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How to Force Quit App on Macbook Pro When Frozen

David Baddeley

Have you ever been working on a project and suddenly your app or Mac freezes? It can be frustrating when your Mac keeps freezing each time you need it to be working efficiently. If that is something you have been experiencing recently, then there might be something wrong with your Mac or a specific app causing it to freeze more often.

Today, we want to look at how to force quit app on Mac and what might be causing it to freeze all the time. By the end of this guide, you should have an idea on how to deal with a frozen Mac.

Why Your Mac is Freezing

First things first, why is your Mac freezing all the time? Below are some of the reasons your Mac keeps on freezing.

  • You are opening too many apps to run at the same time. As much as Macs are known for their capabilities, just like any other computer, sometimes it can get overwhelmed. When it does not have enough resources to run several apps at the same time, it can lead to freezing.
  • Running corrupted apps and files leads to the Mac freezing. Take note of the apps that cause the Mac to freeze. For such an app, make sure to uninstall it using the CleanMyMac X software to remove all its corrupted files. This leaves you with a cleaner Mac that works as you want.
  • Each time you delete files, they do not completely leave your system. They end up in the Trash folder. So, if they keep piling for months, they take up the much-needed space. Make sure that you empty the trash more often to clear up space for your Mac to run better.
  • Running on old MacOS sometimes can have the same effect. The OS needs to be updatedmore often for it to run better. Some users were experiencing a freezing Mac from time to time. However, after updating their operating system, the Mac got responsive and faster.
  • You might have viruses or malware infections. There is no doubt that whenever you keep downloading unsafe files you end up with a virus infection. Even if a MacOS is not known for such vulnerability, it happens. As a result, it is best if you take your time to clean your system to remove the virus and malware files to keep it from freezing all the time.

How to Force Quit a Frozen App on Mac

We get it, using Ctrl+Alt+Del for windows users might seem right at their fingertips for quitting a frozen app. However, it is not hard even for Mac users.

You just have to understand the approach is different. We want to look at some of the ways you can force quit a frozen app on Mac with ease. Let us check out some of the methods below.

1. Using Apple Menu

This should be the most common method that people use right now to deal with a frozen Mac. From the Apple Menu, you can force quit an app to speed up your device.

If the app is frozen, let us say MS Word for Mac, click on the black Apple icon found in the top upper left corner of the screen. From the menu that appears, select the option “Force Quit.” A new window named “Force Quit Applications” appears listing the apps that are running. Pick the one that is frozen and then click “Force Quit.”

2. Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are important for those who need to accomplish the process faster. Here is how to do it.

  • From the keyboard, press the keys Command + Option + Esc at the same time. This will bring up the “Force Quit Applications” window.
  • Whenever this window appears, select the frozen app and click on the “Force Quit” button.

The use of the keyboard shortcut is recommended whenever you have a lagging trackpad or mouse. Such a trackpad will make it hard to reach the Apple menu and do something useful.

3. Close the App from Activity Monitor

For those who were looking for the Ctrl + Alt + Del alternative, then this is the step for you. Since combining those three keys opens a Task Manager window, in Mac we need the Activity Monitor window. From the Activity Monitor window, you will learn more about which apps are running and how much resources they are taking up.

For those who already know which App is making the Mac to freeze, you can quit it from the activity monitor. Here is how to do it.

  • The first step is to open the activity monitor. Launch the Spotlight by pressing Command + Space or click on its icon found in the top right corner.
  • Search activity monitor from the Spotlight window that appears. From there, load Activity Monitor from the highlighted search results.
  • In the activity monitor window, select the application that you need to quit and click on the quit button on the top left corner as shown in the image below. From the window that appears, click on “Force Quit” to close the app.

4. Force Quit from the Dock

Whenever an app freezes, the chances are that your dock will still be active. From the dock, it is also possible to Force Quit the app.

Go to Dock at the bottom of the screen and find the icon for the unresponsive app. Right click on this app to bring up the contextual menu. From the menu that appears as shown below, choose the option “Quit” to close the app.

Sometimes the app might remain unresponsive. To force quit it, you need to hold down the Alt key when clicking on the Quit option. With the Force Quit option, the app will close immediately and unfreeze your Mac.

What if the Mac is Still Frozen?

Even after quitting the App that makes your Mac to be frozen, it might seem that the Mac is still frozen. What should you do? We look at some of the remedies to help keep your Mac from freezing all the time.

1. Restart your Mac

Sometimes this might seem like the only option for you to get the Mac from its frozen mode. Press the power button and hold it down until a dialog box with several options shows up. The options will be Restart, Shut Down, Cancel, and Sleep. Choose the Restart option to reboot the Mac.

In severe cases, the options might not show up. In this case, keep holding the power button down until the Mac shuts off. You can now boot it normally.

2. Optimize your Mac with CleanMyMac X

CleanMyMac X is an intuitive tool you can use to optimize your mac to make it work faster if it keeps on freezing. From the reasons we had discussed earlier, sometimes a mac freezes because of the following;

  • Low on disk space
  • The RAM is full
  • Corrupt apps
  • Malware and virus etc.

Luckily, the CleanMyMac X tool can largely handle these problems all in one process. Get yourself the CleanMyMac X software and install it on your Mac. To optimize your Mac to work better, follow the following steps.

  • Launch the software after installing it on your system
  • From the window that appears, select the Smart Scanoption as shown below. We aim at optimizing all the parts of the system to make it faster. You can always pick specific tools from the same window depending on your needs.
  • From the Smart Scanwindow, click on Scan for the tool to start the process. It will go through your Mac identifying the possible ways to optimize your system and give you a report.
  • After the scan is complete, you will get the option of deleting some files, uninstalling apps, and much more. After the optimization is done, you will notice a considerable increase in the way your device performs.

3. Boost Mac Performance with MacBooster 8

MacBooster 8 is another top app that you can use for cleaning your Mac to get more space. Having more space on your hard drive will improve the overall performance of the Mac and keep it from freezing all the time.

Here are some of the things the app will do to boost the Mac’s performance;

  • Search and remove system junk
  • Identify large and old files for you to delete
  • Find duplicate files you can delete to get more space
  • Clean the memory
  • Optimize the Mac’s Startup process

Once you install and launch the app, you will see this window.

From this window, you will have the option of picking what you want to optimize. Let us say you need to Turbo Boost the Mac’s performance. Choose the Turbo Boost option as shown in the image above and click on “Boost” to start the optimization. The tool goes through the system, boosting the Mac and leaving it working better. Do the same for the other options.

In Summary

If your Mac starts to freeze more often, it is not the end of the world. Any computer might experience the same whenever there are several issues affecting it. We have discussed some of the options on how to force quit on Mac above.

You now have multiple options to follow to get your Mac working better and faster again. Also, consider optimizing the Mac occasionally to keep it working great.