The fastest way to force quit frozen apps on Mac is to use the following keyboard shortcut: Command + Option + Shift + Escape. If that doesn’t work, move on to the next tip. Force Quit Mac Apps. If you cannot force-quit an app, or if macOS is completely unresponsive, follow these steps in order to reboot your Mac Click on the Apple menu at the top left of the screen, then select Restart.
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Your Mac will automatically restore the apps along with any other documents that were open at the time it was shut down. 5 Ways to Force Quit Apps on Mac The Dock. Typically, when you right-click on a running application in the OS X Dock, you will see an option to the “Quit” box. However, this may not work with a frozen app. Once you force quit the frozen app, you can restart it and use it again. Every Mac system has the option of C-O-E to force quit the frozen app. Just like in Windows, we use Ctrl + Alt + Dlt, similarly, we use shortcut key – Command + Option + Escape. It opens a window that displays currently active apps. All you have to do is. Fixing a frozen app: Why Mac OS apps freeze. There can be a few reasons why apps freeze on Mac. First, sometimes an app freezes on its own, and sometimes it takes down the whole Mac with it. Here's what could be happening: Apps freeze in the background. This could mean there are some apps running that you didn't open, they opened themselves.
Is your app freezing your Mac computer? Are you stuck at Spinning Pinwheel of Death (SPOD) when using your Mac? Does your mouse or keyboard stop working on your Mac? All these situations can be classified as Mac frozen. MiniTool Software will show you some solutions in this article to help you fix a Mac that has no response.
Quick Navigation :Mac Is Unresponsive: Are Your Bothered by This Issue?
Mac frozen is a rare issue. But this does not mean that this problem will not happen to you. No matter you are using an iMac/iMac Pro, or a MacBook Air/MacBook Pro, this problem is likely to happen. When your Mac has no response, do you know how to fix it?
As per different situations of Mac unresponsive, solutions vary. In this article, we will show you some cases of Mac frozen along with some effective methods to fix a frozen Mac.
Different Cases of Mac Frozen
Case 1: Spinning Pinwheel of Death
The spinning pinwheel is a variation of the mouse pointer arrow. It is used in Apple's macOS, indicating that the current working application is busy. Spinning Pinwheel of Death (SPOD) means that the app is not responding and the pinwheel keeps spinning and spinning. Yes, an app is freezing your Mac. It is the most common issue as to Mac frozen.
In this case, you can move your mouse or curse, but you can’t close the freezing app by clicking the close button on the top-left corner of the app. If you are facing this situation, you can take one of these measures to solve the issue:
How to Fix a Frozen App on Mac?
Fix 1: Force Quit the App
You can click the Apple menu and select Force Quit. Then, you will see the Force Quit Applications interface (you can also use the Command-Option-Esc shortcut to call out Force Quit Applications). Next, you need to select the frozen app and click Force Quit to close it.
Tip: This post shows you more methods to force quit an app on Mac: How to Force Quit Mac | 4 Ways to Force Quit an App on Mac.
Fix 2: Restart Your Mac Computer
If the above method can’t help you quit the frozen app, you can just reboot your Mac by going to the Apple menu > Restart. The app will be closed during the process.
Fix 3: Update Your Software
An outdated macOS or app can also cause a Spinning Pinwheel of Death. To rule out this possibility, you can update both your macOS and software to see whether the issue can be solved.
1. Update macOS:
Go to Apple menu > System preferences > Software Update. Another way is to go to the Apple menu > About This Mac > Software Update.
2. Update the Software Downloaded from the App Store:
Go to Apple menu > App Store > Updates.
Case 2: Your Mac Computer Has No Response
Another situation is that your Mac is unresponsive. Many factors can cause this problem like low free disk space, insufficient RAM, hard drive failure, old Mac, etc.
How to fix a frozen Mac? This part will show you some effective methods. No matter your MacBook Air keeps frozen, MacBook Pro has no response, or iMac is not responding, you can use these methods to fix your device.
How to Fix an Unresponsive Mac?
Fix 1: Force Restart Your Mac
Rebooting your Mac can fix some temporary issues that may cause Mac frozen. Since your Mac has no response this time, you need to force restart it.
Way 1:
The direct and simplest method is to hold the Power button for a while until your Mac shuts down. Then, you can press the Power button again to boot your Mac.
Way 2:
You can also hold down the Control-Command keyboard combination while pressing the Power button to force restart your Mac.
Tip: If you are using an iMac, the Power button is on the back of your Mac.
Fix 2: Unplug Any Peripherals
The connected peripheral devices may not be compatible with your macOS. You can unplug all peripherals to see when your Mac computer can go back to normal.
If external hard drive freezes computer when plugged in, how to fix? We introduce some solutions in this post, and you can choose one to help you out.
Fix 3: Free up Disk Space
Perhaps, the available free disk space on your Mac is less, making your Mac run slowly almost have no response. So, you need to clear up disk space on your Mac.
Fix 4: Repair Your Mac Hard Drive
If the above methods don’t work for you, you need to consider whether there is something wrong with the hard drive. You can use the snap-in tool, Disk Utility, to repair the hard drive.
First, you need to force close and then restart your Mac. If the machine can boot normally, you should not do anything else but go to Finder > Applications > Utilities to open this tool. Then, select the drive you want to repair and click First Aid to start the diagnosing process.
This tool can check for your drive and automatically fix the found error on it.
Bonus: How to Recover Data from Your Mac Computer?
There should be a lot of important files on your Mac computer hard drive. If you lose some of them by mistake, do you want to get them back? If yes, you can use free Mac data recovery software, Stellar Data Recovery for Mac, to have a try.
In this post, we will show you some best and free Mac Data Recovery software that is useful for you to get your lost and deleted Mac data back.
This software has a trial edition. You can use it to scan the drive that has previously saved the lost data and then you can check whether you can find your needed files from the scan results. You can go to the MiniTool official download center to download and install this software on your Mac computer.
Next, you can follow this guide to recover your Mac data:
Besides, you can also preview the scanned files by double-clicking on one file.
If you can find the files you want to rescue after checking the scan results, you can upgrade this software to a full edition. After that, you can select your needed files and then recover them to a suitable location (this location should not be the original path of the files, otherwise, the lost files may be overwritten and become unrecoverable).
You can go to the MiniTool official site to select a suitable edition based on your needs.
However, if your Mac computer hard drive fails and the machine is unbootable, you will need to use the bootable edition of Stellar Data Recovery for Mac to rescue your files. This article can be helpful: What to Do If Your MacBook Won’t Turn On? (Multiple Methods)
Fix 5: Upgrade RAM
Another reason for your Mac frozen is that it has not enough Random Access Memory (RAM). In a situation like this, it is a big burden for your Mac to work when it has to deal with a lot of work. The best way to get rid of this issue is to upgrade Ram.
This Apple official post tells you how to select a proper RAM based on your MacBook model and how to install a new RAM: MacBook Pro: How to remove or install memory. This post shows you how to do the job on iMac: Install memory in an iMac.
Fix 6: Start up Your Mac in Safe Mode
Booting into Mac Safe Mode can also find and solve issues on your computer.
Fix 7: Replace Your Old Mac Computer
If all the above methods can’t fix your frozen Mac, you should consider whether you are using an old Mac. https://cleverhopper733.weebly.com/blog/virtual-host-mac-app.
How old is an old Mac?
If your Mac computer is too old, there is no point in fixing the computer. You’d better replace it with a new one.
Case 3: Your Mouse or Keyboard Can’t Move
If you can’t remove your mouse and keyboard, you can press and hold the Power button for a while to force close your Mac. After a few seconds, you can press the Power button again to start your Mac computer and then check whether you can use the mouse and keyboard as normal again.
Case 4: Your Mac Is Attacked by Malware
This situation rarely happens. But you should not ignore this situation.
For example, when you visit a website, a phishing scam can redirect you from a legitimate website to a fake website and then tell you that your computer is attacked by a virus. The scam will offer you Mac Defender 'anti-virus' software to remove the so-called virus. This software is a Mac Defender malware. Here is a guide on how to remove this malware: How to avoid or remove Mac Defender malware in Mac OS X v10.6 or earlier.
Bottom Line
After reading this post, you should know which situation of Mac frozen you are facing and how to fix it using different methods. Moreover, if you need to recover your lost Mac data, you can try Stellar Data Recovery for Mac.
If you have other related issues, you can let us know in the comment. You can also send an email to [email protected]. We will reply to you as soon as possible.
Mac Frozen FAQ
How do I fix the black screen of death on my iMac?
iMac black screen of death can be caused by many reasons like startup disk failure, operating system not compatible, computer screen issues, and more. This article shows you more useful information: How to Fix MacBook Pro Black Screen | Reasons and Solutions.
A force shutdown on Mac may corrupt the files you are currently using. It will not save the changes you have made to your work document. So, you’d better not do this unless you don’t have other choices.
If you don’t mean to use your Mac for more than one or two days, you can shut it down. But if you want to use it just hours later, you can just put it to sleep mode. Besides, you should shut down your Mac at least once a month to clean up the temporary files in the device.
System cleanup in one click
Make your Mac fast and secure with CleanMyMac X.
A frozen or unresponsive Mac is rare, but Macs aren't immune from some of the same weaknesses as other computers. At one time or another, we've all had documents disappear, programs crash and faced that spinning beachball of dread during a busy working day.
The best thing you can do is not panic, then follow some simple instructions to get up and running again. If you are finding this is happening more often, maybe it's time to look at long-term solutions. Maybe you've not updated your operating system recently? If that is the case, then you should note a new one comes out soon. With macOS Big Sur offering lots of benefits, now is the time to give your Mac an update.
Stop Your Mac From Freezing
A powerful tools to speed up your Mac and fix keeps freezing issues.
At the same time, you may need to declutter the Mac, removing old files and long-forgotten documents to avoid troublesome Mac freezes.
Why does Mac keep freezing?
Macs are fairly powerful, durable devices. It takes a lot to slow them down, or a simple issue of the Mac running too many programs, apps and browser tabs (all of then use processing power). Like with any computer, when too much is stored and too many apps are fighting for CPU processing power, you're stuck with a spinning wheel and your beloved Mac not responding to clicks and pleas.
Apps crashing are some of the most common reasons behind a Mac freezing. Usually, an app freezing won't crash the whole Mac, but that is a risk when your memory is full, or there are lots of applications running at once.
Here are some of the main reasons Macs freeze most of the time.
Main reasons your Mac is frozen
How to fix a frozen macOS
Let's start with a bit of obvious advice: don't panic, don't do anything you'll regret, don't push every button. In this part we'll go over unfreezing a Mac and preventing issues in the future. Depending on your current trouble, we'll try to determine the core reason and what to do in each case.
First aid: How to unfreeze a Mac
First, you need to bring your Mac back to life. When it's unresponsive - either as a result of an app or the computer is struggle to function — you can either click Restart, from the main menu, or press Command-Control-Power (Eject for keyboards and iMacs) to get it to restart.
If neither of those solutions works, then you can hold the power button down which will restart the device. Not an ideal solution, since you can lose anything unsaved, but at least that should restore it to normal.
How to retrieve lost data after the freeze
What if you resurrected your Mac and realized some of the files are missing? Don't worry just yet, install Disk Drill, the world's premier data recovery software for macOS. It was created for the cases when Mac crashed and you lost data and when you accidentally deleted files. Disk Drill is powerful enough to retrieve long-lost, mistakenly deleted files from Macs, external hard drives and USB drives and camera cards. Simply open the app and scan the chosen drive or partition, preview to find exact files you want to restore and restore them.
Now, let's make sure your Mac doesn't make a freeze into a habit.
Most common Mac slow and freeze reasons and fixesUnresponsive because of a specific app
Apps may running in the background, freeze and crash. Try to determine which apps cause the crash. You start at this: when does the crash happen? If it's when you turn on or work in a specific app, maybe you need to either reset it or remove it entirely.
FIX: To remove apps or set them to back default, use a Mac optimizer app called CleanMyMac, it's has a specific Uninstaller module which can safely perform the task. CleanMyMac is available on Setapp collection and you can use it for free during the trial period.
How to uninstall apps with CleanMyMac:
To reset an app, repeat the first three items and then right-click on the arrow near the app name and select Application Reset instead. Resetting an app to default settings and cleaning up its cache can help if you're sure you really need the app and you can't afford to simply remove it.
Also, don't forget to check for app's updates, there's a change your problems sprout from an outdated version.
How to force quit a frozen or unresponsive app
When an app freezes, which becomes obvious when an application is unresponsive in the middle of something, or you are shown the spinning beachball of despair, you can Force Quit (either in the app, from the dock or main menu).
![]() Freeze because of a cluttered desktop
A cluttered desktop can seriously slow down your Mac, and can also cause many problems. That is because every icon on your desktop is an image, not just a link, and it's redrawn each time you start your Mac.
Close Frozen Apps On Mac
FIX: To clean up your desktop, and organize icons and files, try to use Declutter app. What this app does it groups all the files on your desktop into categories by type (or by any other principle you specify) and thus relieves your Mac from the need to draw 100 image-icons each time.
Freeze because of crushing background apps
This is usually when an app has been running without you realizing it. If your Mac freezes on startup than it's probably one of the startup items, apps that launch when your Mac turns on. You'll need to check on them and remove the extras.
FIX: Stop programs from running at startup on Mac: go to Settings > Users and Groups > Login items and uncheck any app that you don't want to launch when switching your Mac on, or restarting it. This way you'll escape weird crashes that render your Mac frozen.
Freeze because too many apps are running at once
How many are too many? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer; but once your Mac seems to struggle running simple tasks, or slows down when you've got multiple tabs or apps open, it's an indication that it is struggling to cope.
FIX: How to check what apps are running on your Mac right now? Open Activity monitor and take a look at the list of apps. Next to each you can see how much RAM and CPU power they eat up. You can switch between CPU and memory tabs to view each. Those that are the heaviest could cause the problem, so if you're sure you know what that app is, you can quit it.
How to close multiple applications on a Mac: in the Activity monitor, simply select and press the X mark in the top left corner. This will force quit the app. Resort to this only if your app is entirely unresponsive, otherwise use the menu in the top bar with the app's name, next to the apple icon. For instance Chrome > Quit Google Chrome. Mac mail.app plugins.
In the same way you can manage processes on Mac. Rows without icons are processes. There are system ones and user-generated processes. Don't rush to quit any process before reading a little about it on Google. It might be important.
Freeze because there's no space on hard drive
An overloaded drive can be the reason your Mac fails to work properly and freezes or nearly-freezes. You can check if it's the problem by clicking the Apple icon > About this Mac > Storage. If there's not too many GB left on the free side of your disk, time to clean up.
The easy way to get rid of extra files and give your system a polish is to use CleanMyMac. It's cleaning module is everything you want from a good app: it has a one-click solution and a bunch of semi-automated options for picking out and removing large old files.
To clean your hard drive with CleanMyMac:
If you take a few moments to carefully clean up Large and Old files, you'll be gigabytes and gigabytes out, you can't imagine how much garbage hangs in there. From personal experience, it takes about half a year to clutter a Mac with random stuff.
Now, here are a few other app suggestions to free up more space.
Gemini — removes duplicated images and similar photos.
Dropshare — lets you quickly move files into the cloud.
When Mac freezes but mouse still moves
A rare case that can signal two things: your Mac is nevertheless locked up and regular solutions fit (restart, check Activity monitor, find problematic apps, clean hard drive)or there's a hardware problem.
There's a way you can check if the latter is the case without taking your Mac to a service store. Install iStat Menus and use its indicators to see if there's an ongoing problem with your drives or battery. Pay attention to the CPU temperature and battery life in particular.
Another way to diagnose your Mac would be to run a specific hardware test administered by Apple itself.
Here's how to run Apple Hardware Test
Preparation: disconnect all external devices except keyboard, mouse, display, and power connection. Put your Mac on a table or anything flat (a soft bed would be a poor choice).
How to avoid a Mac freezing
When a Mac freezes, those solutions are reactive, and while you are going to be up and running again soon, you should think about fixes that will help you avoid crashes in the future.
CleanMyMac is one way to cleanup an untidy Mac. Other apps worth installing from Setapp collection include iStat Menus we mentioned before, a handy app that will quickly identify what is absorbing so much CPU processing power and advise those applications are closed. Unlike Activity Menu, iStat Menus providers users with even more useful data, and is available through Setapp, along with hundreds of other apps for Mac customers, all for one convenient price. Remember to pay attention to CPU temperature as a key potential indicator of an upcoming freeze. When it's too high, quit apps and processes that take too much of its power.
That's about it on the matter of freezing Macs, we hope this article has been of help. Every app we mentioned is available on Setapp, an app collection by subscription. More than a hundred ultra-useful tools for all kinds of Mac maintenance, lifestyle, and work tasks. Sign up to try it.
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