• How Quit A Frozen App In A Macbook Air
• Command Quit On Mac
• How To Force Quit A Frozen App On Mac
• Quit Frozen App In Mac
• How Quit A Frozen App In A Macbook Pro

System cleanup in one click

A frozen or unresponsive Mac is rare, but Macs aren't immune from some of the same weaknesses as other computers. At one time or another, we've all had documents disappear, programs crash and faced that spinning beachball of dread during a busy working day.

Every Mac system has the option of C-O-E to force quit the frozen app. Just like in Windows, we use Ctrl + Alt + Dlt, similarly, we use shortcut key – Command + Option + Escape. It opens a window that displays currently active apps. All you have to do is select the frozen app and click on the below button “Force Quit”. Force-Quit Any Problem Apps If your Mac is crawling, but you still have mouse-pointer control, you can try force-quitting (or “killing”) any problem apps that might be causing the slowdown. This could be a web browser with hundreds of open tabs, a demanding image editor, like Photoshop, a game or other software that uses 3D graphics, or a.

The best thing you can do is not panic, then follow some simple instructions to get up and running again. If you are finding this is happening more often, maybe it's time to look at long-term solutions. Maybe you've not updated your operating system recently? If that is the case, then you should note a new one comes out soon. With macOS Big Sur offering lots of benefits, now is the time to give your Mac an update.

Stop Your Mac From Freezing

A powerful tools to speed up your Mac and fix keeps freezing issues.

At the same time, you may need to declutter the Mac, removing old files and long-forgotten documents to avoid troublesome Mac freezes.

Why does Mac keep freezing?

Macs are fairly powerful, durable devices. It takes a lot to slow them down, or a simple issue of the Mac running too many programs, apps and browser tabs (all of then use processing power). Like with any computer, when too much is stored and too many apps are fighting for CPU processing power, you're stuck with a spinning wheel and your beloved Mac not responding to clicks and pleas.

Apps crashing are some of the most common reasons behind a Mac freezing. Usually, an app freezing won't crash the whole Mac, but that is a risk when your memory is full, or there are lots of applications running at once.

Here are some of the main reasons Macs freeze most of the time.

Main reasons your Mac is frozen

• Too many apps running (this affects memory and cpu)
• Too many background processes (same)
• App crashed (there's a problem with a single app)
• Sluggish browser (too many tabs open)
• Overworked email client (too many attachments)
• macOS loaded with system junk or needs an update
• Not enough free hard drive space
• Hardware problem with your disk or RAM (diagnostics required)
• Malware (the ones that cause Macs to open multiple windows or draft emails, thus overloading the system)

How to fix a frozen macOS

Let's start with a bit of obvious advice: don't panic, don't do anything you'll regret, don't push every button. In this part we'll go over unfreezing a Mac and preventing issues in the future. Depending on your current trouble, we'll try to determine the core reason and what to do in each case.

First aid: How to unfreeze a Mac

First, you need to bring your Mac back to life. When it's unresponsive - either as a result of an app or the computer is struggle to function — you can either click Restart, from the main menu, or press Command-Control-Power (Eject for keyboards and iMacs) to get it to restart.

If neither of those solutions works, then you can hold the power button down which will restart the device. Not an ideal solution, since you can lose anything unsaved, but at least that should restore it to normal.

How to retrieve lost data after the freeze

What if you resurrected your Mac and realized some of the files are missing? Don't worry just yet, install Disk Drill, the world's premier data recovery software for macOS. It was created for the cases when Mac crashed and you lost data and when you accidentally deleted files. Disk Drill is powerful enough to retrieve long-lost, mistakenly deleted files from Macs, external hard drives and USB drives and camera cards. Simply open the app and scan the chosen drive or partition, preview to find exact files you want to restore and restore them.

Now, let's make sure your Mac doesn't make a freeze into a habit.

Most common Mac slow and freeze reasons and fixes

Unresponsive because of a specific app

Apps may running in the background, freeze and crash. Try to determine which apps cause the crash. You start at this: when does the crash happen? If it's when you turn on or work in a specific app, maybe you need to either reset it or remove it entirely.

FIX: To remove apps or set them to back default, use a Mac optimizer app called CleanMyMac, it's has a specific Uninstaller module which can safely perform the task. CleanMyMac is available on Setapp collection and you can use it for free during the trial period.

How to uninstall apps with CleanMyMac:

1. Find CleanMyMac in Setapp and launch it.
2. Find Uninstaller tab.
3. Find the app in question.
4. Checkmark it and click Uninstall.

To reset an app, repeat the first three items and then right-click on the arrow near the app name and select Application Reset instead. Resetting an app to default settings and cleaning up its cache can help if you're sure you really need the app and you can't afford to simply remove it.

Also, don't forget to check for app's updates, there's a change your problems sprout from an outdated version.

How to force quit a frozen or unresponsive app

When an app freezes, which becomes obvious when an application is unresponsive in the middle of something, or you are shown the spinning beachball of despair, you can Force Quit (either in the app, from the dock or main menu).

Freeze because of a cluttered desktop

A cluttered desktop can seriously slow down your Mac, and can also cause many problems. That is because every icon on your desktop is an image, not just a link, and it's redrawn each time you start your Mac.

How Quit A Frozen App In A Macbook Air

FIX: To clean up your desktop, and organize icons and files, try to use Declutter app. What this app does it groups all the files on your desktop into categories by type (or by any other principle you specify) and thus relieves your Mac from the need to draw 100 image-icons each time.

Freeze because of crushing background apps

This is usually when an app has been running without you realizing it. If your Mac freezes on startup than it's probably one of the startup items, apps that launch when your Mac turns on. You'll need to check on them and remove the extras.

FIX: Stop programs from running at startup on Mac: go to Settings > Users and Groups > Login items and uncheck any app that you don't want to launch when switching your Mac on, or restarting it. This way you'll escape weird crashes that render your Mac frozen.

Freeze because too many apps are running at once

How many are too many? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer; but once your Mac seems to struggle running simple tasks, or slows down when you've got multiple tabs or apps open, it's an indication that it is struggling to cope.

FIX: How to check what apps are running on your Mac right now? Open Activity monitor and take a look at the list of apps. Next to each you can see how much RAM and CPU power they eat up. You can switch between CPU and memory tabs to view each. Those that are the heaviest could cause the problem, so if you're sure you know what that app is, you can quit it.

How to close multiple applications on a Mac: in the Activity monitor, simply select and press the X mark in the top left corner. This will force quit the app. Resort to this only if your app is entirely unresponsive, otherwise use the menu in the top bar with the app's name, next to the apple icon. For instance Chrome > Quit Google Chrome.

In the same way you can manage processes on Mac. Rows without icons are processes. There are system ones and user-generated processes. Don't rush to quit any process before reading a little about it on Google. It might be important.

Freeze because there's no space on hard drive

An overloaded drive can be the reason your Mac fails to work properly and freezes or nearly-freezes. You can check if it's the problem by clicking the Apple icon > About this Mac > Storage. If there's not too many GB left on the free side of your disk, time to clean up.

The easy way to get rid of extra files and give your system a polish is to use CleanMyMac. It's cleaning module is everything you want from a good app: it has a one-click solution and a bunch of semi-automated options for picking out and removing large old files.

To clean your hard drive with CleanMyMac:

1. Open CleanMyMac.
2. Choose the Smart Scan in the left side
3. Click Scan.
4. Hit Run.

If you take a few moments to carefully clean up Large and Old files, you'll be gigabytes and gigabytes out, you can't imagine how much garbage hangs in there. From personal experience, it takes about half a year to clutter a Mac with random stuff.

1. Click Large & Old Files and click Scan.
2. Find what you'd like to remove in there.
3. Hit Remove.

Now, here are a few other app suggestions to free up more space.

Gemini — removes duplicated images and similar photos.

Dropshare — lets you quickly move files into the cloud.

When Mac freezes but mouse still moves

A rare case that can signal two things: your Mac is nevertheless locked up and regular solutions fit (restart, check Activity monitor, find problematic apps, clean hard drive)or there's a hardware problem.

There's a way you can check if the latter is the case without taking your Mac to a service store. Install iStat Menus and use its indicators to see if there's an ongoing problem with your drives or battery. Pay attention to the CPU temperature and battery life in particular.

Another way to diagnose your Mac would be to run a specific hardware test administered by Apple itself.

Here's how to run Apple Hardware Test

Preparation: disconnect all external devices except keyboard, mouse, display, and power connection. Put your Mac on a table or anything flat (a soft bed would be a poor choice).

1. Shut down the Mac.
2. When turning back on, immediately press and hold the D key until you see the Test icon.
3. Select language and click the right arrow or press the Return key.
4. Click the Test button to begin. You can also press T or Return.
5. Upon completion, take a look at the lower part of the window and study the results.
6. To quit, hit Restart or Shut Down at the bottom.

How to avoid a Mac freezing

When a Mac freezes, those solutions are reactive, and while you are going to be up and running again soon, you should think about fixes that will help you avoid crashes in the future.

CleanMyMac is one way to cleanup an untidy Mac. Other apps worth installing from Setapp collection include iStat Menus we mentioned before, a handy app that will quickly identify what is absorbing so much CPU processing power and advise those applications are closed. Unlike Activity Menu, iStat Menus providers users with even more useful data, and is available through Setapp, along with hundreds of other apps for Mac customers, all for one convenient price. Remember to pay attention to CPU temperature as a key potential indicator of an upcoming freeze. When it's too high, quit apps and processes that take too much of its power.

That's about it on the matter of freezing Macs, we hope this article has been of help. Every app we mentioned is available on Setapp, an app collection by subscription. More than a hundred ultra-useful tools for all kinds of Mac maintenance, lifestyle, and work tasks. Sign up to try it.

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Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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/PowerMyMac /Tips: How to Close A Frozen Program on Mac

Have you ever experienced a frozen program or app on your Mac and could not be closed normally? That’s really nettlesome and annoying because it will not only influence your experience and work but most importantly, your Mac system operation. Any abnormal reaction of a program or app on your Mac will affect the whole system or the other related part. But don’t be so nervous and frustrated, there are many ways on how to close a program on Mac that has no response. Here, we list some useful tips for you to close an unresponsive program on Mac.

Article GuidePart 1. Is It Safe to Force Quit the Frozen Programs?Part 2. 5 Easy Ways to Force Quit Unresponsive Programs on Mac

Part 1. Is It Safe to Force Quit the Frozen Programs?

Many users think it is harmful to force quit the frozen programs or applications on their Mac, for it is stated that an abnormal close will easily cause a system error. That’s true. Forcing Mac to shut down the frozen application does figure out the problem but may have after-effects. When you close a program in a traditional way, it will remind you to save your work before eliminating everything it runs in the background. However, when you forcibly close it on your Mac, you may lose your files and data, even worse, causing a mess related to this program on the drive.

Anyway, you should first know that forcibly shutting down a frozen application is the same as killing the virus in the initial stage when you get sick. You leave no chance for it to develop. We need to see the great picture and find out the reasons why this situation would happen, and then what should we do to repair it and avoid it from happening again. In that way is your Mac being well protected.

One likely reason for the unresponsive program on your Mac is that you don’t have enough storage-RAM. Many applications operate themselves by producing some temporary files or other folders. If your Mac doesn’t have sufficient memory or is fully stuck by a variety of applications, files, or folders, then when you either try to launch one or more programs at the same time or open multiple websites in a browser, the programs and websites are hard to respond. Or we should say, your Mac has insufficient memory for them to operate their containing files. That’s a similar reason for your Mac’s slow running. Thus, always optimize and clean up your Mac, releasing more space by deleting those unwanted apps or unnecessary files. Here recommends a powerful All-in-one tool-iMyMac PowerMyMac for you to regularly optimize and clean up your Mac. Just a few simple clicks to free up your Mac storage space, protect your privacy as well as speed up your MacBook or iMac.

Part 2. 5 Easy Ways to Force Quit Unresponsive Programs on Mac

1. Use A Keyboard Shortcut

Using a keyboard shortcut to force quit is one of the fastest and easiest ways to end up a frozen program, what you should do is:

• Hit and hold Command+Option+Escape on your keyboard so as to bring up a “Force Quit Applications” window,
• Select the frozen program or app name in the dialog box.
• Click the “Force Quit” button, and then this program or application will be shut down immediately.

Tip: Here is a list of keyboard shortcuts on Mac that you can use to improve your work efficiency.

2. Use the Apple Menu

The most conventional and effective way to close an unresponsive application is to go directly to the Apple Menu, what you should do is:

• Hit the Apple logo in the top left corner of the screen.
• Choose “Force Quit”.
• Select the unresponsive
• Click the “Force Quit” button.

Note: If you have no ideas on which application is frozen, pay attention to the ones that hint “Not Responding”, for this will usually appear next to the frozen apps.

3. Force Closing From the Dock

Another easiest way to shut down a frozen program or application is to close it from the Dock. What you should do is to:

• Press and hold Option on your keyboard.
• Right-click the application icon in the Dock so as to bring up the “Force Quit” option.
• Selecting “Force Quit”.

4. Use the Activity Monitor

Activity Monitor is a powerful manner to forcibly close applications, tasks or process that are running on Mac. Through Activity Monitor (shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+Del), you can efficiently and quickly end up those unresponsive programs and applications. What you should do is to:

• Click on Spotlight in the top-right corner of the screen or press Command + Space on the keyboard.
• Type“Activity Monitor” in the search field.
• Enter the Activity Monitor under 'Applications'.
• Select the applications that you want to quit.
• Click on “Quit Process” in the top-left corner of the window. This step will stop the app from operating.
  

5. Use the Terminal & Kill Command

If a normal force quit does not work, or you prefer to shut down the app by a command line method, you can try to use the Terminal. What you should do is to:

• Open the Terminal utility. (By default, this is under the Utilities folder, which located in the Applications folder.)
• Type top and press the Return button. (The top command will lead to the information about those currently running)
• Locate the program that you want to close under the column titled “COMMAND”. (The COMMAND list may use a short or truncated name for the program. Look for a name that looks similar to the program that you’d like to quit.)
• Look for the PID (Process ID). Once you find the name of the would-like quit program, look for the number to the immediate left of it under the PID column. And then write down the PID number for the following use.
• Type kill ###. Replace the ### with the PID number that you just wrote down. (For instance: If you were trying to close Skype, and the PID number you wrote down in the last step was 3562, then you should type kill 3562.)
• Type sudo kill-9 ###if the program does not respond to the kill
• Exit the Terminal after the application has been closed successfully.
  

See! There are several ways for you to resolve the problem. Pick one you like and have a try. But if you do not want your Mac to have such program unresponsive problem, you’d better nip it in the bud-to download a powerful tool like PowerMyMac to help you optimize and clean up your Mac regularly!

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