How to Force Quit on Mac When an App Freezes

First, check that the app is really frozen

That spinning rainbow wheel, often called the beach ball, doesn't always mean a freeze. Apps sometimes pause while they save a big file, open a huge photo library or catch up after your Mac wakes from sleep.

Give it a minute or two. If the wheel is still there, the window doesn't redraw when you move it, and the app's menus won't open, it's time to act.

Try the normal way first

Click the app's name in the menu bar and choose Quit, or press Cmd + Q. If nothing happens after a few seconds, move on to the methods below.

Method 1: Cmd+Option+Esc, the fastest way

This is the Mac's answer to Ctrl+Alt+Delete on Windows, and it works in almost every situation.

1. Press and hold Cmd, Option and Esc at the same time.
2. A small window called Force Quit Applications opens and lists every app that's running.
3. Click the frozen app. Apps that aren't responding often show up in red with "Not Responding" next to the name.
4. Click Force Quit, then confirm in the pop-up.

The app closes within a second or two, and you can reopen it right away.

Two more shortcuts worth knowing

You can open the same window from the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen. Choose Force Quit… from the list.

For an even faster option, hold Shift, Option, Cmd and Esc together for about three seconds. macOS force quits whichever app is in front, with no window and no questions asked. It's very quick, but make sure the frozen app really is the one in front, or you may close the wrong one.

Method 2: Force quit from the Dock

If the menu bar at the top has stopped responding, the Dock often still works, because it runs separately from the frozen app.

1. Right-click the app's icon in the Dock. You can also Control-click, or click with two fingers on a trackpad.
2. Hold down the Option key. The menu item Quit changes to Force Quit.
3. Click Force Quit while still holding Option.

Let go of Option too early and the menu goes back to plain Quit, which only asks the frozen app politely and gets ignored. Keep the key down until you've clicked.

Method 3: Activity Monitor, when you want to see what's going on

Activity Monitor is the Mac's version of Task Manager. It lists everything running on your Mac, including background processes that have no window, and shows how much processor power and memory each one uses.

1. Press Cmd + Space to open Spotlight, type Activity Monitor and press Return.
2. Stay on the CPU tab. A frozen app usually appears in red with "(Not Responding)" after its name.
3. Click the app once to select it.
4. Click the Stop button in the toolbar. It's the small octagon with an X.
5. In the pop-up, choose Force Quit.

Useful extras

The frozen app is often the one using the most processor power. Click the % CPU column to sort the list and spot it quickly.

Switch to the Memory tab and look at the Memory Pressure graph at the bottom. Green means everything is fine. Yellow or red means your Mac is short of memory, and more freezes are likely.

Method 4: Terminal, for stubborn apps

If the app ignores Force Quit, Terminal is next. Terminal is an app where you type instructions to your Mac. It looks technical, but you only need two commands.

1. Press Cmd + Space, type Terminal and press Return.
2. Type killall Safari, replacing Safari with the app's exact name as it appears in Activity Monitor. Put quotes around names with spaces, for example killall "Google Chrome".
3. Press Return.

That's the polite version, similar to pressing Cmd+Q. If the app is still there, add -9 like this: killall -9 Safari. The number 9 means "end it immediately", and the app has no way to refuse.

If you don't know the exact name

Every running process has an ID number, called a PID. Type pgrep -x Safari to see it, then use kill -9 followed by that number.

These commands work on your own apps without any extra permission. You shouldn't need sudo for a frozen app, and it's best to avoid it.

When even Finder isn't responding

Finder runs your desktop, folders and file windows. When it freezes, desktop icons don't react and folders won't open. Finder can't be quit like a normal app, so macOS calls the action Relaunch instead.

Relaunch Finder

1. From the Dock: hold Option and right-click the Finder icon, the first one on the left. Choose Relaunch.
2. From the Force Quit window: press Cmd + Option + Esc, select Finder, and click Relaunch.
3. From Terminal: type killall Finder and press Return. macOS restarts Finder automatically.

Your open folder windows may close and the desktop may flicker for a moment. That's normal.

If the whole Mac is frozen

If the shortcuts do nothing, the pointer won't move and Terminal won't open, the whole system is stuck. Wait a couple of minutes first, because heavy jobs like a big update can make a Mac look dead.

If it's still frozen, press and hold the power button (the Touch ID button on a laptop) for about 10 seconds, until the screen goes black. Wait a few seconds, then press it again to start up.

After the force quit: protect your work and prevent repeats

Once the app is closed, a few quick steps make the next freeze less likely.

• Reopen the app. If macOS offers to restore your windows, say yes. Apps with autosave bring back your last version.
• Restart your Mac if freezes happen more than once in a day. A restart clears memory and stuck background processes.
• Update everything. Open System Settings > General > Software Update, and update your apps too. Many freezes are bugs that were already fixed.
• Keep some free storage. When the startup disk is almost full, macOS has no room for temporary files and everything slows down. Aim to keep roughly 10 percent free.
• Watch Memory Pressure. If the graph is often yellow or red, you're running too many apps or browser tabs for the memory you have.
• Check plug-ins and extensions. If one app freezes again and again, disable its add-ons, or reinstall it.
• Run Apple Diagnostics if many different apps freeze. Shut the Mac down, then on Apple silicon hold the power button until startup options appear and press Cmd + D. On an Intel Mac, press the power button and hold D.