How to force quit an app on a Mac: every way that works

27 October 2026 · 5 min read

The fastest way to force quit an app on a Mac is Option-Command-Escape. It opens the Force Quit Applications window: pick the app, click Force Quit, and confirm. You can also hold Option and right-click the app’s Dock icon, or choose Apple menu > Force Quit. Each of these stops the app at once, without letting it save, so use them when the app has stopped answering.

Which one to reach for depends on what is still working. If the Mac responds to the keyboard, the shortcut is quickest. If you can only reach the Dock, use the Dock. If nothing else works, Terminal is the last resort. This guide goes through each way in the order you should try them.

Option-Command-Escape: the Force Quit window

Press Option, Command and Escape together, from any app. A small window titled Force Quit Applications appears and lists the apps you have open. An app that has stopped responding is marked “(not responding)” next to its name.

Click the app, then click Force Quit. macOS asks you to confirm, because anything you have not saved in that app will be lost. Confirm, and the app is gone within a second or two.

Two things to know. First, the list shows apps only, not background processes or helpers. Second, Finder is in the list too, but it cannot be force quit the same way: selecting it changes the button to Relaunch, which restarts Finder and is useful when the desktop or its windows misbehave.

The Dock menu with Option

If the keyboard shortcut does nothing, go to the Dock. Right-click the app’s icon (or Control-click it). The menu normally has a Quit item. Hold Option while the menu is open and Quit changes to Force Quit. Click it.

This is handy when the frozen app has covered the screen and you cannot reach anything else, because the Dock is usually still answering even when an app is not. If the Dock auto-hides, move the pointer to the edge of the screen first.

The Apple menu

Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner and choose Force Quit. This opens the same window as Option-Command-Escape. It is the way to go if you cannot remember the keys.

Force quit from a task manager

If you have used Windows, you may expect a task manager that lists everything and lets you end a task. The Force Quit window is the closest macOS gives you, and it shows apps only. Foreman is a Task Manager for the Mac that fills that gap. Press Control-Shift-Escape, the same keys as on Windows, and it opens from any app with every app and process listed, and the apps that are hung marked “Not responding”.

In Foreman, select the app and use End Task. End Task asks the app to quit the normal way, as Command-Q does, so it can offer to save your work. Press End Task again within a minute and it force quits. For an app macOS has already marked “Not responding”, Foreman force quits it at once. If you want to skip the polite step, choose Force Quit (Option-Command-Delete) from the Process menu or the right-click menu. For an app with windows, Foreman asks first, because that loses unsaved changes.

Foreman is $12 once, free for 24 hours from the first launch, and works on up to 3 Macs. You do not need it to follow the rest of this guide.

Terminal: the last resort

If the app will not respond to any of the above, open Terminal. You may have to open it with Spotlight (Command-Space, then type Terminal) if the Dock is not answering.

First find the app’s process ID. Replace the name with the app you want:

pgrep -x Safari

The number it prints is the PID. Then ask the app to stop:

kill 12345

That sends the polite stop signal, called TERM. Give it a few seconds. If the app is still there, send the one that cannot be refused:

kill -9 12345

Use your own PID in place of 12345. Be careful with this command: it ends whatever process has that number, and a typo can end the wrong one. Check the number twice. How to kill a process from Terminal on a Mac, and when not to covers the commands in more detail.

Wait first, if you can

Before force quitting, check whether the app is really stuck. An app that is busy, such as one exporting a video or opening a large file, can show the spinning beach ball for a while and then recover. What “Not responding” means on a Mac and how long to wait explains how to tell a busy app from a frozen one. If the app is still working, force quitting it throws that work away.

If you have no choice, remember what you lose. Force quit stops the app at once, so changes since the last save are gone. Some apps, such as those that autosave, recover most of it the next time you open them. Quit vs force quit on a Mac: what you lose with each goes through it.

If the app will not force quit

Now and then an app stays on screen after a force quit. That is a different problem with its own steps, covered in how to force quit an app that won’t force quit. The short version: wait a few seconds, try again from the Dock, and use Terminal with the PID.

Quick reference

Option-Command-Escape: opens the Force Quit window. Best first choice.
Hold Option, right-click the Dock icon: Quit becomes Force Quit.
Apple menu > Force Quit: the same window, without the keys.
Foreman, Control-Shift-Escape: End Task, then End Task again, or Force Quit.
Terminal: pgrep, then kill, then kill -9. Last resort.