Upon typing in ps -ax, you may get a long list of output of running processes that look something like the screenshot below:

Type the following command in Terminal: kill.

To kill (force quit) a specific application, look for its name and note down the PID number.

This will give you a list of all running process on your Mac along with other details like its respective PID number, elapsed running time, process name and process location.

Launch Spotlight Search with Command + Spacebar and search for Terminal.

Choose the application you want to quit in the “Force Quick Application” dialogue box.Īlternatively, you can quit an application using shell command via Terminal.

Press and hold the following keys: Command + Option + Esc.

If your application is not responding, do the following: If you don’t want to wait it out, here are two ways how you can force quit an application that’s not responding.

If your application is not responding or you encounter the Spinning Beach Ball of Death, chances are your application has crashed. Once in a while, the application you are working on may freeze (or hang).

Enable spotlight mac os x terminal