Running apps take up a lot of memory and slow down your Mac. Many of you minimize the apps for later use, but since they are running in the background, it uses your system resources which may slow it down. It’s better to quit those apps running in the background or apps that you no longer use. Here are some ways to quickly close running apps on your Mac.
It happens that apps on Mac don’t always respond to user commands, so active processes still occupy the system memory. You may need to force quit apps to fix a frozen Mac. In this article, we share the ways how to close frozen programs on Mac, including the case when force quit on Mac is not working. App Cleaner & Uninstaller finds all types of startup programs on Mac and allows you to easily disable or enable them. Follow this link to download the app for free. Run App Cleaner & Uninstaller. Go to the Startup Programs section. Select unneeded apps and switch their toggle buttons or click the Disable button.
Using Terminal 1. Open the Terminal utility. By default, this is in the Utilities folder, located in the Applications folder. Type 'top' and press ⏎ Return. The “top” command displays information about the applications that are currently. Find the program you want to close. Under the column. Close All Open Apps on Your Mac with a Single Click Step 1 Open Automator. Open up Automator from your Applications folder or through Spotlight, then select 'Application'. Step 2 Choose Apps to Close & Keep Open. Through the list of actions shown in the middle window, find 'Quit All.
1) Close Apps Via Close Button
One of the most common ways to close the running apps is the Close button. The best way to close an app window using the trackpad is the Close button, you can always close the app by navigating the cursor on the ‘X’ located in the top left corner of the app window.
Apps Running In Background
2) Quit Apps From Menu bar
![How to Quit Open Programs on Mac - OS X Tips - LAPTOP ... How to Quit Open Programs on Mac - OS X Tips - LAPTOP ...](/uploads/1/3/4/2/134205377/229557946.jpg)
Another way to close the app is to use the Menu bar. The menu bar lets you quit the running app by navigating the cursor on the Menu bar on the top, clicking on the App name, and selecting Quit.
- Menu bar -> App Name -> Quit
3) Quit Apps Using Command + Q
A quick way to close the running app without the trackpad is to use the keyboard shortcut. Press the Command + Q on while the app is running, this will quit the app running on your Mac.
- Command + Q
4) Quit Apps Using Command + Tab And Q
Here another quick keyboard shortcut that will allow you to quit the running apps. To close running apps on your Mac, press Command + Tab to switch to the running apps, but don’t let go of the Command key. Release the Tab key on the app you want to quit and press Q while holding the Command key.
Pro Tip: Press H instead of Q to hide the app from the running list.
5) Close Apps From Dock
A simple way to close the running apps is to use the Dock. On the Dock at the bottom, you can find the list of apps with a small dot below the icon. This indicates that the app is running, go ahead and close the app by right-clicking o it and selecting quit.
- Dock -> Right Click On App -> Quit
6) Force Quit Apps
If an app on your Mac stops responding and you can’t quit the app normally, use Force Quit to close the app.
Launch the Force Quit using the keyboard shortcut,
- Command + Option + Esc
This is similar to pressing Control + Alt + Delete on a Windows PC to open the task manager.
Or use the Menu bar on the top left corner, go to the Apple icon and click on it. Choose Force Quit from the list and select the app you want to close forcefully by clicking Force Quit.
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Close Running Programs On Mac
What are startup items?
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Startup items, or login items, are services and applications that launch every time you start your Mac. These are applications that sneak into startup items without notice, never asking if you need or want them there. This way you may end up with a dozen apps launching as soon as you turn on your Mac, weighing heavily on its processor and memory capacities and slowing it down. Such items can increase your Mac’s startup time and decrease its performance.
Plus, sometimes when you remove an application or a service, it leaves a login item with a broken link. These broken login items are completely useless, cause unwanted messages, and waste your Mac's resources (because they look for non-existent applications). Whether you're running macOS Catalina or El Capitan, or earlier — it's all the same, so just read on.
So, let's go over how to take control of login items, and how to get rid of unwanted, broken or hidden startup items.
How to disable startup programs?
Do you want to stop programs from running at startup? There’s an easy way to remove programs from startup and get your Mac to load faster on launch. The fastest way to turn off startup items on Mac is an app like CleanMyMac X.
- Download CleanMyMac for free.
- Launch the app.
- Open Optimization tab.
- Click on Login items.
- From the list of apps, disable the ones you don’t need on startup.
- Done!
How to change startup programs manually?
Disabling Mac startup programs is possible manually. Therefore, if you have some time and would like to do it yourself, follow the steps below.
Your login items are listed in settings. One of the easiest ways to control startup items is inside System Preferences > Users & Groups.
- Open System Preferences.
- Go to Users & Groups.
- Choose your nickname on the left.
- Choose Login items tab.
- Check startup programs you want to remove.
- Press the “–” sign below.
- You’re done.
- If you need to add an item back, press “+” and choose the app you’d like add.
- Then restart your Mac to see the changes.
How to fix broken startup items?
Broken Mac startup files are left there because some part of apps are left on your Mac long after you’ve moved the app to the Trash. To get rid of these parts and to fix your startup, you’re going to need CleanMyMac again. First, you need to check if they’re among startup items and disable them if so. You can do it following the instructions above. Then you need to remove app leftovers. CleanMyMac works fine on macOS High Sierra and earlier OS.
- Launch CleanMyMac.
- Choose Uninstaller tab.
- Scroll through the list of apps.
- If you spot any app that you’ve deleted, check them.
- Delete the app leftovers you’ve chosen.
You can also find and remove broken login items with the help of System Junk module:
- Choose System Junk tab.
- Click Scan.
- Review details and click Clean.
Finally, you need to clean your macOS startup items through launch services:
- Open Maintenance tab.
- Choose Rebuild Launch Services.
- Hit Run.
- Done.
Once you do it, all broken app data on your Mac will be fixed.
Remove daemons and agents from startup process
If speaking of files, first go to the system folder /Library/StartUpItems. Here you’ll find all the startup files that are being launched with the system. You can delete the login item you think is necessary if you’re totally sure what you are doing.
Also, the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder contains a bunch of preference files that define how the application that is being launched along with the system should work. You might want to delete some of these files as well if you know you don’t need them and removing them is safe.
The /Library/LaunchAgents contains preference files responsible for the apps that launch during the login process (not the startup).
The above-mentioned folders contain app-related files. However, you can also check system folders to review whether you need some of the system applications to be running on startup:
- /System/Library/LaunchDaemons - note that besides preference files this folder contains other important system items that are recommended to keep untouched.
- /System/Library/LaunchAgents - most probably, you won’t also find anything worth removing in this folder, however, keeping this location in mind might help you find files related to a problematic app that causes troubles on Mac startup. If you have a problematic application that messes about on login, you can try to trace it back from this folder.
But, if you’re looking for simple ways to remove login items, we suggest using a professional Mac utility. Download CleanMyMac X for free and make unwanted and broken login items a thing of the past.