How to Force Quit Apps on Mac

Sometimes an app on your Mac stops responding — the spinning rainbow wheel appears, and the app will not react to your clicks or keyboard input. When this happens, you do not need to restart your entire computer. Instead, you can force-quit the unresponsive app and continue using your Mac normally.

The quickest way to force-quit an app is to press Command + Option + Esc on your keyboard. This opens the Force Quit Applications window, which lists all currently running apps. Find the unresponsive app (it may say "Not Responding" next to its name), click on it to select it, and then click the "Force Quit" button. Confirm by clicking "Force Quit" again in the dialog that appears.

You can also force-quit from the Apple menu. Click the Apple icon in the top-left corner of your screen and select "Force Quit." This opens the same Force Quit Applications window.

A third method is to right-click (or Control-click) the app's icon in the Dock while holding down the Option key on your keyboard. The menu option will change from "Quit" to "Force Quit." Click "Force Quit" to close the app immediately.

After force-quitting an app, wait a few seconds and then reopen it. In most cases, the app will work normally after being restarted. If the app was working on an unsaved document, you may lose recent changes — many apps (like Pages, Numbers, and TextEdit) have auto-save features that recover most of your work, but not all apps do.

If an app freezes repeatedly, it may indicate a problem. Try updating the app to the latest version from the App Store or the developer's website. You can also try deleting the app and reinstalling it. If the problem persists, check the app's support website or forums for known issues.

Force-quit should be a last resort — always try closing the app normally first (Command + Q). Give a slow app a minute or two before force-quitting, as it may be processing something that takes time. But if the rainbow wheel spins for more than a couple of minutes and the app is truly frozen, force-quit is the right move.