For those of us who have converted from PCs to Macs, the Control+Alt+Delete option still remains foremost in our minds as the ultimate solution to the frozen computer. On a Mac however, if the swirling beach ball of waiting appears on your screen, you wonder if those three magic buttons will work the same magic.
There are a few ways to force quit applications as well as force your Mac to shut down. Force quit should only be used as a last resort since it will result in loss of any work that has not been saved.
How to stop an application from opening
If you accidentally clicked on a program in your dock and want to stop it from opening, put your arrow over the bouncing icon and press Control while holding down your left mouse button. Force Quit will be one of the options that appears.
The Force Quit Applications window
Lucky for us, there are two ways to access the Force Quit Applications window.
- Under the Apple in the menu bar, select Force Quit. This option will be available under the apple icon no matter what program you are in or how many you have running. A small ‘Force Quit Applications’ window will pop up where you can highlight the application you wish to force quit. Once highlighted, click on the Force Quit button. A secondary window will appear, asking you to verify your decision.
- The Force Quit Applications window can also be opened by pressing Command+Option+Escape. Once open, the approach is the same as above. Highlight the application you wish to force quit and click on the Force Quit button.
Immediate shut down of one application
Another approach to take in force quitting only one application is to hold down Command+Option+Shift+Escape for 3 seconds. This will only shut down the application in the forefront of your computer. Meaning, the application in which you are currently working or the application titled in your menu bar. This option will close your application immediately, not giving you any choices on which application you would like to close or confirming your selection.
