.

How to force quit on Mac with a keyboard shortcut

If you have trouble accessing the Apple icon in the taskbar, use the keyboard shortcut Option + Command + Esc and then follow the steps above.

How to force quit on Mac using Activity Monitor

The Activity Monitor on a Mac is a simple tool for locating problematic apps, determining how much energy or CPU power they are using, and forcing them to close.

To begin, open the Activity Monitor application. The Activity Monitor may be accessed by either utilising the Spotlight function (Command + Space) or by heading to Finder > Applications > Activity Monitor.
Locate and pick the programme you wish to forcibly quit from the Activity Monitor window after it has been opened.
After you’ve chosen the application, click on the stop symbol (resembling an octagon with an “X” in the middle).

A pop-up box will appear, asking whether you are certain that you wish to terminate this procedure. Make your way to the bottom of the list and choose “Force Quit.” After that, the application will be closed.

What to do if force quit isn’t working on a Mac

The force quit option is the quickest and most straightforward method of terminating defective apps, although it is not always available. If you are unable to forcibly stop your application and your screen is entirely stuck, restart your computer.

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