How to Force Quit Chrome on Mac

How to shut down Chrome on a Mac?

There are several ways to unfreeze Chrome on Mac. You can quit Chrome using keyboard shortcuts—a quick and easy way to fix the issue of Chrome being unresponsive. Another option is to use Finder’s force quit function to close Chrome. You can also force quit the Chrome app, reset it, or kill the Chrome process via Mac’s Terminal app.

Curious about how to achieve this? Let’s explore each fix you can try when Google Chrome is not working on a Mac.

1. Quit Chrome using keyboard shortcuts

When hitting the red button in the Chrome window won’t close the app, the force quit function often does the job. Since there are different ways to achieve this, we’ll focus on using keyboard shortcuts in this section, which is a quick solution that typically works in seconds if you know what you’re doing. Force quitting immediately cuts off all background Chrome processes and frees up memory and CPU power, making it useful when Chrome becomes so unresponsive that it doesn’t respond, no matter where you click on the screen.

To force quit Chrome using a macOS keyboard shortcut, do this:

1. Press the Option + Command + Esc keys.
2. Select Google Chrome from the list and click the Force Quit button.

2. Close Chrome with force quit Finder

Another way to close an unresponsive app is via the Apple menu. We consider it a great option when keyboard shortcuts don’t work. As using Force Quit Finder immediately closes any app that’s using too much system memory, it’s helpful when Chrome either stops working entirely, doesn’t finish loading pages, or refuses to open some tabs, making it a safe and effective solution for us to regain control of our browser and Mac without restarting it.

Follow these instructions to quit Chrome via Finder:

1. Click on the Apple menu in the upper-left corner of your screen and select the Force Quit or Force Quit Finder option.
2. Choose the Chrome app from the list of open apps in the pop-up window and click on Force Quit.

3. Force quit Chrome

While macOS isn’t short of options for helping you force close Chrome on a Mac, these methods can feel tedious, especially if you’re not familiar with Mac laptops or desktop devices. For that reason, we may turn to third-party apps to simplify the process by offering a single-click solution to close frozen or unresponsive programs.

Many third-party apps also monitor system performance in real time, automatically identifying and stopping apps that consume excessive resources. Not only can this help prevent Chrome from freezing in the first place, but it also saves time and helps maintain a smoother and faster Mac experience overall.

A note from our experts: 

 

Apps like Google Chrome often become unresponsive when they consume excessive amounts of resources. While MacKeeper’s Memory Cleaner doesn’t force quit unresponsive apps, it manages resource-intensive apps and processes on a Mac and frees up memory, which could fix the problem of them freezing. MacKeeper is developed by Clario Tech, which means it’s backed by more than five years of cybersecurity expertise you can trust.

 

Ready to offload Chrome’s resources using MacKeeper’s Memory Cleaner? Use this guide:

1. Download and install MacKeeper on your MacBook, launch it, and select Memory Cleaner on the left.
2. Click on Open > Memory Cleaner > Clean Memory.

4. Reset Chrome

Whether Google Chrome is running slowly on your Mac, underperforming, flooding you with unwanted pop-ups, or just stops working, resetting it resolves the problem by clearing temporary data such as cache and cookies and disabling extensions. And don’t worry, resetting Chrome won't delete your bookmarks, history, or saved passwords, though you will need to enable your favorite extensions again.

Here’s how to restore Chrome to default settings:

1. With Chrome open, head to the upper-right corner and choose the three-dot menu > Settings.
2. Select Reset settings > Restore settings to their original defaults > Reset settings.

5. Kill Chrome process via Terminal

When all else fails, we turn to Mac’s Terminal app to close Chrome correctly on our Macs. Terminal commands help kill background processes in Mac. But since they’re so complex, we recommend taking this route if you’re confident in navigating it and have backed up your data.

Follow these steps to close Chrome using Terminal:

1. In the Terminal app, type the sudo killall Google\ Chrome command.
2. Press Enter.

Shut down Chrome correctly on a Mac

Chrome may freeze for several reasons, such as having too many tabs open at the same time, using problematic extensions, and even having corrupted cache files that overload your system. Sometimes, Chrome becomes unresponsive when too many background processes continue running even after you close it.

As frustrating as it is when Chrome suddenly stops responding, you’ll be relieved to learn you can fix this. Your options for unfreezing Chrome include quitting Chrome using keyboard shortcuts, using Finder’s Force Quit function, resetting it, or killing the Chrome process via the Mac’s Terminal app. The good news is that none of the fixes listed in this guide will force you to restart your Mac or erase your work in order to get your browser operating normally again.

Another winning solution we love is using MacKeeper’s Memory Cleaner. While it doesn’t necessarily force quit Chrome, it manages its resource consumption and cleans your device’s memory to help improve app performance. This tool can also detect background apps consuming unnecessary RAM and immediately close them, freeing up space for smoother browsing. Regularly running MacKeeper’s Memory Cleaner can help keep Chrome responsive, reduce random crashes, and prevent system slowdowns.