Kill An App In Mac
Think of Force Quit as “End Task” for Mac users. Advertisement Shortcut of the Day highlights a great shortcut on various platforms from the desktop to mobile devices to the web. It's the first time the app hanged the whole Mac that heavily, that I was unable to kill it or to open any other application to manage the processes. Is it normal behavior at all, I was counting on it not possible to hang the whole system on a Mac, and one App can't make it. Dec 12, 2007 Goes without saying, really. And this is certainly the one with the best claim to being a killer app. Parallels Desktop was always a significant app in the Mac-Windows marketplace (you regularly hear people say it justified them buying a Mac), but version 3.
Question:
Stephen writes: I’m trying to install an update to an application on my Mac, but the installer won’t work if the old version of the app, or associated processes, are running. How can I quit or stop an app in OS X so that I can either delete it or install an update on top of it?
Answer:
It’s true that, in general, you need to close or quit an application before you can install an update to it, modify its files, or remove it from your Mac. Many applications do this for you when you launch an update installer or uninstaller program, but if you’re stuck with an open process or app, here’s how to get rid of it.
First, make sure that the application itself is closed. Using Command + Tab, cycle through your open applications and quit the app you’re trying to update or remove along with any apps that might be associated with it. If your app is a system utility that doesn’t have a front-end window, check for other ways to access the app’s settings, such as the menu bar.
For example, the file syncing and sharing app Dropbox uses a menu bar icon to provide access to the app’s settings as quit functions. Simply click the menu bar icon, then the settings gear, and choose “Quit Dropbox.” Look for similar options in other apps.
Next, if the app is automatically launched at startup, you can configure your Mac to not launch the app and then reboot to clear it away. To prevent an app from auto-launching, go to System Preferences > Users & Groups. Select your user account from the list on the left and choose “Login Items” on the right. Find your app in this list, select it, and press the minus button at the bottom of the list to prevent the app from automatically launching at boot.
Now, just reboot your Mac and the application should not be running after the system logs you back in to your user account. From here, you’ll be able to delete the app, change its associated files, or perform an update.
Finally, you can use Activity Monitor to kill pesky apps or processes that just won’t close. Launch Activity Monitor from ~/Applications/Utilities and make sure the drop-down menu at the top of the window says “All Processes.” Next, use either the search box or browse the list alphabetically to find the process(es) associated with your app. Select each one and press “Quit Process.”
Activity Monitor will ask you if you’d like to “Quit” or “Force Quit.” Always try “Quit” first and, if that doesn’t work — if the app is frozen, for example — repeat the process and try “Force Quit.”
To ensure system stability and minimize the chance of problems, perform the steps above in the order listed (quit using the app or menu bar, remove app from auto-launch, force quit from Activity Monitor) until you find one that works.
Absent more complicated issues, such as locked or corrupted files, once the app and its processes are no longer running, you can delete it from your Mac or safely perform updates.
Kill App In Mac Terminal
Nowadays, it is not possible to live without the help of computer. However, there are still some mysteries that the programs you work will suddenly stop working. Sometimes this is annoying as it may interrupt your work and sometimes you may need to loose the work if not saved properly. At any case, when a program is not responding you need to close it to proceed further. In this article, let us explain how to close unresponsive programs in Windows in Mac.
Related:How to install and uninstall programs in Windows 10?
Why Programs Go Unresponsive?
There are lots of reasons why a program is not responding on your Windows or Mac.
- Running too many apps in the background. For example, open 30+ tabs in browser tabs.
- Working on high memory consuming apps that use more resources and freeze other apps running in parallel. For example, leaving a video game in the background and try to work on a Word document.
- Low CPU power and RAM on your computer.
- Using inappropriate parameters like opening an Excel sheet with thousands of rows and formulae.
- Accessing outdated apps or documents that need upgrade.
Remember that your computer has limitations in terms of CPU and RAM. You should work on apps that is suitable for your computer’s resources. In addition, ensure to use latest operating system and update the apps to avoid crashing frequently. Both As long as you can switch to other apps, you can easily kill the unresponsive apps both in Windows and Mac.
How to Kill Unresponsive Programs in Windows 10?
Windows will show you “Not Responding” on the title bar whenever an app is not working. Trying to close or clicking anywhere will show a dialog prompt. The prompt may be different based on the applications and below is how it will look for not responding Microsoft Word.
You can either click on the “Restart the program” option or simply wait for the program to respond for some more time. However, if you do not see any prompt then follow the below instructions to forcibly kill the unresponsive app.
- Press “Control + Alt + Delete” shortcut keys and choose “Task Manager” option. Alternatively, right click on the taskbar and choose “Task Manager”.
- Task Manager will show you all the apps currently running on your PC. Generally, you will see a “Not Responding” message next to the app in Task Manager.
- Select the unresponsive app and click on the “End Task” button to close the app.
- Windows will instantly close the app without asking any confirmation.
All Office applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint programs offer an auto recover option to recover the unsaved work. However, you should have enabled this function before the crash happens. Learn more on how to setup auto recover in Office documents.
How to Force Quit Apps in Mac?
In general Mac is more stable operating system compared to Windows. However, you will still get problems with freezing apps due to similar reasons mentioned above. Unlike Windows operating system, you will not see any pop-up message in macOS indicating the app is not responding. You can’t view the app when switching or accessing from dock / applications folder. Follow the below instructions to quit the unresponsive apps in Mac.
Kill App In Macbook
- Press “Command + Option + Escape” shortcut keys to open “Force Quit Applications” pop-up. Alternatively, you can go to the Apple menu and click “Force Quit” option.
- The “Force Quit Applications” pop-up will show you all the apps currently running on your computer. The unresponsive apps will be shown in red with a “not responding” message in the bracket.
- Select the app and click on the “Force Quit” button to close the app.
- Unlike Windows 10, macOS will prompt you to confirm the force quitting of an app.
- Again, click on the “Force Quit” button to confirm the closure of the unresponsive app.
Hard Rebooting Computer
The above ways of quitting apps will work in Windows and Mac only when you have access to other applications. Sometime, the entire computer may freeze without the possibility of accessing the keyboard or mouse. In Windows you may see a blue screen or white screen and Mac will show you a spinning wheel without any response. In such case of system freeze, the only option is to hard boot your computer by pressing and holding the power key on your keyboard. You may need to hold the power key for around 10 seconds in order to shutdown your computer.
What About Smartphones?
End Task On Mac
It is very common to get struck with frozen apps in Android and iPhone. The reason is simple that most of the time you may be using an outdated app or OS that are not compatible. When the app is frozen and not responding, try to use App Switcher to close the app. If you are not able to switch apps then the only option is to hard shutdown by pressing and holding the power button. After shutting down, restart your phone and check the app is accessible.
Follow the below instructions, if you are not able to access the app.
Kill App Mac Os X
- Go to the app store and check whether the developer has any update for the app.
- Check you have the latest operating system.
- Try to find alternative app if the app is frequently crashing.
