Filed under: Mac 101
Mac 101: Force Quit
If you're switching from Windows you may be familiar with an old friend, the Task Manager. Apple provides a similar tool, with an easy way to force unruly applications to quit. I'll get to why you'd want to do this in a moment. To access Force Quit, you can either go to the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen, and choose Force Quit... Alternately, you can press three keys at once: Command + Option + Esc.* It's sort of the Mac version of Ctrl-Alt-Delete.Why would you want to force an application to quit? Sometimes applications get "stuck" for whatever reason and can't recover. If you notice the "rainbow wheel" spinning when you try to access the application and it just won't do anything, check the Force Quit tool and see if the name of the application is red and there's a parenthetical warning "not responding." This is your cue to use Force Quit -- just be aware that sometimes an application might not be responding, but might still be "alive." Typically what I do is go grab a cup of coffee, or stretch, and give the app 2-5 minutes to get itself together. If it is still stuck, I force quit.
For more on Force Quit, check out this Apple tips article on "Knowing When to (Force) Quit." And knowing is half the battle.
*Fixed, thanks to the handy commenters!
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SteveH said 12:10PM on 7-13-2009
its command + option + esc...
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Steven said 12:23PM on 7-13-2009
It's actually more akin to the mac version of Ctrl-Shift-Esc, which brings up the Task Manager in windows.
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jonathan said 12:31PM on 7-13-2009
ctrl-alt-del does the same thing. its been that way since windows me i believe. ctrl-alt-del hasnt restarted a computer by itself since the win98 days.
Steven said 12:35PM on 7-13-2009
It brings up a menu for me, with task manager, logoff, change passwords, lock screen options. Perhaps that's because I only run windows if I'm at work - so joined to a domain. I don't know...
Ctrl-Shift-Esc brings up Task Manager no matter what.
Showing my windows ignorance, thankfully
SpinThis! said 12:50PM on 7-13-2009
@ Steven: you are correct sir! If you're joined to a domain, Windows will bring up that menu.
That's partially why Windows is frustrating—inconsistencies abound!
Mike said 12:33PM on 7-13-2009
You can also right-click or ctrl-click on an application's icon in the Dock to force quit.
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Brian Allen said 12:46PM on 7-13-2009
5 minutes is not always enough time.
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Milford said 1:54PM on 7-13-2009
Ironic example in the photo, though: in my experience, sometimes when you force quite iTunes it instantly relaunches, which can be very bothersome if you are trying to shut down and the zombie restarting iTunes keeps canceling it.
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bward74 said 2:04PM on 7-13-2009
"You can also right-click or ctrl-click on an application's icon in the Dock to force quit."
Yes, I just hold down the button over the apps icon for a second (same as right-clicking) and select Force Quit from there. If the app is running as normal, Force Quit won't even be an option, so it's a good and quick way to do it.
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Johnny said 2:07PM on 7-13-2009
If force quit isn't an option, you can hold down the option key to force quit any app.
Joseph said 1:47AM on 7-14-2009
you can also run Activity Monitor and try a normal quit first and then try a force quit.
Just gotta be careful on database software like Entourage, iphoto, etc... So you dont corrupt something.
oboewan said 3:52PM on 7-13-2009
Remember: On iPhone OS 1.x.x or 2.x.x, to do this, hold down Home until the app quits.
On 3.x.x, hold down Lock until you see the shutdown screen, then hold down Home until the app quits.
The reason they changed it is because of VC on the 3GS.
This is very useful for clearing out the RAM-hog that is Safari.
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Joanna D said 5:21PM on 7-13-2009
Why would an OS which allegedly "just works" need anything like this?
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(01) said 6:09PM on 7-13-2009
Trolling on TUAW? Nice.
Anyway, anyone who thinks that apps don't crash on Macs is just fooling themselves. It's true that it occurs less than in a Windows environment, but it does happen. I usually go to task manager to get a better idea of what's going on, but handy tip.
Joseph said 1:49AM on 7-14-2009
because this just goes to show that force quitting "just works." also, the fact that you can quit 1 app and not bring the OS to it's knees is nice. Windows 7 should have some of that now. The game is back one. Welcome Troll. Enjoy your meal.
deluded spider said 3:44AM on 7-14-2009
Oh grow up. :P
Drifter71 said 11:12AM on 7-14-2009
She's always trolling here. The programs that most often hang is Microsoft Office. Ironic...
Glen said 12:08PM on 7-14-2009
For 3rd party software like Microsoft Office
:P
matthew said 10:45PM on 7-13-2009
CMD+OPT+Shift+ESC...hold for three seconds or so...no need for the force quit prompt.
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Chris said 5:01AM on 7-14-2009
Unfortunately, however stable Mac OS is, some programs still hang. The blessing of OSX for me is not only that Force Quit lets you choose one program to quit easily, but also that 9/10 times the selected application quits immediately!
A real blessing since, for me, Windows pretty much never did that.
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