Making sense of closing applications on your Mac — the real deal
If you’ve spent any time using a Mac, you probably noticed that clicking the red close button in the corner of a window doesn’t actually turn the app off. Instead, it just hides the window, and the app keeps running in the background. This can be pretty confusing, especially if you’re used to Windows where clicking the X actually closes the app completely. I found that out the hard way, thinking my Mail or Safari kept running and draining resources — when in reality, I just needed to fully quit them if I wanted to free up RAM or stop background activity.
The common misconception: closing the window isn’t quitting the app
So, the first thing to understand is that clicking the red ‘close’ button (top-left corner) only closes the window, not the app itself. Look at your Dock—if the app icon still has a dot below it or appears highlighted, that means it’s still running. The app stays active so it can quickly reopen when you click it again, but maybe that’s not what you want if you’re troubleshooting or trying to reduce CPU usage. On my older MacBook Air, I found that the app would keep running even after I closed the window, and the performance would slow down after a while.
Properly quitting apps — what works
Using the menu: the classic way
This is the most straightforward approach. Click the app’s name in the menu bar (next to the Apple logo) and select Quit [App Name]. Or, better yet, just hit Command + Q — that’s faster once you’re used to it. This sends a signal to the app to close all processes and free resources properly. On some apps, especially complex ones like Adobe Photoshop or Chrome, this is the most reliable way to ensure everything’s shut down. Sometimes apps are stubborn and won’t close unless you do it this way.
Using the Dock — right-click or long press
If the menu bar feels slow, just right-click (or Control + click) on the app’s icon in the Dock. Then pick Quit. It’s quick, especially if your Dock is already open. Alternatively, if you press and hold the app icon, a little menu appears with the Quit option—easy and available without moving too far from your workspace. This method is super handy when you’re switching between apps fast.
Keyboard shortcut — the lightning method
If speed is your goal, Command + Q is king. Just make sure the app window is active, then hold down Command and press Q. It immediately sends a quit command. I swear by this shortcut now because it saves a lot of clicking, especially if I need to close a bunch of apps quickly. Of course, sometimes apps will prompt you to save work before quitting—so don’t forget to do that, or you might lose unsaved data. Trust me, it’s better to save than to force-quit an app accidentally afterward.
When apps refuse to quit — the stubborn ones
Ever had an app freeze or hang? Yeah, that’s frustrating. Sometimes you’re stuck with a frozen app that refuses to close normally. That’s when Force Quit comes in. You can access it via the Apple menu > Force Quit or by pressing Option + Command + Esc. A window pops up showing all running apps, and from there, you can select the problematic one and hit Force Quit. It’s usually the only way when an app is frozen or behaving badly. Just be cautious—force quitting may cause you to lose unsaved work, so only do it if you have to.
Extra tips & security warnings
If you’re doing this to free up RAM or CPU, consider checking Activity Monitor in Utilities — it shows what processes are still running even after closing apps. Sometimes background processes linger, especially with apps that don’t shut down properly. Also, keep in mind that forcing apps to quit can affect things like BitLocker or FileVault if you’re encrypting drives, or lose cryptographic keys stored in TPM if you’re doing low-level system tweaks. Clearing a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) without knowing what you’re doing can lead to loss of BitLocker keys, which might lock you out of encrypted drives. Same goes for restarting or turning off your Mac — beware if you have sensitive encryption keys or security policies set up.
And if apps keep hanging or won’t fully close, check for BIOS or firmware updates, or verify if your OEM has restrictions that prevent certain shutdown behaviors. For example, some OEMs may lock down security features in their Mac firmware, or some configurations might disable certain TPM or fTPM options. Then again, on Mac, TPM isn’t usually relevant unless you’re doing some enterprise stuff. For regular users, just knowing you can force quit or quit from the menu is enough.
Summary — the human shortcut real talk
To sum up: don’t just close the window if you want the app gone. Use the menu > Quit or a quick Command + Q. If that doesn’t work, right-click on the Dock icon and pick Quit. And if all else fails, Force Quit with Option + Command + Esc. Make sure you’ve saved everything first, especially if you’re about to force someone to close apps that are acting weird. Also, keep an eye on background processes in Activity Monitor if your Mac feels sluggish after closing stuff.
Hopefully this helps — it took way too long for me to get the hang of it and stop worrying about whether apps were truly closed. Anyway, hope this saves someone else a weekend dealing with sluggish performance or mysterious app hang-ups!