{"id":553290,"date":"2023-02-17T22:00:52","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T19:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-to-kill-a-process-on-mac\/"},"modified":"2023-02-17T22:00:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T19:00:52","slug":"how-to-kill-a-process-on-mac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-kill-a-process-on-mac\/","title":{"rendered":"#How to Kill a Process on Mac"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a25e34c2272b\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a25e34c2272b\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-kill-a-process-on-mac\/#%E2%80%9CHow_to_Kill_a_Process_on_Mac%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;How to Kill a Process on Mac&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-kill-a-process-on-mac\/#How_to_Kill_a_Mac_Process_Using_Activity_Monitor\" >How to Kill a Mac Process Using Activity Monitor<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-kill-a-process-on-mac\/#How_to_Kill_a_Mac_Process_Using_Terminal\" >How to Kill a Mac Process Using Terminal<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-kill-a-process-on-mac\/#How_to_Kill_a_Mac_Process_on_a_Specific_Port\" >How to Kill a Mac Process on a Specific Port<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-kill-a-process-on-mac\/#How_to_Force_Quit_Apps_in_the_Dock\" >How to Force Quit Apps in the Dock<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CHow_to_Kill_a_Process_on_Mac%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;How to Kill a Process on Mac&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<!-- UNCACHED CONTENT --><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage alignnone size-full wp-image-872315\" data-pagespeed-no-defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/finder_kill.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Modified macOS Finder logo\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Open Activity Monitor and find the process you want to kill by sorting by resource usage or by process ID. Then click the X button at the top of Activity Monitor and select either &#8220;Quit&#8221; or &#8220;Force Quit&#8221; to kill the process.<\/p>\n<p>Is an <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lication or process causing problems on your Mac? Rid yourself of the problem app by killing it using Activity Monitor or the Terminal. You can also find and kill processes that are using specific ports on your Mac.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Kill_a_Mac_Process_Using_Activity_Monitor\"><\/span>How to Kill a Mac Process Using Activity Monitor<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The easiest way to find and kill a process that\u2019s causing an issue in macOS is to launch Activity Monitor. You can <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/864879\/spotlight-features-you-should-be-using\/\">do this using Spotlight (hit Command+Spacebar then start typing \u201cactivity\u201d and hit Enter when you see the app) or by finding and launching the app under the Applications &gt; Utilities folder.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-872314\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/list_cpu_activity_monitor.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Find running processes on macOS using Activity Monitor\" width=\"730\" height=\"377\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Activity Monitor has several views you can use to isolate problems. On the CPU tab, you can see which apps are using the most processing power right now (sort by the \u201c% CPU\u201d tab to see the hungriest processes. You can also use \u201cMemory\u201d to sort by RAM usage, \u201cEnergy\u201d to find which apps are using the most power, \u201cDisk\u201d to sort by disk usage, and \u201cNetwork\u201d to sort by data sent and received.<\/p>\n<p>On top of this, you can use the \u201cSearch\u201d box in the top-right corner to search for a process name. You can find the core process and associated processes this way, for example searching for Safari will find the core app, networking processes, individual tabs, extensions, and more.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-872313\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/search_activity_monitor.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Search macOS processes that match &quot;Safari&quot; in Activity Monitor\" width=\"730\" height=\"377\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Find the process you would like to kill and then click on the \u201cX\u201d button in the top-right left corner of the screen. You can then choose between \u201cQuit\u201d and \u201cForce Quit\u201d to attempt to send a quit command (to give the process time to save your data) or a force quit command (to kill the process im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely, ideal if it\u2019s crashed).\u00a0Find out more about identifying processes that are safe to kill on your Mac.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-872312\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/quit_process_activity_monitor.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Quit macOS process using Activity Monitor\" width=\"730\" height=\"377\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Kill_a_Mac_Process_Using_Terminal\"><\/span>How to Kill a Mac Process Using Terminal<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s also possible to kill processes from the command line using Terminal on your Mac. To do this, first launch Terminal (either using Spotlight or from the Applications &gt; Utilities folder) and run the <code>top<\/code> command to see a list of running processes. Alternatively, use <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/448271\/how-to-use-the-ps-command-to-monitor-linux-processes\/\">the <code>ps -ax<\/code> command\u00a0to see a list of processes along with the process ID (or PID for short).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-872310\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ps_-ax_terminal_command.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"List running processes by PID in macOS Terminal\" width=\"730\" height=\"423\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll need the PID to kill a process, but trawling through hundreds of processes can be a chore. Fortunately, we can identify processes using the <code>ps ax | grep AppName<\/code>\u00a0command, where AppName is the name of the application you want to find.<\/p>\n<p>For example, typing <code>ps ax | grep Safari<\/code>\u00a0will return a list of processes with \u201cSafari\u201d in the title.\u00a0Be aware that this command is case-sensitive, so searching for \u201csteam\u201d will return different results to \u201cSteam\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-872311\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ps_ax_safari_search.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"List processes that match &quot;Safari&quot; in Terminal\" width=\"730\" height=\"423\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Take note of the PID number next to the process you want to kill, then kill it by running the <code>kill PID<\/code> command. For example, <code>kill 3500<\/code>. To kill a process immediately (also known as force quit) use <code>kill -9 3500<\/code> instead.<\/p>\n<p>You can also kill a process using its name with the <code>killall<\/code> command, for example <code>killall Safari<\/code>. This will kill all processes with \u201cSafari\u201d in the name (again, processes are case-sensitive).<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Kill_a_Mac_Process_on_a_Specific_Port\"><\/span>How to Kill a Mac Process on a Specific Port<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you need to kill a process that\u2019s using a particular <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/devops\/why-are-some-ports-risky-and-how-do-you-secure-them\/\">network port on your Mac, you\u2019ll first need to find out which process is using that port. Fortunately, this is easy to do using Terminal. The command differs depending on which version of macOS you\u2019re using.<\/p>\n<p>For modern Mac computers (including Apple Silicon models) running macOS El Capitan or later, use the <code>lsof<\/code> command, for example: <code>lsof -i tcp:51413<\/code>\u00a0to find the process that\u2019s occupying port 51413. On older Mac computers you can use<code>netstat<\/code>, for example: <code>netstat -vanp tcp | grep 51413<\/code> to find the process on port 51413.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-872309\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/lsof_process_list.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"List processes using a port on your Mac with the lsof Terminal command\" width=\"730\" height=\"159\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Once you have the PID, you can then end it using the <code>kill<\/code> command as outlined above.\u00a0If you\u2019re using <code>lsof<\/code>, you can immediately kill a process based on the port it is using with the <code>kill -9 $(lsof -ti:portnumber)<\/code> command, where <code>portnumber<\/code> is the port in question.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>Why Are Some Network Ports Risky, And How Do You Secure Them?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Force_Quit_Apps_in_the_Dock\"><\/span>How to Force Quit Apps in the Dock<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If the process you want to quit is an app in your dock, you can <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/209658\/how-to-force-applications-and-processes-to-quit-on-os-x\/\">force close it which should kill it even if it has crashed and become unresponsive. To do this, find the app in your dock and right-click (or control-click) then hold the \u201cOption\u201d key on your keyboard and choose \u201cForce Quit\u201d at the bottom of the list.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-872308\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/force_quit_macos_reminders.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Force Quit a macOS app using the context menu\" width=\"730\" height=\"317\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>You can force quit anything, whether it has crashed or not, but you\u2019re more likely to lose unsaved progress by doing so. If you find that you frequently need to do this, learn how to troubleshoot crashing apps on your Mac.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/872041\/how-to-kill-a-process-on-mac\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;How to Kill a Process on Mac&#8221; Open Activity Monitor and find the process you want to kill by sorting by resource usage or by process ID. Then click the X button at the top of Activity Monitor and select either &#8220;Quit&#8221; or &#8220;Force Quit&#8221; to kill the process. Is an application or process causing&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":553291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/finder_kill.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-553290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}