How To Stop Mac From Adding Apps To Dock
Mac How To Stop Apps From Adding To Dock Lines
Mac How To Stop Apps From Adding To Dock Settings

Do you encounter a frozen app on your Mac and can’t quit it normally? That spinning beach ball makes you crazy? Instead of just sitting and getting more frustrated, force quit an app that’s not responding. Thankfully, you’ve got options to close the unresponsive apps.

The Dock in macOS Mojave has a new, very helpful feature: It now displays recently-used apps. It’s handy when you’re going through a phase of using a particular app frequently, but you don’t.

We’ve prepared five Mac force quit ways, so you can pick the one that works best for you. Moreover, we’ll tell you how to prevent the programs from hanging and what to do if your whole Mac stops responding.

If you couldn’t care less about returning quickly to a recently-closed app, or find the addition a distraction, follow the steps further below to turn it off. How to hide recent apps in your Mac’s Dock. Here’s how to disable Recents in the Dock. 1) Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu. 2) Click the icon labeled Dock. Delay Start is a free Mac app available in the Mac App Store that allows you to choose a delay time for startup apps to launch. Just the app, add all the apps you want to delay the launch of in the ‘Apps to be started:’ list using the + button, enter a time (in seconds) for the delay, and that’s it. How to keep apps in the Dock on your Mac. There are two basic ways that I like to go about keeping often-used apps in the Dock. The first way is to simply right-click on the app icon in the dock → Options → and select Keep in Dock. Once you do this, the app will stay permanently affixed in the Dock, even if you close the app.

Mac How To Stop Apps From Adding To Dock

How to Force Quit Mac Applications

Force quit from the Apple menu

Here’s how to force quit an app from the Apple menu:

Click on the Apple logo in the top left corner of your screen.
Select Force Quit.
Choose the app that’s not responding.
Click on the Force Quit button.

Force quit from the Dock

If you wonder how to force quit an app on Mac using the Dock, check out these simple steps:

To open the dock menu, right-click on the application icon you want to shut down or click on the item and hold.
Hold an Option (Alt) button, so the Quit menu changes to Force Quit.
Click Force Quit.

As simple as that!

Force quit using the keyboard shortcut

Alternatively, you can use a force quit Mac shortcut to close an unresponsive app. Do the following:

Press and hold the following keys: Command + Option + Esc.
Select the program you want to quit from the dialogue box.
Click Force Quit.

This method of force quit command Mac is especially useful if your mouse cursor is lagging a bit.

Force quit using the Terminal

If you prefer a command line method to solve the problems, you can quit an unresponsive app via Terminal. Here’s what you should do:

Launch the Terminal.
Type the following command: killall [application name]. For example, if Safari isn’t responding, type killall Safari.
Click Enter. Your application will be shut down immediately.

Note that the killall command works at the system level and the auto-save option doesn’t work. Be careful not to lose your unsaved data.

A better way to force quit apps — CleanMyMac X

A smart maintenance app like CleanMyMac X has a problem of force quit on Mac covered. You can easily force quit program on your Mac with an Optimization utility. It has a special Hung Applications tool that allows to identify and fix the unresponsive app right away.

A direct access saves you time and allows to fix a frozen app in a matter of seconds. CleanMyMac also takes care of other performance issues, so if you want to get alerts when something goes wrong on your Mac, download CleanMyMac X for free and give it a try.

How To Stop Mac From Adding Apps To Dock

Fixing an app that hangs frequently: Short tips

You may notice that a particular app freezes quite often. It is natural to assume that there is something wrong with that application. But don’t worry, there are a few things you can do to fix the hanging app.

First of all, update an app to the latest version. App developers are constantly working on improvements, trying to deliver the best experience to users. The latest update may resolve all problems with the freezing app.

The next step is to clear the app’s cache, especially if you use it frequently. If there’s not enough free storage, a program won’t run smoothly. Once you delete the cache files, an app may start working normally.

Mac How To Stop Apps From Adding To Dock Lines

You may also try to delete an app and reinstall it. Usually it resolves the problem of a frozen app.

What to do when your Mac freezes

Typically it’s just an app that hangs, but on rare occasions the Mac may freeze entirely and become completely unresponsive to anything. This is often accompanied by fans that work quite loudly, demonstrating a fully frozen Mac. To solve the problem, you need to shut down your computer and boot it again.

Here’s how to force reboot your Mac:

Hold down the Power button until your Mac shuts down completely. This may take about 5 seconds.
Wait a few seconds and then hit the Power button again to boot the Mac.

As you may presume, this method is not perfect. Any unsaved information may be lost due to the sudden shutdown. However, sometimes it’s the only way to make your computer running.

That’s it. We hope this guide has helped you to force close Mac app that’s not responding. Keep in mind, with regular maintenance, your computer will be at tip-top shape, running at its best. And software like CleanMyMac X can help you keep an eye on your Mac. It can reset and delete apps, free up RAM, clean up the system, take care of the startup programs that slow down your computer, and speed up your Mac with its maintenance scripts. And that’s what will help you avoid problems with frozen apps on your Mac.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

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The Dock is the center point of navigation on macOS. It’s the first place you go to after starting up the Mac. But, this does not mean that the Dock is perfect. Despite Apple’s continuous upgrades, there are a few things that you can’t do such as removing native apps, stretching the Dock to the sides, etc. That’s why I have made the list of the best Mac Dock customization apps. Let’s begin.

You have two choices here. You can either use these apps and the Mac Dock side by side. Alternatively, you can go ahead and hide the dock. As of now, it is not possible to permanently disable the Mac dock. The maximum you can do is prevent it from showing up every time you open something. Either way, these Dock replacements will be worth your time.

Read: Best Weather Apps for Mac

Customize Mac Dock

1. DockShelf

DockShelf lets you create multiple docks when one is not enough. In many ways, that’s true too. You can have multiple sub-docks to keep things better organized and easy to access in the long run.

By default, DockShelf is placed on the left side of the screen. There are three different sections, for Places, Notes, and Apps. Hovering on the section icons will open up the sub-docks. For instance, you can find the usual apps in the Apps section. Unlike the traditional dock, DockShelf lets you keep extra links and even files for easy access.

It’s hard to customize DockShelf, all of the options are crammed in a small interface which makes it hard to navigate. DockShelf offers a set of additional features such as Smart Folders and Desktop Docks.

Salient Features

Basic and Intuitive
Supports multiple docks

Check out DockShe