We never like to have problems with our computers, right? However, some of them are inevitable. Sometimes your apps don’t work, your Mac gets slow, you see a spinning wheel of death, and more. Understanding the root of some problems can be difficult; fortunately, there are some troubleshooting tools to diagnose what’s wrong with your Mac.

In MAC, you have to use the shortcut Command+Option+Esc to close misbehaving applications. Function of Command+Option+Esc and Force Quit Option To force quit misbehaving applications in Windows, you use the Ctrl+Alt+Delete option, but instead of the Ctrl+Alt+Delete, on a MAC the equivalent to it is Command+Option+Esc. Control-Alt-Delete doesn’t have a fixed meaning on Windows. In most versions of Windows, you need to press Control-Alt-Del to bring up the login screen. (Though this can be disabled in Windows 10.) In every version of Windows, pressing Control-Alt. Windows users all know pressing Control+Alt+Delete is a shortcut to access force quit window. Mac users you don’t need to worry about this because ctrl alt del mac function is also there. Only the keys combination is different. Pressing Command+Option+Escape is the shortcut to access force quit window in Mac.

Control Alt Delete Mac Windows

One of such tools is the Activity Monitor, and in this article we’ll tell you how to use it, what alternatives are out there, and how to maintain your Mac to avoid different problems. So let’s start!

Activity Monitor — The Task Manager for Mac

If you’re familiar with the Windows Task Manager, then you may wonder whether there is a twin for Mac. Don’t worry, a Task Manager exists on Macs but it has another name — Activity Monitor. Just keep in mind that Activity Monitor is the Mac Task Manager equivalent and functions in a very similar way as it does in Windows.

Activity Monitor shows the processes that are running on your computer, so you can see how they affect your Mac’s performance. This important tool will help you manage your Mac’s activity, so you should know how to use it at its full potential.

How to open Task Manager on Mac

Activity Monitor is located in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder and there are a few ways to launch it. The simplest one is to use Spotlight for a quick search.

Here’s how to access Task Manager on Mac using the Spotlight:

1. Press Command+Spacebar to get the Spotlight search field.
2. Start typing “Activity monitor.”
3. Select the Activity Monitor when it comes up. This will take you to the app.

However, if Spotlight doesn’t work or you just want to try another way to open Task Manager Mac, do the following:

1. Click on the Finder icon in the Dock.
2. Choose Applications from the side menu of the window that appears.
3. In the Applications folder, select the Utilities folder and open it.
4. Double-click on the Activity Monitor icon to launch it.

Good news, you can avoid the long ways of opening a Task Manager by pinning it to the Dock. Once you do it, you’ll be able to access the Activity Monitor by simply clicking on its icon.

Follow these steps and you won’t keep asking yourself how to start Task Manager on Mac every time you need to check some processes:

1. Open the Activity Monitor using one of the ways described above.
2. Right-click on the Activity Monitor icon in the Dock.
3. In the menu, choose Options and then click Keep in Dock.

That’s it! The Activity Monitor will be available from the Dock of your Mac, so you can view it easily.

How to use the Activity Monitor

The Activity Monitor is a simple but very important tool. Find out what you can do with its help.

Monitor the system parameters

Once you open the Activity Monitor on your Mac, you’ll get access to the five tabs: CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, and Network. By analyzing the data, you can identify what processes affect your Mac performance.

• The CPU pane shows how processes are affecting the processor activity.
• The Memory pane shows how the RAM is used by apps on your Mac.
• Tap on the Energy pane and you’ll see the overall energy use and the energy used by each app.
• The Disk pane shows the amount of data that each process has read from your disk and has written to it.
• Use the Network pane to identify which processes send and receive the most data.

View additional info about an app or process

The Mac Task Manager also allows you to check the additional information about every application or process on your Mac. Here’s how to view it:

1. Click on the application or process you’re interested in.
2. Click on the i button in the top left corner of the Activity Monitor window.
3. You’ll see a pop-up window showing additional information about an app or process.

As you see, the Activity Monitor is a real gem. It helps you gain insight into many useful things. Therefore, it will be much easier to diagnose any problem your Mac has.

How to Force Quit applications from a Task Manager in Mac

If some application or program freezes and you can’t quit it normally, you can use the Activity Monitor to shut it down. To force quit an app from a Mac Task Manager, do the following:

1. Open the Activity Monitor on your Mac and click on the application you want to force quit.
2. Then click on the X button in the top left corner of the Activity Monitor window.
3. You will see a pop-up window asking if you want to quit this process.
4. Click Quit to close the unresponsive app.
5. If the app is still open, choose Force Quit to immediately end the process.

What’s a Control+Alt+Delete equivalent on Mac?

All Windows users know this magic combination: Control+Alt+Delete. The first thing they do when an app or program hangs is using this keyboard shortcut. Fear not: there’s the similar shortcut for Macs.

In addition to the Activity Monitor, Macs have a Force Quit Applications Manager that allows to close the frozen apps and programs. To open it, hold down the Command+Option+Escape keys.

If you just need to force quit an application and don’t care how much CPU or Energy it is using, then you should launch a Force Quit Applications Manager to perform the task. It gives an immediate access to all apps, so you can quickly solve the problem of an unresponsive program.

Maintain your Mac a whole lot easier with CleanMyMac X

What if we tell you that there is a way to avoid all those frozen apps, unresponsive programs, and spinning beach balls? Most likely, you won’t even need to know how to get Task Manager on Mac because everything will work smoothly. Sounds attractive?

The secret is the regular maintenance of your Mac. And a smart utility like CleanMyMac X will help you keep an eye on your computer and take its performance to a new level. You can download it for free here.

CleanMyMac can not only clean up the system from all the junk, but also free up RAM, delete and reset apps, manage the startup items, remove cache files, and speed up your Mac with its maintenance scripts. That’s what will ensure the good health of your Mac and its top performance.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

These might also interest you:

Are you new to MAC and trying to find the equivalent of Ctrl+Alt+Delete on a MAC to end a program? Usually when your PC is frozen and you want to end a program, you do a Ctrl+Alt+Delete. If you are someone who is used to working in the Windows operating system and have recently switched over to the MAC operating system, you may be searching to find the equivalent to Ctrl+Alt+Delete on a MAC. The MAC operating system does have its own standard version of the Ctrl+Alt+Delete on a MAC for opening the Task Manager, but it is, of course, different from Windows.

Differences Between the Task Manager in Windows and MAC

In Windows, when you open the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete, you can see a lot of features and information. But, in MAC, when you go to the Task Manager, these features are split into different apps. In MAC, you have to use the shortcut Command+Option+Esc to close misbehaving applications.

Function of Command+Option+Esc and Force Quit Option

To force quit misbehaving applications in Windows, you use the Ctrl+Alt+Delete option, but instead of the Ctrl+Alt+Delete, on a MAC the equivalent to it is Command+Option+Esc. This option is very useful when you are in full screen mode playing games or watching videos. By pressing Command+Option+Esc, you can open the Force Quit dialog box. This option works when your MAC is not responding due to some “hung up” application. In some cases, if this shortcut is also not working, then you need to force the machine to shutdown and restart.

Control Alt Delete Mac Remote Desktop

The Force Quit window can also be opened by going to the menu bar in your screen and selecting the “Force Quit” option. Once you have the window open, you can scroll down from the list of programs displayed to select the program you need to forcefully close.

Features of the Activity Monitor

Control Alt Delete Command For Mac Catalina

Force Quit window will display only the hung up applications. It does not display CPU or memory usage details, resource usage information and a lot of other statistics like the Task Manager does on Windows when you press Ctrl+Alt+Delete. On a MAC, you have to press Command+Space to view such information. It will open up spotlight search where you need to type “Activity Monitor”. Now press the OK button. It will open the Activity Monitor window. Here, you can see the list of programs and other related processes that are running on your computer. Information such as memory, CPU usage, network tab, disk etc. will be displayed here. You can also close the applications that are running currently from here by selecting the corresponding programs and closing it by clicking “X” sign and then click Quit. If the application is not responding, you have to force quit it.

Dealing with Startup Programs

Mac Ctrl Alt Delete Command

To manage startup programs in Windows we use Ctrl+Alt+Delete. But, instead of the Ctrl+Alt+Delete, on a MAC its equivalent is the “System Preferences” option in the Apple menu. Next, go to the option “Users and Groups” and select the user you want to manage. The applications that are checked under that user will be started at the launch of the system. If you wish to add more applications to your startup programs list, you can drag and drop the application to this screen.

Conclusion

Control Alt Delete Command For Mac Os

It may be slightly difficult for a user who is used to Windows, but using the above alternatives you can find the equivalent to Ctrl+Alt+Delete on a MAC to manage your work and save time.