How to force an app to close on your Mac
If an app stops responding and you can't close the app normally, follow these steps to force the app to close.
To close a Mac app normally, choose Quit from the app's menu in the menu bar, or press Command-Q. If the app won't close, follow these steps to force the app to close.
Force an app to close
Press these three keys together: Option (or Alt), Command, Esc (Escape).1 Or choose Force Quit from the Apple menu in the corner of your screen.
A Force Quit window will open. Select the app you want to close, then click Force Quit:
The Finder is always open, but if it stops responding, you can force it to close and then open again: Select Finder in the Force Quit window, then click Relaunch.
Find out how to close an app on your iPhone or close an app on your iPad.
If you can't force the app to close
If you can't force the app to quit, try restarting your Mac: Choose Apple menu > Restart.
If your Mac won't restart, force your Mac to turn off:
Press and hold the power button on your Mac for up to 10 seconds until your Mac turns off.2
Turn your Mac back on.
1. Even computers that have a Touch Bar It's on the left-hand side of the Touch Bar.
2. Every Mac has a power button. On Mac laptops, the power button is in the top right-hand corner of the keyboard. If the laptop keyboard has Touch ID, that key is also the power button.
