How to Kill Processes on Mac [Complete Guide]

Mac processes are the programmes that are running on a MacBook, they can be seen running on the screen itself or in the background. Activity monitor in the Mac OS helps us in knowing about these processes also the memory usage and the CPU time consumed by a particular process can be seen here.

In this article, you will learn about some of the ways through which you can kill the running process on mac. The ways that are mentioned below are very helpful in removing the processes for your MacBook.

Methods To Kill Process on Mac

Here you will find a variety of different methods that can be used to see running processes on Mac and remove/kill unwanted processes from your Mac device. These unwanted processes acquire unnecessary resources like the memory and CPU time of the Mac device. One can use the best Mac cleaner app MacKeeper to kill these processes.

1. Use The Activity Monitor

Activity Monitor is an application in Mac OS same as the Task Manager in the Windows operating system. Here Mac shows running processes along with the total memory used by them and many other things. Also, which application uses the most power and data of your network, you can keep an eye on them.

To open the Activity Monitor on your Mac press Command + Space together on the keyboard, then you need to search for the activity monitor and double-click on it to open.

Now to find the processes which are slowing down the machine, you need to follow the steps as mentioned below:

1. Firstly click on the CPU tab from the top.
2. A list of all processes will appear here, processes according to the % of their CPU usage can be found here.
   
3. For the app/processes using most RAM, click on the Memory tab.
   
4. Here the list of all the processes using most RAM is seen under the memory header.

As you have found the processes which are slowing down your MacBook, to kill all those follow these steps:

1. Firstly double-click on the desired process.
2. Then click on the Quit button from the screen that appears on the monitor.
3. At last, confirm your action by clicking again on the Quit button.
   

This is the way through which you can kill processes on your Mac OS computer. If you are not comfortable using the activity monitor try other ways which are listed below.

Also Read: How to Flush your DNS Cache on Mac to Fix Websites Not Loading

2. Run Force Quit on The Mac Device

The next method to kill the processes on your Mac device is with the help of the Force Quit option from your device. This method is useful when an application becomes unresponsive and it may refuse to close. Such types of applications use unnecessary system resources and it is very important to close them.

Follow the steps as mentioned below to force quit a process on your Mac device:

1. Firstly from Mac’s menu bar click on the Apple logo.
2. Select Force Quit.
3. Now click on the application that has frozen, and click on the Force Quit button to close that application.
   
4. Lastly, you need to confirm your action by clicking the Force Quit button again.

The frozen application will close automatically after this action, restart your computer for the proper functioning of your device.

You can also access this Force Quit tool on your Mac OS computer by pressing the Command + Option + Escape keys together on the keyboard.

A list of applications and processes will be displayed on the screen and you can directly force quit them by clicking the Force Quit button.

Both the methods which are mentioned in this article are manual ways of killing the processes on your Mac device. Both of these are time-consuming, that’s why most users don’t prefer using them. The next method that is mentioned is an automatic way of doing this work.

Also Read: Macbook Won’t Charge – Here is How to Fix Macbook Not Charging

3. Use Best Mac Cleaning App

Last but not least, you can use third-party tools like the best Mac cleaning app for killing the processes safely on your Mac device. Such types of tools can easily find all the processes using unnecessary system resources of your device and close them to free up the RAM safely without damaging the device.

Software like MacKeeper is the best mac cleaner app available for this purpose. This software automatically detects all the processes which are unnecessarily using the resources of your device and clears them so that the device could work better.

To install the MacKeeper on your Mac device follow these steps:

1. First of all, go to the official website of the MacKeeper software.
2. Go to the download section and search for the latest version of the software.
3. Click on the download button and wait till the downloading gets completed.
   
4. Once the downloading is completed open the software file and install the software according to the steps displayed on the screen.

Now as the MacKeeper is installed on your Mac device follow these steps to free up the RAM of the device:

1. Open the MacKeeper software on your Mac device.
2. Go to the sidebar and click the memory cleaner to open it.
3. At last click on the clean memory button, this will quickly free up the RAM on your device.
   

MacKeeper is also used for removing junk and duplicate files from your Mac device. It also saves your device from threats such as malware, ransomware, and spyware. MacKeeper comes with a user-friendly interface that is very easy to use for the users.

Also Read: How to Fix kernel_task High CPU Usage on Mac (2021 Guide)

This is an automatic way of killing the processes on your Mac device, this method is also preferred and recommended by most Mac users. As they find it much easier than the manual methods that are listed above in this article.

Final Words

These are some of the best methods to kill unwanted and unnecessary processes from your Mac OS device. All the methods mentioned here are very useful and effective. All of them will help you with cleaning the storage used by these processes and helps in the proper functioning of your Mac device.