How To Close Apps on Your Mac

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If you’re an Apple fan, you know that Mac computers are extremely powerful and user-friendly. But occasionally, you might need to close apps on your Mac for various reasons. Whether it’s because the app is running slow, or you want to free up some memory space, learning how to close apps on your Mac can be a helpful skill.

To close an app on a Mac, start by clicking the Finder icon in the Dock at the bottom of your screen. From there, select Applications from the left sidebar. Then double-click on the app that you want to close. This will open up the application window and display its contents.

Once the application window is open, look for a small red circle with an “X” in it in the upper left-hand corner of the window. Clicking this will close out of the application and free up memory space on your computer.

Alternatively, if you’d like to force quit an app that is frozen or unresponsive, click Command + Option + Escape keys on your keyboard simultaneously and then select Force Quit from the menu that appears. This will immediately close out of any applications currently running in order to clear out system resources and prevent any potential damage from being done to your computer.

It’s also possible to use Activity Monitor as another way to force quit apps on a Mac computer without having to use keyboard shortcuts or manually closing programs one by one. To open Activity Monitor, go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor and then double-click it to launch it. From there, select any applications that are currently running and click Quit Process at the top of your screen in order to force quit them instantly.

Knowing how to properly close apps on a Mac can help keep your machine running smoothly wile also freeing up system resources so that other applications can run more efficiently as well. With these tips in mind, you should be able quickly close out of any unwanted apps on your Mac whenever necessary!

How To Close Apps on Your Mac 1

Closing an App on Mac Using Keyboard

To close an app on your Mac using the keyboard, press and hold the Command (Cmd) key, then press Q. This will immeiately close the active app and return you to the desktop. If you want to quit multiple apps at once, you can hold down Command+Option and press Q. This will bring up a list of all open apps so you can select which ones to close.

Do I Need to Close Apps on My Mac?

No, you don’t need to quit apps on Mac once you’re done working in them. OS X is designed to keep your Mac running fast and efficiently, even when multiple apps are open. Compressed Memory optimizes performance by reducing the amount of data stored in memory, while App Nap puts apps that are not currently in use into a low-power state. This helps conserve energy withot sacrificing speed or responsiveness.

Viewing Running Apps on Mac

To see which apps are currently running on your Mac, you can use the App Switcher. To open the App Switcher, press and hold the Command key and then press Tab. You will see a row of application icons appear in the middle of your screen – these are the apps that are currently running. You can also open the App Switcher by pressing Command + Tab + H. From here you can select an app to switch to or quit an app by selecting it and pressing Command + Q.

Closing an Unresponsive App on a Mac

If an app on your Mac is not responding or won’t quit, there are a few ways you can force it to close. First, you can press Command-Option-Escape to open the Force Quit Applications window. Select the app that won’t quit and press Force Quit. Another option is to access the Apple menu, select Force Quit, select the app, and press Force Quit. Finally, you can right-click or Control-click on the app’s icon in the Dock and choose Force Quit.

Stopping Programs From Running in the Background on a Mac

To stop programs from running in the background on your Mac, you can use the Activity Monitor. To open Activity Monitor, press Command + Space to open Spotlight Search and type in “Activity Monitor”. Then press Enter. The Activity Monitor window will appear. You can sort programs by the amount of resources they are uing by clicking on any of the column headings at the top of the window.

To stop a program, select it from the list and click on the Stop button in the upper-left corner of the Activity Monitor window (or use the Touch Bar). You will be asked if you want to Quit or Force Quit. If you choose Quit, then the process will quit when it is safe to do so. If you choose Force Quit, then it will immediately force all processes associated with that program to quit without saving any changes.

how to close apps on mac
Source: macrumors.com

Viewing Running Background Processes on a Mac

To see what is running in the background on your Mac, open Activity Monitor from the Utilities folder in Applications. In the View menu, choose All Processes to view a list of all the processes currently running on your Mac. You can view detailed information about each process including CPU and Memory usage. This can be helpful if you are trying to troubleshoot an issue or determine which programs are using up system resources.

What Is Currently Running on My Mac?

Right now, your Mac is running a variety of processes. These can include system applications such as Finder, Dock, and Safari as well as user-installed programs and services such as browsers, email clients, media players, and more. You can see a list of all the applications currently running on your Mac using Activity Monitor. To access this utility, go to your Applications folder > Utilities folder, and then double-click Activity Monitor. From thee you’ll be able to view the CPU usage for each process and much more.

Closing Out Apps

To close out apps, you will need to use the app switcher. To access the app switcher, start by swiping up from the bottom of your device’s screen and holding your finger on the screen util you see all of your currently open apps. Once you see them, swipe up on each one of them to close it individually or press and hold on any app until a red circle with a white minus sign appears in the corner of each open app. Then tap the red circle with the minus sign to close multiple apps at once.

Forcing an App to Close

To force close an app on an Android device, open the Settings app and scroll down to find Apps, Applications or Manage apps. On certain devices like Samsung, you may need to tap Application Manager. Scroll down and locate the app you want to force close, then tap FORCE STOP. This will immedately close the app.

Conclusion

The Mac is an incredibly powerful and versatile machine, offering a wide range of features and capabilities to users. It is the perfect choice for anyone looking to work with multimedia, create content, or simply browse the web. With its impressive hardware and software, it has established itself as one of the best computers available on the market today. Its beautiful design and intuitive operating system make it easy to use, while its powerful performance gves it an edge over most other desktop computers. Whether you’re looking for a machine for gaming or productivity, the Mac will offer you an amazing experience.

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Sanjeev Singh

Sanjeev is the tech editor at DeviceMAG. He has a keen interest in all things technology, and loves to write about the latest developments in the industry. He has a passion for quality-focused journalism and believes in using technology to make people's lives better. He has worked in the tech industry for over 15 years, and has written for some of the biggest tech blogs in the world. Sanjeev is also an avid photographer and loves spending time with his family.