Shutting down mac programs. How to close a program on a mac, hard reboot
On MacOS, you encounter certain inconveniences while using your computer. Which is quite natural, because the differences are quite significant. Familiar menu elements, functions, modes and options - everything is not the same as before. It’s not difficult to figure all this out, it’s just a matter of time. One of the most used and useful Windows utilities is the well-known Task Manager. Of course, the need for similar application often occurs among MacOS users. In this article we will figure out how to open the task manager on a Mac, what utility replaces it and how to use it. Let's get started. Go!
For those who switched from Windows to Mac
First of all, it should be noted that Apple developers did not provide full-fledged analogue Task Manager, however, has implemented a somewhat simplified version of this utility called " Force termination programs." Unfortunately, it does not have the range of functions that the application has in Windows, but it does an excellent job of its direct task - forcefully ending programs and processes.
Minimalistic process completion dialog
Getting into the program window is just as easy. To do this, use the key combination command+option(alt)+esc. After this, a utility window will open in front of you, in which you can see a list running processes. It's very easy to work with. Choose required process and click the “Finish” button.
Sometimes an unpleasant situation occurs when Mac OS X programs stop responding to keystrokes or mouse presses - “freezing”. Fortunately, this happens quite rarely, but if you have ever encountered such a problem (and I’m sure that at least once in your life you have encountered such a problem), then you will probably be interested and useful to learn about several ways how this “frozen” application can be terminated.
1
Force termination via apple menu.
While holding Shift key⇧ press menu Apple () and in the drop-down menu find the command “Force quit [program name]”- this is that treasured menu item that allows you to “kill” an unresponsive program.
2
Forced exit via the Dock menu.
While holding down the Alt ⌥ key, right-click on the frozen program icon (which you want to close)- a menu will appear containing the item “ Force quit" Selecting this menu item will forcefully terminate the program.
3
Forced exit via hotkey combination.
Combination Alt keys⌥ + Cmd ⌘ + Esc opens the “ Forced termination of programs" The window that appears lists all open programs. Select the frozen program, and then click on the " Complete" An active frozen application can be forcibly terminated using another keyboard shortcut, bypassing the list. To do this, use the keyboard shortcut Alt ⌥ + Shift ⇧ + Cmd ⌘ + Esc.
4
Forced exit through “System Monitoring”.
System utility System monitoring provides information about CPU, memory and network usage. In addition, through it you can also very quickly “kill” anyone system process, and not only. This is done like this: select the “hung” process from the list and click on the big red button “ End the process" After this, a dialog box will appear confirming your actions.
5
Force shutdown of an application using the Terminal.
If all the steps described above do not help, then you still have the opportunity to terminate the frozen application through the command line. To do this, run the utility Terminal and run the following command:
Killall [process name]
The only thing worse than unexpectedly crashing applications are those that stop responding to external stimuli in the face of a user desperately pressing buttons, but continue to function, consuming resources and clogging RAM digital trash. Luckily for us, there are at least 5 methods to combat this problem.
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How to close a frozen program on macOS
Method number 1 - hot buttons
Method number 2 - using the Apple menu ()
At the very top of the desktop, in the far left corner, there is a magic icon in the form of a company logo , which opens access to basic functions system - in case of a problem, click on it.
In the drop-down menu, approximately in the middle, there is a line “ Force quit", that's what we need. And then a familiar window opens with a list of running this moment applications - what to do, you already know, the buggy enemy will be quickly defeated.
Method number 3 - force closing the program from the Dock
Find the shortcut for the frozen program on the bottom panel (in the Dock) and press the button ⌥Option (Alt) and right-click with the mouse - a special service menu will open.
One of the items in the menu that opens is the same forced termination; further steps are obvious.
Method number 4 - use the Terminal
The transition from a window interface to a console interface, a more complex level of interaction with macOS in case the problem turned out to be serious and the previous methods did not bring results. The program is located in the system utilities directory - find it and run it. In the window that opens, type the command “ top” and press the enter key - this is how we instruct the computer to generate and display a short report about its current state. Including reporting on what programs are running and how they behave.
Among the variety of symbols, we are interested in the column entitled “ Command", the names of currently running applications are printed here. You need to manually find the stuck one, and it is worth considering that abbreviations are used for long names - attentiveness will not hurt.
Next to the name of the program you are looking for there is its digital number PID(system identifier) - this is what we need. In the old fashioned way, we copy it into a notepad or, keeping up with the times, take a photo with an iPhone camera.
Press the " q"- this command closes the list and moves the cursor to an empty line, the system is ready to receive new instructions and deal with the problematic application.
This is done with the loud command “ kill", after which, separated by a space, you should write the PID of the intruder. IN in this case this is Viber and 403, so the final version looks like “kill 403”.
Click " Enter" - the job is done, but if the system does not respond, you can tighten the order by typing the following command " sudo kill -9 403", should help.
As we know, MAC OS X is a fairly reliable operating system. One of the main advantages of MAC OS X over Windows is its speed. But nothing can be perfect, so programs in OS X can also freeze and refuse to close. Beginners often encounter similar problem, the user starts trying to press all the buttons, the program is loaded with additional processes even more and, as a result, not just one task freezes, but the entire MacBook.
On our website there is useful instructions about what to do if your MacBook stops listening to you and even refuses to turn off. To prevent such a situation, first you need to at least know how basic application shutdown is performed - normal and emergency. You should not immediately restart your computer if a window freezes. Of course, you can terminate the application this way. But this can be dangerous for your device and your data. What is more important to you - decide for yourself.
The MacBook is of course protected from an emergency shutdown, but sometimes a crash can still occur. As a result of such activity, we receive lost data, problematic work all operating system, and not just one service. Therefore, you need to close applications and windows correctly, because it’s not in vain that you paid so much money for a high-quality and useful thing.
Normal way to terminate a program
So, first, let's look at a simple way to complete the job. Sometimes the user is told that the window does not have that “cross” in the upper right corner to complete the work. Yes, this is possible, but then exiting the application is usually located in the left-right corner, where the main application tabs are located: menu, editing, etc. We assure you that you will find the exit button in a few seconds.
In other cases, the window or program can be closed with the provided cross in the right top corner. As you can see, there is nothing complicated. Now we move on to a frozen service or program that does not want to shut down completely and some of its processes are still hanging in the system (we say hello to all Mail.ru software).
Task Manager
So, we found that we could not close the window or program. What to do? Everything is done as simply as possible. We need to call the task manager. It is called using the keyboard shortcut Command+Option+Esc. Surely, in the years using Windows you solved problems with the program with a similar command. If not, then move on. The task manager appears in front of you - a window with a list of active and inactive (background) tasks. All we need to do is find the window that is not working.
This is done quite simply: either look for the program in the list, or simply press on the keyboard the letter with which the name of the application begins. Next, click on the program right click mouse and find the inscription “complete”. We click on it, after which the dispatcher himself solves the problem with the non-working process. Be careful, sometimes one application can have several processes. That is, in the list of running tasks you can find another application name below.
But the task manager can help us even without calling it. This method looks simpler. Select the window of the idle application (simply click on the top stroke or anywhere in the program area), and then press the following key combination
Also, there is a creature quick option to force the end of the program, press and hold for 3 seconds. the following key combination: Command + Option + Shift + Esc. After this, all tasks related to this program will close without extra menus and questions. As you can see, the MacBook is quite easy to use.
Many users highly praise Mac OS, believing that this operating system is devoid of shortcomings. Actually this is not true. There are indeed fewer bugs here than in Windows, but problems such as a program suddenly freezing do occur. Let's look at what it offers its Mac users OS to solve this problem.
Ways to close programs on Mac OS
Many of the methods discussed in this article will be similar to those in Windows. All of them are standard and do not require the user to download any third-party programs.
Method 1: Wait for the program to respond
If the program does not respond for just a couple of seconds, then you should not immediately terminate the process immediately. You may need to wait a little and the program will respond. The main thing while waiting is not to “load” the program additional requests, that is, do not click on buttons in the interface, etc. It is better to wait until it completely “unfolds” and only then continue working with it.
Method 2: Keyboard shortcut
Unlike Windows, there are two keyboard shortcut options:
- Command+Option+Esc– calls up a special menu to force programs to shut down (somewhat similar to "Task Manager");
- Command+Option+Shift+Esc– closes the current window.
Let's look at the first option in more detail:
In the case of the last long key combination, its use may be inconvenient, since you need to simultaneously hold down 4 keys and hold them in this position for about 3-5 seconds.
Method 3: Apple Menu
The essence of the method is as follows:
Method 4: Dock
On Mac OS icons open source software by default are displayed at the bottom Dock. The instructions look like this:
Method 5: Entering commands into the terminal
The terminal is a special environment where the operating system is controlled using commands (similar to the “Command Line” in Windows). Do it the following actions in the Terminal:
Method 6: System Monitoring
The interface of this utility displays running programs, as well as their impact on the system as a whole. Step-by-step instruction:
As you can see, there is nothing difficult in closing frozen applications on the operating system Mac system OS. Most often, only the first two methods described in the instructions are used.
It happens that your Mac issues system errors? It happens, unfortunately. Loaded applications do not respond to commands in any way, and one or more unloaded processes remain in memory. These and many other problematic issues can be solved in just a couple of clicks. I strongly advise you to read the instructions below - this way you will save yourself from unnecessary hassle in the further use of your Mac.
Force termination active application from the keyboard
In order to force quit an active task in Mac OS X, you need to hold down the four Command + Option + Shift + Escape buttons for several seconds. This is the most quick way unload frozen software on Mac OS X.
Force Quit Programs window
Using the keyboard shortcut Command + Option + Escape, we make the “Force Quit Application” window appear, after which we select the “End” item to close the program. The operation performed is a more simplified version of the command in System Monitoring, which allows you to free several processes from memory at once.
Force termination of a program from the Dock
You need to perform the following combination: move the cursor over the icon in the Dock and, while holding it down, ALT keyboard(Option), click the mouse. As a result, the frozen application will be forcibly closed, without additional confirmation.
Force quitting an app from the Apple menu
Hold down the Shift key on the keyboard and click with the mouse on Apple logo V top line menu. Now select the command “Finish “...” forcibly”. This method the easiest to remember. However, it happens that the computer does not react in any way to pressing these keys.
Using System Monitoring
In order to run system utility System monitoring, press Command + Space and enter the name of the program in the Spotlight window. After the dialog box appears, we find the “frozen” application either by name (as a rule, tasks that are immune to the effects are marked in red) or by identification number (ID), and then click “End process”. This method unloading unnecessary software from memory is very similar to the one used in Windows, only instead of System Monitoring there is Task Manager.
Using the Terminal to unload processes
If none of the above methods helped you, the most effective method in this situation - use command line. Launch Terminal and enter one of the following commands:
Killall [process name]
For example, with the “killall Safari” command you will kill all processes associated with the Internet browser. And in the event that you know the ID open application, which can be found using the "ps" or "ps aux" commands, you can unload a stuck program in the following way:
Kill -9 , where 9 is the aforementioned ID parameter.
You should be extremely careful when taking actions aimed at forcibly closing programs. Any termination of processes may cause the operating system to crash. And if you also work with the command line, this can lead to the loss of unsaved data and system settings failure.