How To Close App In MacOS

When you open an application on your mac, the CPU and system resources must be allocated for them to function. These resources will not be released until you close the particular program. So, to ensure that your system works at its best, you have to quit the applications that are not currently in use.

Generally, users click the red close ‘x’ button on the app’s window to close that app on macOS. But this will only minimize the app to the dock while it still runs in the background. To completely quit an app in macOS, you have to do so either from the menu bar, dock, terminal or by using a keyboard shortcut.

Table of Contents

How to Close App in macOS?

Using Menu Bar

You can close an application directly from your Apple menu bar.

Bring the application you want to quit to the foreground.
Then, from the menu bar, click the name of the particular application.
Select Quit.
If you get any prompts, save your changes and Quit the application.

Using Dock

The dock is a part of your Mac’s GUI that manages your running applications. So, through the dock, you can right-click on an application and close it completely.

Hover over the dock.
Right-click on your app’s icon.
Select Quit.
If you get any prompts, save your changes and Quit the application.

Using a Shortcut Key Combination

macOS lets you close an application directly through the keyboard as well. When the app is open and active in the foreground, you can press and hold the Command + Q buttons on your keyboard to close that app completely. This key combination even prompts you to save your document before closing the particular app.

Using Activity Monitor

The Activity Monitor lists out all the running processes on your system, along with their resource usage. It also provides you the option to close a particular process with a single button click.

Press Command + Space to open Spotlight.
Go to Activity Monitor.
Navigate to the CPU tab.
From under Process Name, select the app you want to close and click on the ‘x’ sign to close it.

Using Terminal

The terminal is macOS’s command line interface. In the terminal, you can enter a particular set of commands and request your computer to perform certain tasks. Similarly, through the terminal you can request the system to close a particular app.

Press Command + Space to open Spotlight.
Go to Activity Monitor.
Navigate to the CPU tab.
From under Process Name, locate the app you want to close.
From under PID, note the PID of the application you want to close.
Then open the Spotlight again, and go to Terminal.
Enter the following command:
sudo kill -9 *PID*

Replace *PID* with the PID of the app you want to close.
Enter your login password when prompted.
Once everything is done, type exit to exit the terminal.

Using Automator

This step will close all the running apps on your computer simultaneously. Through the Automator tool, you can create a new application through which you can quit all programs in an instant.

Open the Launchpad.
Click on Automator to open it.
On the Choose a type for your document window, select Application and click Choose.
On the search bar, search for Quit All Applications.
Drag and drop the search result on the right side of the window.
On the right side, select the Ask to save changes option.
If there is an application that you do not want to close together with other apps, click on Add current applications.
Add an application to the list.
Then, from the menu bar, go to File > Save.
On the text field, set a name for your Automator service.
Save it.
Open Launchpad.
Locate your Automator service from the grid of applications and drag and drop it on the dock.
Now, when you click on this Automator service from your dock, it will automatically quit all the running apps.

How to Force Quit an Application?

Sometimes, an application might refuse to close normally. It can then directly impact your system’s workflow and can cause the OS to glitch. In these instances, you have to force close the application.

Open Finder.
From the menu bar, click on Apple > Force Quit.
Now, on the list of running applications, choose the application you want to quit and select Force Quit.
If you get any prompts, choose to Force Quit the application.