This wikiHow teaches you how to close an unresponsive application on Mac OS X.
Step
Method 1 of 4: Using Apple Menu
Step 1. Open the Apple menu
This menu is indicated by the black Apple icon in the upper-left corner of the screen.
Step 2. Click the Force Quit… option in the middle of the menu
Step 3. Click the app you want to close
The message "(Not Responding)" will be displayed next to the application that is not responding
Step 4. Click Force Quit
After that, the application will be closed and can be restarted.
If the computer is not responding, you may need to restart the computer
Method 2 of 4: Using Keyboard Shortcuts
Step 1. Press the key combination +⌥ Option+Esc
After that, the "Force Quit" dialog box will be displayed.
Step 2. Click the app you want to close
The message "(Not Responding)" will be displayed next to the name of the unresponsive app
Step 3. Click Force Quit
After that, the application will be closed and can be restarted.
Method 3 of 4: Using the Activity Monitor Program
Step 1. Click Spotlight
This menu is indicated by a magnifying glass icon in the upper-right corner of the screen.
Step 2. Type "Activity Monitor" into the search field
Step 3. Click Activity Monitor on segment "Applications".
Step 4. Click the app you want to close
Step 5. Click the "Quit Process" button in the upper left corner of the screen
After that, the application will be terminated.
Method 4 of 4: Using Terminal
Step 1. Open the Terminal tool
By default, this program is located in the “Utilities” folder in the “Applications” folder.
If the usual force-closing methods don't close the application, you may need to use this method to terminate or close the program
Step 2. Type "top" and press Return key
The command " top " will display information about the applications that are currently running.
Step 3. Locate the program you want to close
In the column titled " COMMAND ", find the name of the application you want to close.
The “COMMAND” list may show truncated names for each program. Look for a name that looks similar to the program you want to close
Step 4. Look for the PID (Process ID)
Once you've found the program name, look for the number next to the name, under the PID column. Write down the PID number.
Step 5. Type "q"
The application list will close and you will be returned to the command line page.
Step 6. Type "kill ###"
Replace "###" with the number from the PID column you previously found. For example, if you want to close iTunes, and find that the iTunes PID number is 3703, type "kill 3703".
If the program doesn't respond to the “kill” command, type “sudo kill -9 ###” and replace “###” with the program PID number
Step 7. Close the Terminal window
After that, the application will be closed and can be restarted.
Tips
- You cannot force close Finder. If you select or open the Finder, the " Force Quit " button will be replaced with a " Relaunch " button.
- Before clicking " Force Quit ", double check if the app is still not responding. Sometimes, the app returns to show a response when you open the "Force Quit" window.
