Force Quit Shortcut Mac in 2023 Secret Tips

Last Updated on Jul 5, 2021

Mac App keeps freezing randomly and won’t close quickly? Force Quit Mac Keyboard shortcut makes it easy to kill the unresponsive apps and, of course, the freezing apps. In this article, we’ll be showing how to close running apps on MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, though, one of the most significant downsides of a force-quitting app is it won’t save your work and close the app right away. Like, if you’ve prepared a Word Document and, due to some reason, if you want to force restart the Mac, the force quit command will close the app without saving it unless the document is saved by you manually.

Nevertheless, to avoid app crashing and freezing, keep the macOS and installed apps up to date. So, let’s dive into the tutorial and learn how to force quit on MacBook Pro, Air, Mac in the easiest way possible.

Table of Contents

Force Quit Mac Keyboard Shortcut

1: Force Quit all apps using Shortcuts app on Mac: Monterey or later

If you’ve macOS Monterey or a later version running on Mac, don’t wait for anything, and set up Shortcuts App to Force Quit All Apps in one click.

Launch Shortcuts App in your Mac. It’s best to use Spotlight Search to open the Shortcuts App; it’s one of the best quick ways to open any program or app in Mac. Press Command+Space Bar to open Spotlight Search and open Shortcuts App. Although, you can access Shortcut App from the Launchpad.
Click on the All Shortcuts option in the sidebar, and then click on the Plus (+) button on the upper-right side.
Again in the right sidebar, you’ll see a search shortcuts bar, enter a QUIT search string, and select Quit shortcut.
Click on the App button beside the Quit option, and choose App or All Apps from the dropdown.
Furthermore, you can exclude the Apps for which you don’t want to use this Force Quit Shortcut. Its recommended adding apps like browsers in the exception list because this could kill the current downloads, even if you don’t want to. Search and add the apps that you don’t want to force quit using this shortcut app.
Next, rename the Shortcut; on the upper side, you’ll see Shortcut Name, slightly faded, click on it and enter the Shortcut’s name.
Again for ease of access, this Shortcut can be added to the Mac Top Menu Bar, so you can force quit all the apps in one click.
Click on the Settings icon in the right sidebar and check the box of Keep in Menu Bar.
Now this Force Quit shortcut will appear in the Mac top menu bar.
Click on Shortcut to run and Force close app all apps on Mac in just a single click without Keyboard and Mouse.

2: Keyboard Shortcut for Quit App on Mac

Fortunately, MacOS has a keyboard shortcut to close the currently running app in front. Earlier, we listed steps to force quit the apps using Shortcuts App. Command + Q, Keyboard Shortcut is dedicated to close the particular app that is running on the Mac. This command doesn’t force close the app, but by this, you don’t need to use the mouse and click on the Cross button.

3: Keyboard Shortcuts for Quit All Apps on Mac

Often in certain cases, apps stop responding, get freezes, and stuck on the Mac, and the cross button to close won’t work at all. During such events, force quitting the app is the right solution to use the app. Press Command + Option + Esc keys in sequence to launch the Force Quit on-screen window or Continuously Press Command + Option + Esc and to close all apps one by one.

Select the app that you wish to force quit and then click on the Force Quit button. Do the same for each app and get rid of unresponsive apps in macOS.

Force Quit Not Working on Mac

Restart Mac

Mac frozen? Or MacBook won’t force quit? No worries, let’s start troubleshooting Mac with a simple reboot. Though there are some advanced options to troubleshoot the force quit Mac not working and other issues, you should always start with basics like restarting the system. The success rate of Restarting the Mac and fixing the issue can’t be ignored

Click on the Apple menu.
Select Restart. Give it some time.

Try Safe Mode

When your application not responding to Mac without force quit, there’s something serious and needs to be fixed immediately because until and unless this issue isn’t resolved, you won’t get access to the app. We’re recommending Safe Mode; by enabling Safe Mode in Mac, it won’t let Mac to launch the apps and programs that are not required at all for basic use. So, if it’s a first-party app or program that is not responding, then try Safe Mode.

Enable Safe Mode M1 Mac:

Shut down the Mac, click on the Apple icon, and choose Shut Down.
Let the Mac shut down completely, wait for 10 seconds.
Now press and hold the Power key until the Startup Disk shows up.
Choose the Startup Disk.
Next, press the Shift button and then click on Continue to Safe Mode.

Enable Safe Mode in Intel Mac:

Click on the Apple icon and choose Shut Down.
Now power on the Mac normally, and when you hear the startup chime, press and hold the Shift key until you see the login screen. On the upper side, you should see Red Colored Safe Mode.
Log in to the Mac.

To exit the Safe Mode, restart the Mac like you always do.

Reinstall App

If a particular app is causing issues with Mac and the above tricks didn’t work for you? Then uninstalling the Mac app Complately and reinstalling the app is the right choice. However, if it is one of the Apple Services, then it can’t be removed from the system, so don’t waste your time, rather contact Apple Support and let them know what you’re dealing with.

Go to the Applications folder in Finder and drag the app to the Trash. Later, Empty Trash, too, to ensure the app is deleted from the system.

Use Clean My Mac

Clean My Mac is one of the greatest third-party app widely accepted by Mac users to get rid of junk files, apps, data, and many more things that could slow down the Mac. Since your Mac isn’t responding, then there is no hard in download and using Clean My Mac to remove the unwanted files from the Mac. It gives you a quick overview of System Junk, Photo Junk, Mail Attachments, iTunes Junk, Trash Bins, and Large/Old Files in one screen, although they are stored in random folders. Look for the data that you don’t need at all and delete it.

Also, Find out More Ways to fix Force Close app not working on Mac, Now, Use Activity Monitor, Terminal Command and