How to Force Quit an App on Mac OS Big Sur

If your Mac experiences an unresponsive app and it takes so long to close, and sometimes you just need to close an app quickly to get back to work. Fortunately, you have choices, and in macOS, there’s more than one way to push an unresponsive app to quit. So, in this guide, you are going to learn how to force quit an app on Mac OS Big Sur in 4 different ways.

Bear in mind that, unlike the usual way to quit the application, there will be no reminders telling you to save your job or affirm your decision. If you’ve hit the power off, it’s too late for any of that, because macOS can automatically shut down the app without any prompts. Just a word of warning—the use of force should be the final resort.

Meanwhile, in most instances, since it will be frozen and you won’t be able to access it, you’ll know which app isn’t running properly. But by flipping between your settings, you can still work it out. You’ll see a usual arrow cursor when an app runs perfectly. You can see the colorful wait cursor when a frozen app isn’t answering.

Force Quit an App on Mac OS Big Sur

So, here are the 4 methods to force quit an app on Mac:

Method 1. Force Quit from the Dock

• For an app whose icon you have parked in the Dock, you can right-click on the icon and hit the Option key. With the Option key pressed, the Quit menu item turns into Force Quit.

Force Quit from the Dock

Method 2. Force Quit from the Apple Menu

This is a fairly straightforward option and the first method recommended by Apple.

• Click the Apple logo on the top left-hand corner and select Force Quit.

Force Quit

• The Force Quit Applications window will pop up, presenting you with a list of applications currently open on your Mac. Click Force Quit.

• A pop-up window will ask if you’re sure you want to force quit. If you are, hit the Force Quit button again. Mac will force the app to quit.

Method 3. Force Quit with Mac Shortcut

If that doesn’t work, it’s time for keyboard shortcuts.

• Press the option +  command + Esc keys simultaneously. 
• The Force Quit Applications window will pop up, presenting you with a list of applications currently open on your Mac. Click Force Quit.
• A pop-up window will ask if you’re sure you want to force quit. If you are, hit the Force Quit button again. Mac will force the app to quit.

Method 4. Force Quit from the Activity Monitor

If you are using the Activity Monitor to see how much system resources a sluggish or unresponsive app is consuming, you can Force Quit the app from right within the Activity Monitor. To do so, highlight the app you want to close, click the X button in the upper-left corner of the Activity Monitor window and then click the Force Quit button.

Here’s how it’s done:

• From the top right corner of your screen, click on the magnifying glass icon. This will bring up the Spotlight Search window.
• Search for Activity Monitor and open it.
• The Activity Monitor will display, listing all of the processes working on your Mac. From the Process Name column, find the app that’s not working properly. Select the app by clicking on it and then click the x icon at the top.

• Now, simply select Force Quit.

Is it Safe to Quit by force?

The same thing as killing the signs when we get infected versus treating the infection is pressuring a frozen program to stop. We ought to consider the broader picture to consider what causes the issue and how it can be cured while learning how to keep it from happening again.

The number one reason that we have an issue with frozen software on a Mac is that there is not enough RAM or, in other words, a lack of machine memory to run the device relative to the number of apps that you normally open (including those numerous open tabs in a browser). So, it becomes unresponsive if the machine uses all of its existing resources to run the job. Like a real workbench, think of RAM. The more memory (space) you have to work on, the more tasks you will work on. With less space? Less power to work at once on several items.

It does fix the issue by pressuring Mac to quit the application but can have downsides. It would clean anything it runs in the background and warns you to save the job when you close an application in a conventional way. You can end up missing files and data when you force close on the Mac or screw things up on the disk. While the effect may only be linked to the one individual program that got stuck, it can still hurt.

This is how you can force quit an app on Mac OS Big Sur the above-mentioned methods. However, this methods also work on macOS Catalina and prior to that.

Read more:

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• What is the Shortcut for Save As on a Mac & How to Enable it?

• How to Clear Safari Browsing History on macOS Big Sur

• How to Use Activity Monitor to Troubleshoot Problems on a Mac