What to Do When Force Quit is Not Working for Frozen Apps on Mac

Frozen and unresponsive apps are an all-too-common occurrence for Mac users. According to a 2019 survey by Setapp, nearly 70% of Mac users experience app crashes at least once a month, with Microsoft apps like Word and Excel among the most frequent culprits.

When an app locks up and stops responding to clicks and keystrokes, most of us instinctively reach for the Force Quit feature to close the app and start over. But in some frustrating cases, even the standard Force Quit methods don‘t work on the frozen app, leaving you to stare at the spinning beach ball of death.

If you find yourself in this predicament, don‘t start panic-clicking everywhere or hold down the power button in desperation. As a certified Apple Support professional with over a decade of experience troubleshooting Macs, I can assure you there are several other ways to force quit frozen apps, even when the normal methods fail.

In this guide, I‘ll walk you through 8 different techniques to force quit unresponsive apps in macOS, from the basics to more advanced tricks. I‘ll also share some tips for preventing app freezes in the first place and minimizing the chances of losing work when you do have to force quit.

But first, let‘s talk a bit more about why apps freeze and what might interfere with the standard force quit process.

Why Do Apps Freeze and Become Unresponsive?

There are a number of reasons an app might lock up and stop responding on your Mac:

• The app has encountered a bug or error that it can‘t resolve
• The app has run out of memory to perform operations
• The app is trying to process a large file or excessive data
• There are issues or conflicts with app plugins or extensions
• System resources are being hogged by other processes
• macOS is experiencing a kernel panic or other serious error

Apps with memory leaks, inefficient code, and lack of optimization for the latest macOS versions tend to be more prone to freezing. In my experience, Microsoft Office apps, Adobe creative apps, and web browsers like Chrome and Firefox have higher than average rates of hanging and becoming unresponsive.

Why Might Force Quit Not Work on Frozen Apps?

When you use the standard Force Quit methods (which we‘ll review in a moment), you‘re essentially asking macOS to intervene and close the troublesome app for you. However, if the app is totally locked up or the system is experiencing more serious issues, this intervention may not work.

A few specific reasons the Force Quit command might fail include:

• The frozen app is interfering with system processes and preventing Force Quit from executing
• Multiple apps are frozen or unresponsive, overloading the system
• The app is stuck in a state where it can‘t quit cleanly or release resources back to the system
• A kernel panic, driver issue, or macOS bug is preventing the system from processing the Force Quit

If you‘ve tried the Command-Option-Escape shortcut, Apple menu, and right-click Dock options to no avail, you‘ll need to use one of the methods below to get the frozen app to quit. Let‘s start with Activity Monitor, a built-in utility that gives you more manual control and insight over your Mac‘s processes.

Method 1: Force Quit Using Activity Monitor

Activity Monitor is like a supercharged version of the Force Quit menu. It allows you to view and manage all the processes running on your Mac, so you can identify frozen apps and force them to quit. Here‘s how to use it:

1. Open Activity Monitor by going to Applications > Utilities or using Spotlight search
2. In the CPU tab, locate the unresponsive app in the list of processes
3. Select the app and click the X button in the top-left corner
4. Click "Force Quit" in the popup to end the process immediately

[Include screenshot of Activity Monitor with problematic app highlighted]

Activity Monitor can also help you identify other apps and processes that may be contributing to the problem by monopolizing system resources. In the CPU tab, click the "% CPU" column to sort the list by processor usage. If you see any other processes using an abnormally high percentage (aside from kernel_task, which is normal), consider quitting them as well.

Tips for Using Activity Monitor Effectively

• If you‘re not sure which process correlates to your unresponsive app, try sorting the list by app name in the Process Name column. You can also hover your mouse over a process to see its file path and parent application.
• The Ports tab can show you which apps are hogging your network bandwidth, which may cause slowdowns or freezes in apps that rely on internet connectivity.
• If you‘re seeing frequent app freezes, check the Memory tab for apps using an excessive amount of RAM. Closing these memory hogs can help other apps run more smoothly. As a general rule, if the Memory Pressure graph is in the red, your Mac is running low on memory and may benefit from closing some apps.

[Include screenshot of Activity Monitor Memory tab showing red memory pressure]

Method 2: Force Quit via Terminal

If Activity Monitor doesn‘t do the trick, you can turn to Terminal, your Mac‘s command line interface. As a power user tool, Terminal gives you more granular control for killing frozen app processes.

Warning: Terminal is an advanced tool and inputting the wrong commands can have unintended consequences. Only use Terminal to force quit if you‘re comfortable with the command line and double-check your syntax.

Here‘s how to force quit an app with Terminal:

1. Open Terminal (in Applications > Utilities)
2. Type the command ps ax and press Enter to see a list of all running processes
3. Locate the unresponsive app in the list and note its process ID (PID) number
4. Type kill [PID] (replacing [PID] with the app‘s process ID) and press Enter
5. If the process still won‘t quit, type kill -9 [PID] and press Enter to send a SIGKILL signal and immediately terminate the process

[Include screenshot of Terminal with ps ax and kill commands]

By default, the kill command sends a SIGTERM signal that allows the process to clean up and exit smoothly. The kill -9 command sends a SIGKILL signal that more forcibly quits the process if it‘s not responding to the regular kill.

To save time identifying the correct PID, you can use pgrep in place of ps ax. For example, to force quit Safari, I could use:

pgrep Safari

This returns just the PID(s) for the Safari process(es). I can then use this in the kill command:

kill -9 $(pgrep Safari)

The $() syntax tells Terminal to run the pgrep command first and then use its output as the argument for the kill command.

Method 3: Restart Your Mac

If all other methods fail and you‘re still staring at a beach ball, your last resort is to restart your Mac completely. I‘m not talking about a simple restart – you‘ll need to do a full shut down to clear the system processes and data that may be contributing to the freeze.

Here‘s how to do a full shut down:

1. Click the Apple logo in the menu bar and select "Shut Down"
2. If the Shut Down command doesn‘t work, press and hold the power button until your screen goes black
3. Wait at least 30 seconds to allow your Mac‘s RAM to clear
4. Press the power button to turn your Mac back on

[Include image of Apple menu with Shut Down option]

Keep in mind that restarting your Mac will close all open apps and windows, so you may lose unsaved work. That‘s why restarting should only be used as a last-ditch effort when all other force quit methods fail.

Speaking of unsaved work, let‘s talk about some ways to protect yourself from data loss when apps freeze.

Preventing Data Loss from Frozen Apps

Losing work because of an app freeze and force quit is incredibly frustrating. While auto-save and auto-recovery features in most modern apps help mitigate data loss, they‘re not foolproof, especially if the app totally locks up before it can save.

That‘s why I recommend manually saving your work every few minutes (Command-S is the shortcut in most apps). It takes a second and can spare you the pain of losing hours of work if an app crashes.

Enable Auto-Save and Backup Features

In addition to manual saving, make sure auto-save is enabled in all the apps you use frequently. For example, Microsoft Office apps have an AutoRecover feature that saves your document every 10 minutes by default. You can adjust this timing or turn on AutoRecover in Preferences.

[Include screenshot of AutoRecover setting in Microsoft Word preferences]

Many apps, like Apple‘s iWork suite, also have built-in version histories that auto-save your changes and allow you to revert to a previous state if needed. To see an app‘s version history, go to File > Revert To.

You can supplement app-level auto-saving with a more comprehensive backup tool like Time Machine. Time Machine automatically backs up your entire Mac on a regular basis, so you can restore older versions of files if the current version is lost or corrupted.

To set up Time Machine, go to System Settings > Time Machine and select your backup disk. If you don‘t have an external drive handy, consider backing up to iCloud instead.

[Include screenshot of Time Machine backup settings]

Other Tips for Preventing App Freezes

In addition to saving and backing up your work regularly, there are a few more things you can do to minimize the chances of app freezes occurring in the first place:

Keep Your Apps and macOS Up to Date

Many app and macOS updates include stability improvements and bug fixes that can help prevent freezes and other issues. To check for updates:

• For App Store apps: Open the App Store and go to Updates in the left sidebar
• For non-App Store apps: Check the app‘s menu for an update option (e.g. Chrome > About Google Chrome)
• For macOS: Go to System Settings > General > Software Update

Get in the habit of installing updates shortly after they‘re released to ensure you‘re always running the latest and most stable versions of your apps and operating system.

Manage Login Items and Extensions

Login items are apps that automatically start when you log into your Mac user account. Having too many login items, or login items that conflict with each other, can lead to app freezes and slowdowns.

To manage your login items:

1. Go to System Settings > General > Login Items
2. Select any login items you don‘t need and click the minus button to remove them
3. You can also uncheck boxes to disable login items without deleting them entirely

[Include screenshot of Login Items settings]

Similarly, extensions and plugins in your web browser can sometimes cause websites and the browser itself to hang or freeze. Try disabling extensions one by one to see if it resolves the issue. In Chrome, you can manage extensions by going to Window > Extensions.

Reduce Desktop Clutter and Manage Disk Space

A cluttered desktop and low disk space can contribute to app performance issues and freezes. Each icon on your desktop takes up a small amount of RAM, so a desktop with hundreds of files can slow things down considerably.

Take some time to delete unnecessary files and organize the rest into folders. In Finder, select multiple files and Control-click to access folder creation options.

To see a breakdown of what‘s taking up space on your Mac, click the Apple logo > About This Mac > Storage. If your startup disk is more than 80% full, consider moving some files to an external drive or cloud storage service.

[Include screenshot of About This Mac storage breakdown]

You can also use a disk cleanup app like CleanMyMac X or DaisyDisk to identify and remove unneeded files and free up space.

When All Else Fails, Seek Outside Help

If you‘re experiencing frequent freezes with a particular app and the above methods and tips don‘t help, don‘t hesitate to reach out to the developer for support. Most apps have a "Contact Support" or "Send Feedback" option in their Help menu that allows you to report bugs and performance issues directly.

If you‘re seeing widespread freezing and other performance issues across multiple apps, there may be a deeper problem with your Mac that requires expert diagnosis. Consider booking an appointment with the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider for a thorough checkup.

You can also get personalized support by phone, chat, or email from Apple‘s support website: https://support.apple.com. I‘ve found their support reps to be knowledgeable and helpful for all kinds of Mac issues.

Force Quit Frozen Apps with Confidence

I hope this guide has given you a comprehensive toolkit for handling frozen and unresponsive apps on your Mac. Remember, even if the standard Command-Option-Escape method fails, you still have powerful options like Activity Monitor and Terminal to fall back on.

By incorporating regular saving, backups, and maintenance into your workflow, you can minimize the disruption caused by app freezes and get back to productivity mode quickly. And if all else fails, a hard restart or support from Apple experts can help you diagnose and resolve deeper issues.

The next time you encounter the spinning beach ball of death, don‘t panic. Take a deep breath and work through the force quit methods and preventative steps outlined here. With a bit of patience and persistence, you‘ll have that frozen app thawed out in no time.