Easy ways to exit out of a frozen computer program

Sometimes a program will just not respond to any commands and will need to be forcibly shut down. There are a few different ways to do this, depending on the severity of the broken program, and your operating system.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Using Task Manager (Windows)

  1. 1
    Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Del. This combination of keys will open up a screen with four options: Lock, Switch User, Sign out, and Task Manager.
  2. 2
    Click on Task Manager. Task Manager on Windows contains information about processes, programs, and services currently running on your system.
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  3. 3
    Switch to the Task Manager window. If after clicking the Task Manager link, you do not see any window pop up, it may be hidden behind the frozen program. Try pressing Alt+Tab to switch to the Task Manager window.
    • Solve this problem in the future by clicking on the Options tab in the upper left corner off the Task Manager window, then make sure Always on top is selected from the dropdown menu.
  4. 4
    Find and click on the unresponsive program. The program will likely be under the Apps header. In the Status column, the unresponsive program will be marked by a Not responding tag.
  5. 5
    Click End Task. Once a program is selected and highlighted, click the End Task button in the bottom right-hand corner of the Task Manager window. Click End Program from the pop-up dialog box when prompted.
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Troubleshooting

  1. 1
    Click the Processes tab. If ending the task from the Applications tab/list, you may have to end the actual process. If you are using Windows 8, you will have to click More Details from the bottom of the Task Manager window to reveal the Processes tab.
  2. 2
    Find the process and click it. There will be a lot more in the Processes list than in the Applications list, since it also lists background processes. You may need to search a bit to find your process.
  3. 3
    Click End Process. Once you have found and selected the correct process, click the End Process button from the bottom right of the Task Manager window.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Using the Command Prompt (Windows)

  1. 1
    Open Command Prompt as administrator. Press Win then type cmd. Right-click the Command Prompt icon and select Run as Administrator from the dropdown menu.
    • If prompted, select Yes from the pop-up dialog box.
  2. 2
    Terminate the program. Type taskkill /im filename.exe into the Command prompt and press Enter. Replace 'filename' with whatever the title of the program is. For example, if you were trying to close iTunes, you would replace it with 'iTunes.exe'.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Using Force Quit (Mac)

  1. 1
    Open Force Quit. Press Command + Option + Escape to open the Force Quit window. You will see a list of all active programs.
  2. 2
    Force quit the program to close. Find the unresponsive program, select it, then click the Force Quit button in the bottom right of the window.
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Expert Q&A
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  • Question
    What should I do if my Mac is completely frozen?
    Chiara Corsaro
    Chiara Corsaro
    Phone & Computer Repair Technician
    Chiara Corsaro is the General Manager and Apple Certified Mac & iOS Technician for macVolks, Inc., an Apple Authorized Service Provider located in the San Francisco Bay Area. macVolks, Inc. was founded in 1990, is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with an A+ rating, and is part of the Apple Consultants Network (ACN).
    Chiara Corsaro
    Phone & Computer Repair Technician
    Expert Answer

    Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

    At that point the only thing you can do is do what's called a hard shut down, which means that you hold the power button down for about five to 10 seconds, wait for the computer to shut down completely, and then restart it.
  • Question
    What if I can't select anything from the force quit menu?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    You're going to have to do one of two things. The first is trying Cmd + Q, or Cmd + Shift + Q. The other option is soft resetting your Mac by holding the power key for 6 seconds. After releasing, press it once to turn the computer back on.
  • Question
    How do I unfreeze my iPad from Pinterest?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Click the home button twice, swipe Pinterest up and it will close.
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References

  1. Chiara Corsaro. Computer Specialist. Expert Interview. 18 October 2019.

About This Article

Chiara Corsaro
Co-authored by:
Phone & Computer Repair Technician
This article was co-authored by Chiara Corsaro. Chiara Corsaro is the General Manager and Apple Certified Mac & iOS Technician for macVolks, Inc., an Apple Authorized Service Provider located in the San Francisco Bay Area. macVolks, Inc. was founded in 1990, is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with an A+ rating, and is part of the Apple Consultants Network (ACN). This article has been viewed 215,229 times.
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Co-authors: 19
Updated: December 10, 2022
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