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OS X Quick Tip: Quickly Close All Apps

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Today’s OS X Quick Tip is from Filip Lam. Click Here to check out his blog. Thanks Filip!

The quickest way to quit one application is to hit command+q. But what if you want to quit several?

command_tab.jpgInstead of highlighting every application you want to quit and then press a keyboard command, you can do it in this way. Hit command+tab to bring up a semi-transparent window (see picture) that let you see all open applications. Normally people use command+tab to switch application. But if you hit Q you will quit the highlighted app. You can move around by pressing the arrow keys or hit tab several times.

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Kokou Adzo

Kokou Adzo is a stalwart in the tech journalism community, has been chronicling the ever-evolving world of Apple products and innovations for over a decade. As a Senior Author at Apple Gazette, Kokou combines a deep passion for technology with an innate ability to translate complex tech jargon into relatable insights for everyday users.

3 thoughts on “OS X Quick Tip: Quickly Close All Apps

  1. Hi,
    It would be a fantastic tip if it was working!
    It is not the case with my PowerBook 15″ DVD-DL running 10.4.8

  2. Brilliant! This is working for me in OS X Lion 10.7.2

    Thanks so much for this tip! I switch from “desktop” mode to “on the go” mode with my laptop pretty frequently, and this makes the transition a whole lot faster.

    1. p.s. some apps take longer to quit than others. Some shut down as soon as I hit “q”, some take a while. If your apps aren’t closing immediately, try waiting to see if they’re in the shutdown process. Especially high RAM consuming apps like Photoshop.

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