How to close all apps on a Mac at once

Updated October 25, 2026

Closing a window on a Mac doesn't quit the app. It keeps running and keeps its memory. Here's how to really quit apps, all of them at once, and how to get your setup back afterwards.

Quit apps one at a time, fast

• Press ⌘ Q in the app you're using.
• Or hold ⌘, press Tab to move to an app in the app switcher, and press Q while still holding ⌘. Keep going to quit the next one.
• Right-click an app in the Dock and choose Quit.

Close all windows of an app

Press ⌥ ⌘ W, or hold ⌥ Option and click the red close button. Every window of that app closes, but the app keeps running.

Quit several apps at once with Force Quit

1. Press ⌥ ⌘ Esc.
2. Hold ⌘ and click each app you want to close, or hold Shift to select a range.
3. Click Force Quit.

Careful: force quitting doesn't ask to save. Anything unsaved in those apps is lost. Use it for apps that are frozen, not as your everyday way to close things.

Quit every app with one click using Shortcuts

1. Open the Shortcuts app and create a new shortcut.
2. Add the Quit All Apps action. Add the apps you want to keep, like Music, to its except list.
3. Pin it to the menu bar or give it a keyboard shortcut in the shortcut's details.

Apps with unsaved work still ask you first, so nothing gets lost.

Log out without reopening anything

Choose Apple menu › Log Out and turn off Reopen windows when logging back in. Every app quits, and your Mac starts clean when you log back in.

The hard part: getting it all back

Quitting is easy. Coming back is the slow part: reopening each app, finding the right desktop, resizing windows, putting your browser tabs back. macOS only restores windows when you restart or log in, not when you quit apps yourself.

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• Stop your Mac from sleeping
• Hide desktop icons on Mac
• MacModes: one Mac for work and play