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If you’re a Mac user, you may want to see at a glance what apps are open and what’s going on at any given moment to help you jump to or exit all selected apps seamlessly. In this article, we will show you three easy methods to view the applications you have running on your Mac.
Method 1: Check the Dock
The easiest way to see open apps is to look at your Dock, which is the row of app icons at the bottom of your screen. Keep in mind; it displays icons for all open applications, including full-time apps, minimized documents, and active or inactive applications. You can click an icon to go to a currently open app, and you can right-click (or Ctrl-) and select Exit to close it. You can change the Dock settings by going to System Preferences and selecting the ‘Hide or show the Dock automatically’ option.
Method 2: Check the Force Quit Applications Menu
Press ‘Cmd + Alt + Escape’ to see the Force Quit Applications menu. This displays all running apps and allows you to force quit them if needed, and you can click Force Quit to close them.
Method 3: Activity Monitor
If you want to see all processes, including apps and system processes, use the Activity Monitor tool. You can find it easily by searching for it in the Spotlight or in Applications>Utilities. The default view lists all apps, activities, and processes alphabetically. To sort them, click the column headings, and if you highlight any of the apps/processes, the top options will light up, allowing you to end or inspect the process.
Using these three methods, you can effortlessly see what apps are open and manage them to improve your Mac’s performance and productivity.
FAQs
1. What should I do if I can’t close an app on my Mac?
If you can’t close an application, try using the Force Quit option through the Applications menu or the ‘Cmd + Alt + Escape’ command. You can also try to restart your Mac or log out of your user account to close any open apps or processes.
2. Can I change the name of the apps displayed in Activity Monitor on my Mac?
No, you cannot change the name of the apps displayed in Activity Monitor as they are system names assigned by macOS to each application or process.