Even though Apple has built some of the most reliable computers, you can still sometimes experience a frozen Mac. When this happens, apps become unresponsive, the cursor turns into a spinning beach ball, and your computer overheats.
We'll show you how to fix your frozen Mac with a force shutdown. Unlike a standard shutdown or restart, a force shutdown shuts down your Mac without first saving files or closing apps. This may also be called a hard reset, a forced restart, or a force restart.
Before you force shut down your Mac
Only use force shutdown on your Mac as an absolute last resort. It can cause you to lose unsaved progress in open documents and can even result in corrupted files in your operating system.
It's a particularly bad idea to force shut down your Mac during a software update, which could leave your Mac with only half the operating system installed.
PROMOTION:
.png "3 Ways to Restart or Force Restart Any Frozen Mac (2)")
Try using CleanMyMac X to ensure your computer never freezes. Easily scan and delete junk files, check for malware, free up RAM and optimize your Mac in the best possible ways.
If possible, try to shut down your Mac normally by opening it upAppel ()menu one clickTo blockfrom the menu bar. This is much more secure, but it can take a long time for your Mac to shut down if it needs to complete updates or close apps first.
If your Mac won't shut down normally, use the following steps to reduce the risk of data loss before force shutting down your Mac.
Save open files
Your Mac is most likely to freeze when you are working on a large project. If this is the case, you don't want to lose weeks of saved progress by shutting down your Mac prematurely.
Try saving all your open files by pressingCmd + Sor chooseFile > Savefrom the menu bar. If it's possible, you might want tocreate a new Time Machine backupbefore restarting.
If your Mac freezes and you can't save anything, take a photo of your work on your phone so you can recreate it later. This is obviously not ideal, but it is better than losing your job forever.
Eject external storage devices
If you force shut down your Mac, it won't have a chance to safely eject external drives. Whether you use these drives for Time Machine backups or external storage, ejecting them in an unsafe manner can cause irreparable damage to the data.
To safely eject your external storage devices, go to yourDesktopand pull out the external driveWasteicon in the Dock. Alternative opensWinnerand clickEjectbutton next to your drive in the sidebar.
Close each app
If your Mac won't shut down normally, it's probably because one of your apps is freezing and refusing to quit. You can help matters by manually closing each app yourself. There's a chance this will free up your Mac so you don't have to force it to shut down or restart anyway.
PressCmd + Qto close your current app or click the app name in the menu bar and selectClose [App]. Switch between your open apps usingCmd + Tabto find out which other apps are still active.
You canExclude Mac appsif one of them refuses to stop normally. PressOption + Cmd + Escapeto open the Force Quit window. Select the unresponsive app in this window and then clickForce exitto close it.
After closing each app, try shutting down your Mac normally via the Apple menu (). If you're still unable to do this (or if you can't close all the apps), learn how to force shut down or restart your Mac below.
How to force a shutdown or restart your Mac
If your Mac freezes and becomes completely unresponsive, the only way to fix it is to Force Shutdown or Force Restart. The methods for force shutting down or restarting your Mac are exactly the same for a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac mini, or any other type of Mac, whether it uses an Apple Silicon or Intel chip.
Here are the three different ways to do this.
1. Press and hold the power button
Every Mac has a power button. On a laptop – such as a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air – you will usually find this at the top right of your keyboard or Touch Bar. It may have a power symbol or an eject symbol on it, or it may have a blank Touch ID sensor.
On an iMac, the power button is behind the bottom left corner of the screen. If you look at the back of your iMac, it will be located on the bottom right. On a Mac mini this is a small button on the back.
To force shut down your Mac, press and hold the power button until the screen goes black. This may take 10 seconds or more; just keep the button pressed. After your Mac shuts down, wait a moment to let it cool down and then briefly press the power button again to restart it.
If the screen was already black when you started, press and hold the power button until the Apple logo appears.
2. Use a keyboard shortcut
There are two keyboard shortcuts you can use to shut down your Mac: the first keyboard shortcut attempts to safely close apps first, while the second forces your Mac to shut down without closing anything. Therefore, it is best to try the first shortcut first.
Tap to shut down your Mac safelyControl + Option + Cmd + Power. Do not press and hold the power button or your Mac will force shut down. instead, press it briefly with the other buttons.
That shortcut may not work if your Mac can't close all apps safely. In that case, you need to force shut down your Mac. PressControl + Cmd + Flow(without option) to do this. This time, hold down the keys for a few seconds before your Mac turns off.
3. Discharge the battery
Even if your Mac is frozen, you can usually force shut it down using one of the two methods above. Still, there are some rare situations where they don't work either.
If this is the case, the next best method is to remove the power supply or drain the battery. Again, this is important to knowShutting down your Mac this way is potentially harmful. You may lose unsaved data, or worse, create corrupt files on your hard drive, causing even worse consequencesproblems with your Mac.
You should only remove power from your Mac as a last resort.
If you have a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro, disconnect the power cable and wait until the battery runs out. You may have to wait overnight for this to happen depending on the condition of your battery. But eventually your Mac will shut down. If so, charge it again and turn it on.
For older MacBook models, you can instead remove the battery from the bottom of the computer. This is a faster way to force shut down your MacBook.
If you have an iMac, a Mac mini, a Mac Studio, or another desktop Mac, simply unplug the power cable from the back of the computer. Wait a moment to let your Mac cool down, then reconnect the power cord and turn it back on.
Find out what to do if your Mac won't turn on
Usually, your frozen Mac should restart normally after you force shut it down or restart it. Any apps that weren't working should work smoothly and you can continue with the important projects you were working on.
That said, your Mac may refuse to restart if an underlying problem caused it to freeze in the first place. Potential problems range from outdated software to failed hard drives. Fortunately, you can solve many of these problems yourself.
