Many apps, like Safari or Chrome, use multiple processes that separate each tab into a separate process. You can also launch Activity Monitor to view a list of all running processes. Be aware that you might lose any unsaved data. Kill as many apps as you need to until your system feels stable again. You can highlight them with a click, and then kill them by clicking “Force Quit.”Īny unresponsive apps will be listed as such, and these should be killed, as they’re likely to require a restart to function normally. In this window, you’ll see any running applications. To kill apps quickly, press Command+Option+Esc to bring up the macOS “Force Quit Applications” dialog. This could be a web browser with hundreds of open tabs, a demanding image editor, like Photoshop, a game or other software that uses 3D graphics, or a large spreadsheet or word document. If your Mac is crawling, but you still have mouse-pointer control, you can try force-quitting (or “killing”) any problem apps that might be causing the slowdown. Let’s take a look at how you can do that. The other possibility is that you’ll get just enough control back to kill whatever rogue app or process is causing the issue. Once you’ve finally got control of your Mac again, save your work, close any apps you don’t need, and restart your computer. It might not be as quick as hard-resetting your machine, but it comes with less risk.

If you know for a fact that a demanding process is causing the slowdown, like a video render, this will give it time to complete. Get up and stretch or make yourself a cup of coffee, and see if your Mac is back when you return. How long you wait depends on how patient you are, but we’d recommend a minute or two. Give your Mac some time to crunch away at the problem before taking any action. Many freezes are caused by a particularly demanding task or problem application. Wait a bit before you rush to power off your Mac or wrestle back control by hammering on the keyboard.

Macbook software update freeze