How to Force Quit Apps Using Mac Activity Monitor

When an application completely freezes in macOS 13, the standard quit command often stops working, leaving your system sluggish or unresponsive. Apple's Activity Monitor serves as a built-in task manager that lets you inspect running processes and immediately terminate stubborn programs without restarting your Mac. This guide covers the straightforward steps to locate, select, and force quit any unresponsive app using Activity Monitor in macOS 13 Ventura.

Step 1: Open Activity Monitor

1. Press Command (⌘) + Space bar to open Spotlight Search.
2. Type Activity Monitor and press Return. (Alternatively, open Finder, navigate to Applications > Utilities, and double-click Activity Monitor.)

Step 2: Locate the Frozen Application

1. In the Activity Monitor window, ensure the CPU tab is selected from the top menu bar.
2. Scroll through the list of processes to find the name of the frozen app, or use the Search bar in the top-right corner to type the app's name.
3. Frozen programs often display (Not Responding) in red text next to their name.

Step 3: Terminate the Process

1. Click on the unresponsive application to highlight it.
2. Click the Stop icon (an "X" inside an octagon) located in the toolbar at the top of the window.
3. A confirmation dialog will appear with three options: Cancel, Quit, and Force Quit.
4. Click Force Quit to immediately end the process.

The application will close instantly, freeing up your system resources and restoring normal performance.