How To Force Quit Multiple Apps On Your Desktop
You can quit an unresponsive app on both Windows and macOS. On Windows it’s pretty easy to do via the Task Manager. Since most users have heard of and used the Task Manager at some point, quitting an app isn’t something that’s complicated. Likewise, macOS users know there’s a Force Quit option under the Apple menu on the menu bar. What users of both operating systems may not be aware of is that you can fore quit multiple apps in as well. On Windows, you’re going to need a third party app to do this but on macOS the feature has been built in for ages.
Force Quit Multiple Apps On Windows 10
Windows comes with its own Task Manager which lets you force end a task i.e. app or process. Unfortunately, it doesn’t let you force close multiple apps. To do that, you need a third party task manager and you’re going to be spoiled for choice.
Ultimate Process Killer is a free third-party task manager for Windows that lets you force quit multiple apps and processes. Select the processes you want to force close, and click the ‘Kill selected processes’ button.
Be warned that this app will list essential processes needed to keep Windows running. If you don’t know what a process is, and you quit it, you might crash Windows or freeze it. The damage won’t be permanent but you can lose unsaved work. Make sure you only quit an app process.
Force Quit Multiple Apps On macOS
On macOS, you don’t need a third party app to force quit multiple apps. You can quit them the same way you quit a single app with one small modification. First, open the force quit menu via the keyboard shortcut Command + Option + Esc.
When the menu appears, select multiple apps by holding down the Shift or Command key. The Shift key lets you select apps in order, and the Command key lets you select them out of order. Click the Force Quit button to force quit the selected apps.
The reason macOS makes this so easy and Windows simply doesn’t let you do it is because Windows doesn’t just list apps in the Task Manager. Likewise, third-party task manager apps also do not limit themselves to just apps. They list processes and an end user cannot always tell the difference between the two. macOS doesn’t do that. It lists apps and nothing else so it’s much safer to use. There’s a distinction between the Force Quit app menu and the Activity Monitor which make it safe.
