TekRevue

  • Home
  • OS X
  • Windows
  • Mobile
  • Games
  • Home Theater
  • Reviews
  • Editorials
  • Tips
    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Mobile
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Feed

 000

OS X

Overkill: 5 Ways to Force Quit an App in Mac OS X

By Jim Tanous on February 20, 2015 at 10:28 AM • @mggjim

Macs and OS X have a “it just works” reputation, but even the best operating systems can have problems, with apps occasionally freezing. When this happens, standard methods of quitting an app may no longer work, and you may feel that a forced reboot is necessary in order to close or reset that frozen app. But if it’s just a particular app that is frozen, and OS X remains responsive behind the frozen app, you may want to try to force quit the misbehaving app. Here are five ways to force quit an app in OS X.

Check out these awesome custom engraved Corkcircle Canteens from Perfect Etch.

The Dock

Normally, when you right-click on a running application in the OS X Dock, you see an option to “Quit.” This may not work with a frozen app, however. To force quit an app, hold the Option key on your keyboard while you right-click on the app’s Dock icon and you’ll see that “Quit” is now “Force Quit.” Click it to force quit the app.

force quit app via os x dock

Be sure to note that there’s no warning when you force quit an app, and that the usual “save” prompts don’t appear before the app is closed. Therefore, be careful when you make your selection, and double check to ensure you’re force quitting the correct frozen app. If you accidentally force quit an app you’re working in, you’ll lose any unsaved data or changes.

The Force Quit Window

OS X has a special window dedicated to handling apps that need to be force quit. You can access this window two ways, first, by clicking the Apple logo in the Menu Bar and selecting Force Quit. Alternatively, you can bring up this same window by using the keyboard shortcut Command-Option-Escape.

os x force quit menu

The window will display all running applications, and identify with red text any apps that are “not responding.” Just highlight an app and click the Force Quit button to quit it. As mentioned above, there’s no warning when you force quit an app, so be careful as you make your selection.

Activity Monitor

The Activity Monitor app offers a wealth of information about the current status of your Mac, its resources, and your applications, but it also allows you to force quit any frozen apps. Just locate the app in the processes list (hint: you can use the search box in the upper-right portion of the window to filter the list), select it to highlight it, and then press the X button in the upper-left part of the window.

force quit app activity monitor

You’ll be presented with two options: Quit and Force Quit. If possible, try Quit first, as this will attempt to gracefully quit the application and preserve user data. If that fails, use Force Quit, which will act the same way as the steps mentioned above.

The ‘Kill’ Command in Terminal

If you prefer a command line method to dealing with unresponsive apps, you can use the ‘kill’ command in Terminal. To use this method, you’ll need to determine the app’s Process ID (PID), a numeric value that OS X uses to keep track of each unique application. The easiest way to find an app’s PID is via Activity Monitor, where it will be listed in the PID column. If you’re using Activity Monitor to find the PID, however, you might as well use it to force quit the app, as described previously.

Instead, you can use the ‘top’ command to generate a list of running processes right in Terminal. You can use modifiers to order the list by user-defined criteria (see this manual page for all of the options). If your app is frozen, there’s a good chance that it’s eating up CPU resources, so a good sorting method to start with is ‘cpu.’ Open a new Terminal window and type the following command:

top -o cpu

A list of all running applications and processes will appear in Terminal, ordered by current CPU usage. Let’s use iTunes as the example. It’s listed at the top (because it’s currently consuming CPU resources) and its process ID is 5472 (note: PIDs are unique to each circumstance, and OS X generates a new PID each time an application is run. That means that the PID will change each time an app is launched, and it’s almost certain that iTunes on your own Mac will have a different PID).

force quit app terminal

With the process ID now identified, press Q to quit top, or open a new Terminal session, and type the following to force quit the app:

kill [PID]

In our iTunes example, we’d type:

kill 5472

Press Return to execute the command and your app will be force quit.

Keyboard Shortcut

You can directly force quit an app via a keyboard shortcut, without any of the intervening steps mentioned in the previous methods above. This may therefore seem to be the best and most obvious method, but there’s a reason it’s listed here last. Using the keyboard shortcut below will immediately force quit the active, or foremost, application. The problem is that it’s very easy to lose track of which app is active, especially when dealing one or more frozen or unresponsive apps. Therefore, this method is the most risky from a data loss perspective, as it’s far more likely that a user will make a mistake and inadvertently force quit the wrong app.

But, if you understand this risk and are careful, this force quit shortcut is the fastest method. To use it, make sure the frozen app is active and press and hold Command-Option-Shift-Escape (you’ll notice that this is simply the Force Quit Window shortcut with the Shift key modifier thrown in). As with other force quit methods, the active application will immediately be force quit.

Sometimes hardware issues or major OS X bugs cause so much instability that the only way to get your Mac up and running again is to reboot. Absent those relatively rare circumstances, however, you should be easily able to control any frozen or misbehaving apps by force quitting them via one of the methods above. Just be sure to save your work when possible, and double-check your steps to avoid quitting the wrong app.

Want news and tips from TekRevue delivered directly to your inbox? Sign up for the TekRevue Weekly Digest using the box below. Get tips, reviews, news, and giveaways reserved exclusively for subscribers.

 000

  • Categories: OS X
  • Tags: #Activity Monitor #Apps #Finder #How To #OS X #Terminal #Tips

Sign Up for the TekRevue Weekly Digest

Read more in OS X on TekRevue

  • mac web browsers
    How to Change Your Homepage on the Mac (And Why You Might Need To)

    Filed Under: OS X

  • siri mac sierra
    15 Cool Ways to Use Siri in macOS Sierra

    Filed Under: OS X

  • mac app store updates
    How to Make the Mac App Store Check for Updates More Frequently

    Filed Under: OS X

  • alex_poulsen

    I believe CMD + OPT + ESC held down works to force quit apps running in java.
    Not sure at what level it is being closed by.

  • Alex Moura

    The cmdQuit app (free in the Mac App Store) is also useful:

    cmdQuit – https://macappsto.re/br/Tgjoz.m

Search

Related Articles

  • change safari search mac
    How to Change the Default Search Engine in Safari for Mac OS X
  • spotlight disabled yosemite
    How to Turn Off Spotlight Suggestions in Safari Search for OS X Yosemite
  • osx-many-open-apps
    Here’s a One-Click Solution That Lets You Quit All Open Mac OS X Apps at Once
  • osx-preview-export-formats-expanded
    How to Reveal the Secret Image Format Export Options in OS X Preview
  • OS X Mavericks Activity Monitor Energy Tab
    How to Disable Safari Power Saver in Mac OS X

Connect with TekRevue

  • TekRevue on Twitter
  • TekRevue on Facebook
  • TekRevue on Google+
  • Cheats
  • Deals
  • Distractions
  • Editorials
  • Gadgets
  • Games
  • Giveaway
  • Hardware
  • Home Theater
  • Mobile
  • News
  • More in OS X
  • Podcast
  • Reviews
  • Sponsor
  • Tips
  • Windows
  • mac web browsers
    How to Change Your Homepage on the Mac (And Why You Might Need To)
  • siri mac sierra
    15 Cool Ways to Use Siri in macOS Sierra
  • mac app store updates
    How to Make the Mac App Store Check for Updates More Frequently
  • mac contacts app
    Organize and Manage Your Mac Contacts with Smart Groups
  • mac screenshot clipboard
    Quick Tip: Copy Mac Screenshots Directly to the Clipboard
  • change default browser safari
    How to Change the Default Web Browser on Your Mac
  • print maps mac
    How to Print Directions From Your Mac Using the Apple Maps App
  • email macbook
    Three Tips for Creating Professional Emails on the Mac
  • quicktime x autoplay
    How to Enable QuickTime X Autoplay
  • mac contacts app
    How to Remove Duplicate Contacts on Your Mac
  • quicktime x
    How to Edit Video on Your Mac with Quicktime
  • storage disk almost full mac
    5 Tips to Free Disk Space on Your Mac
  • mac printer problem
    4 Tips for Fixing Mac Printer Problems
  • finder file path directories
    How to Open Files with Different Programs on the Mac
  • macos sierra installer
    How to Create a macOS Sierra USB Installer for the Developer Preview
  • macos sierra system requirements
    macOS Sierra System Requirements
  • quicktime x
    How to Loop a Video in QuickTime X for Mac OS X
  • photos macbook
    How to Delete All of Your iPhone or iPad Pictures at Once
  • Mail Icon Aqua Background
    How to Fix Incorrect Email Address Suggestions in Mail for Mac OS X
  • activity monitor mac os x
    Get a Better Look at Your Mac By Viewing Processes Hierarchically in Activity Monitor

Tips

  • Apps
  • Gaming
  • Mac
  • Mobile
  • Online
  • Windows
  • gotomeeting mac
    Quick Tip: Remove Old Versions of GoToMeeting for Mac
  • spell check word
    How to Turn Off Real-Time Spell Check in Microsoft Word
  • format skype text chats
    How to Format Skype Text Chats
  • chrome for mac os x
    How to Test Chrome’s Native Notifications for Mac
  • classic solitaire windows xp
    How to Play Classic Windows XP Solitaire in Windows 10
  • ipad controller game
    How to Set Up and Game With an iOS Controller on Your iPhone or iPad
  • ps4 remote play mac
    How to Change PS4 Remote Play Resolution & Frame Rate on the Mac
  • steam trash
    How to Remove a Game From Your Steam Library
  • mac web browsers
    How to Change Your Homepage on the Mac (And Why You Might Need To)
  • siri mac sierra
    15 Cool Ways to Use Siri in macOS Sierra
  • mac app store updates
    How to Make the Mac App Store Check for Updates More Frequently
  • mac contacts app
    Organize and Manage Your Mac Contacts with Smart Groups
  • iphone app refresh
    Save iPhone Battery Life by Disabling Background App Refresh
  • iphone mail unread badge
    How to Manage iPhone Email Notifications and Hide the Unread Mail Badge
  • iphone dictation
    How to Disable iPhone Dictation in iOS
  • iphone flight info
    How to View Flight Info on Your iPhone
  • youtube loop
    How to Loop YouTube Videos
  • netflix bandwidth data usage
    How to Reduce Netflix Bandwidth Usage to Avoid ISP Data Caps
  • netflix autoplay
    How to Stop Netflix From Automatically Playing the Next Episode
  • distracted man computer
    How to Turn Off Distraction-Free Mode in WordPress
  • speakers
    Quickly Change the Audio Playback Device in Windows 10 Anniversary Update
  • windows 10 snipping tool
    How to Take Windows 10 Screenshots with the Snipping Tool
  • windows 10 action center icon taskbar
    How to Hide the Action Center Taskbar Icon in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update
  • create pdf windows
    How to Create a PDF from Multiple Images in Windows 10
Company
  • About TekRevue
  • Get in Touch
  • Sponsorships

Sign Up for the TekRevue Weekly Digest

© TekRevue LLC. All Rights Reserved.

  • TekRevue User Agreement
  • TekRevue Privacy Policy

Built by Blazer Six