Quit vs force quit on a Mac: what you lose with each
Quit asks an app to close itself. The app gets to save its work, put away its files and shut down in order. Force quit does not ask: macOS ends the app at once, and anything you have not saved is lost. So quit whenever the app responds, and force quit only when it has stopped answering.
That is the short rule. The rest of this page explains what actually happens in each case, what you can lose, and how to decide.
What quit does
When you press Command-Q or choose Quit from the app’s menu, the app receives a request to close. It then does its own tidying up. It may ask whether to save changes to open documents. It writes its settings, closes the files it had open and ends its own helper processes. Only when it has finished does it close, and the dot under its Dock icon goes away.
This is why a quit can take a few seconds when an app has a lot to save, and why an app can refuse to quit until you answer a question. A dialog that says “Do you want to save the changes” is the app doing its job. Answer it.
Because the app is in control, quit is safe. You lose nothing you chose to keep.
What force quit does
Force quit skips the request. macOS ends the process immediately, and the app has no chance to run anything.
What you lose is whatever was only in the app’s memory. That means changes you made since the last save, and in some apps the window layout or the place where you were. Settings the app writes on exit may also not be written, though most apps save settings as you change them.
What you usually keep is everything that was already saved to disk. Apps that autosave, as many document apps do, keep a recent copy and often offer to recover it when you open them again. How much comes back depends on the app, so never count on it.
Force quit can also leave small leftovers: a lock file, or a half-finished download. They normally clear up the next time the app starts.
Why quit sometimes does nothing
If you chose Quit and the app is still there, one of these is going on:
- It is asking you something, in a window behind others. Look for a dialog, or click the app’s Dock icon to bring it forward.
- It is busy finishing work, such as saving a large file or syncing. Give it a minute.
- It has hung. This is where the beach ball and “(not responding)” come in, and where force quit becomes the right tool.
What “Not responding” means on a Mac and how long to wait helps you tell the second from the third.
What about apps that keep running after you close the window
Closing a window is not quitting. On a Mac, most apps stay open after you close their last window, and the Dock normally shows a small dot under the icon of an app that is still running. Closing the window leaves the app running, with whatever it holds in memory. That is normal, and it is not a problem for the Mac. To quit, use Command-Q, not the red button.
It also means an app you think you closed may be the one still using the processor or memory.
How to decide
Use this order:
- Quit first. Command-Q, or Quit in the app’s menu. Always the first try.
- Wait. A minute is not long for an app that is saving.
- Force quit only if the app has stopped responding, or macOS has marked it “(not responding)”.
Force quitting a healthy app is not dangerous to the Mac, only to your unsaved work in that app. Is it safe to force quit on a Mac? looks at what can and cannot go wrong.
When force quit is the right call
- The app is marked “(not responding)” and the beach ball has not moved for several minutes.
- It is using all of a processor core and ignoring you.
- Quit has been waiting for a long time with no dialog anywhere.
- A window is stuck over the others and you cannot reach anything.
When it is not
- The app is exporting, rendering, installing or updating. Interrupting these can corrupt the result or leave it half-done.
- A save is in progress. Wait for it to finish.
- You have not looked for a dialog hiding behind another window.
How to do each
To quit, press Command-Q, or choose Quit in the app’s menu. In the Dock, right-click the icon and choose Quit.
To force quit, press Option-Command-Escape, select the app and click Force Quit. Hold Option and right-click the Dock icon for Force Quit as well. How to force quit an app on a Mac: every way that works has every route.
One tool that does both
Foreman is a Task Manager for the Mac, and its End Task button is built around this exact difference. End Task asks the app to quit the normal way, as Command-Q does, so it can offer to save your work. If the app is still open after a moment, Foreman brings it to the front, because it may be asking about unsaved changes, and offers Force Quit. Press End Task again within a minute and it force quits. An app macOS has already marked “Not responding” is force quit at once. Force Quit on an app with windows asks first, with a warning that you will lose unsaved changes.
Open Foreman with Control-Shift-Escape. It is $12 once, free for 24 hours, up to 3 Macs.