Written by
Connie Yang
Summary: We'll tell you how to find and close background apps on your Mac, including those you can't close. To avoid processes running in the background, use a professional app uninstaller like CleanMyMac to completely uninstall unwanted apps and avoid their left processes running in the background.
Your Mac becomes sluggish after running for a short time or even from the startup. The reduced work efficiency makes you wonder whether any processes run in the background and slow down the performance.
You're right. Too many programs running simultaneously on your Mac will exhaust limited system resources and memory. So, how to see what's running in the background?
We will help you. In this post, we show you how to close background apps on your Mac in simple steps. After that, your Mac will free up more resources and run faster.
How to see what's running on a Mac in the background?
Background processes are always automatically added to your Mac when applications are installed. They are mainly app accessories, such as app updaters, app helpers, extensions for quick app access, etc.
Most of them run secretly when the apps are not open. Processes running in the background usually won't ask for permission, making them hard to be noticed.
To see what's running on your Mac in the background, you have two ways:
Find apps running in the background in the Login Items settings
Simply click the Apple menu > System Settings > General > Login Items to check what's running in the background on your Mac.
In the Login Items settings, you will find the apps that are set to open automatically when you log in to your Mac. Some of them are manually added to the Open at Login list while some are added by themselves.
Moreover, in the Allow in the Background list, you can see all of the apps that run automatically without launching, in other words, they are background apps on your Mac.
View processes running in the background in Activity Monitor
Click Launchpad > Other > Activity Monitor, or press Command-Space to launch Spotlight and enter Activity Monitor to open it.
Next, click the memory tab, and you'll see a list of processes that consume the memory. Most of those processes are apps you open, while the others are associated processes of the running apps and leftovers of deleted apps that perform in the background.
Go to help your friends dig out the background processes on their Mac machines.
How to close background apps on a Mac?
There are multiple ways to make your Mac stop programs running in the background. You can close apps on a Mac with keyboard shortcuts. Simply press the Command + Option + Escape keys on your keyboard, and then select the apps you want to force quit on the Force Quit Application prompt. However, this way is suitable for forcing quitting frozen apps on a Mac.
If you want to close all background apps on your Mac, you should change the Login Items settings or use Activity Monitor.
Way 1. Close background apps on Mac by changing Login Items settings
- Click the Apple menu > System Settings > General > Login Items.
- In the Open at Login section, select the app and click the remove button (-) to stop the app from opening when you log in to your Mac.
- In the Allow in the Background section, disable all background apps by turning off the button next to each app. If asked, enter your admin password for changes.
Way 2. Close background apps on Mac using Activity Monitor
- Click Launchpad on the Dock > Other > Activity Monitor.
- Select the Memory tab.
- Choose each process you're unfamiliar or you want to close and click the Stop button on the toolbar.
After quitting all applications running in the background on your Mac, check if the performance is upgraded or not.
Kind you, please share the ways about how to close background apps on your Mac onto your social media to help more people who also look for the solutions.
What to do if you can't close background apps on a Mac?
If you can't close background apps on your Mac even disable them in Login Items settings or in Activity Monitor, go to check the app's built-in settings. Some apps have built-in settings that are not subject to the system, allowing themselves to open with the Mac startup and run in the background on your Mac.
That's why even if you remove them from the login items list, disable them from running in the background in the System Settings, and force kill them in Activity Monitor, these apps still run in the background or automatically open every time your Mac boots up.
Therefore, to kill the background apps that can't be closed on your Mac, you should reset their built-in settings. Open the app, go to the Apple menu bar, click the app name on the menu bar > Settings.
Tricks to stop unnecessary processes from running in the background on Mac
The overloaded background apps are wasteful of system resources and slow down the performance of your Mac.
Third-party apps always carry diverse associated programs running in the background to optimize their performance. And these associated processes usually won't be deleted if you uninstall apps by moving them to the Trash.
The remaining processes of those deleted apps on your Mac continue performing in the background and eating the memory, which are regarded as unnecessary processes.
Thus, when you uninstall your unwanted apps on your Mac, you are suggested to use a professional app uninstaller like CleanMyApp. This lightweight tool can help you uninstall apps and all of their associated files from your Mac. With it, your Mac won't be interfered with the unnecessary processes running in the background.
- Download, install, and open CleanMyApp.
- Select the app you want to uninstall on the main interface. By default, all associated files of the app are selected.
- Click Uninstall > Continue uninstall to thoroughly uninstall the app from your Mac.
Conclusion
In this post, we discuss how to close background apps on a Mac and offer you two ways. One is to disable the processes in the Login Items settings, the other is to close processes in Activity Monitor.
If you don't want the left processes of uninstalled apps to keep running in the background on your Mac, don't delete them by the move-to-Trash action, instead, choose a professional app uninstaller like CleanMyApp.
If this post helps you close all background apps on your Mac, please share it with more people.
