How to use force quit on Mac for unresponsive apps or processes

Some users don't mind living with frequent app slowdowns, others step up and take an action right away. Over time, browsers like Google Chrome or other applications hog your Mac's processing power and slow it down to a crawl, leading to a sluggish performance. If you don’t want to be bothered by such instances, see how to use force quit on Mac for unresponsive apps and processes.

How to use force quit on Mac for apps slow performance

If killing an app on your mac is taking too long or you can't quit the app normally, use Force Quit on Mac to close the app. Here are the different methods you can choose from!

1. Force Quit via Apple Menu.
2. Use Activity Monitor to quit an app.
3. Quit Apps from the Dock.

Let us cover the above methods in a bit of detail below!

1] Force quit via Apple Menu

This method appears to be the quickest of all. To force quit an app via Apple Menu, choose the menu from the upper left corner of your Mac screen.

When the Force Quit Applications window appears, select the desired app to close.

If prompted with a message, hit the Force Quit button.

2] Use Activity Monitor to quit an app

You can use Activity Monitor to quit apps or processes when it’s still in a loop or not responding as desired.

Open the Activity Monitor app on your Mac.

Switch to the CPU tab and look for the app or process you want to quit under the Process Name list. An unresponsive process is marked with (Not Responding).

Select it, choose Force Quit button in the upper-left corner of the Activity Monitor window.

Quit Apps from the Dock

hold the Option + Right Click on the frozen app’s icon in the Dock to bring up the ‘Force Quit’ option.

How to force quit on Mac using a keyboard shortcut?

It’s also possible to force quit an app on Mac using a keyboard shortcut. Simply press the Option+Command+Esc (Escape) keys together and hit the Force Quit button under the Force Quit Applications window.

What happens when force quit doesn't work on Mac?

When the above methods fail to yield the desired results, you can force your Mac to restart. To do so, press and hold the Control+Command+Power buttons.

Hope that helps!