How to Force Quit a Frozen Mac App

Step by step

1. 10 sec

   Access the Force Quit menu

   Press Command + Option + Escape simultaneously to trigger the Force Quit Applications window. This dialogue box displays all currently running applications and identifies those that have become unresponsive.

   Note: If the app is frozen, it will be labeled as Not Responding in red text.
2. 20 sec

   Terminate the frozen application

   Select the name of the frozen application from the list. Click the Force Quit button located at the bottom right of the window, then confirm your choice in the subsequent prompt.

   Note: Unsaved data within the frozen app will be permanently lost.
3. 30 sec

   Use the Force Quit Dock shortcut

   If you are unable to open the menu, locate the application icon in the Dock. Hold the Option key, right-click (or Control-click) the application icon, and select Force Quit from the contextual menu.

   Note: Option + Right-click
4. 1 min

   Identify process in Activity Monitor

   Open Activity Monitor via Spotlight search or within Applications > Utilities. Navigate to the CPU tab to see a real-time list of all active processes currently running on your system.

   Note: You can sort the list by % CPU to find the application consuming the most resources.
5. 30 sec

   Kill the unresponsive process

   Select the unresponsive process from the list. Click the X button at the top of the Activity Monitor window and select Force Quit to immediately terminate the process.

   Note: Use this method only if the standard Force Quit menu fails to resolve the issue.