All instructions in this article use macOS Catalina (10.15), but the basic concepts apply to all later versions of the macOS.
How Do You Kill a Task on a Mac?
Perhaps the easiest and quickest way to kill a task on a Mac—another way to refer to quitting a program—is to use the macOS Dock. Here’s what to do:
How Do You Force Quit an Application on a Mac?
If the application you want to quit is frozen up or won’t respond to other commands, try using macOS’s built-in Force Quit menu. Force Quit is just what it sounds like—a more powerful version of the Quit command you can use when Quit isn’t working. Here’s what to do:
How Do I Stop Apps From Running in the Background on My Mac?
The final way to quit a program, especially a frozen program, is also how you stop apps from running in the background. Many programs can perform tasks in the background, allowing them to perform functional tasks for you while you’re doing something else (for example, Mail checking your email while you browse the web or Music playing a song while you work on a spreadsheet).
Apple menu > Force Quit.Press the option + command + Esc keys at the same time.
Background tasks are usually helpful, but they can sometimes go awry, use memory, or drain your battery. In those cases, you’ll want to stop the app from running in the background by following these steps:
Force Quit: Click this when you want to close a program right away. This is best for apps that are frozen.Quit: Click this to quit the program when doing so won’t cause data loss or interfere with other programs.
