Ctrl + Alt + Delete: Mac Equivalent?

Question

Ctrl + Alt + Delete on Windows provides a variety of functions, the main one of interest being the Task Manager. Is there an equivalent keyboard shortcut & indeed Task Manager for carrying out such tasks as quitting an application that maybe "hanging" (amongst other things) for Apple Macs, or indeed anything similar ?

Please describe what specific functionalities you are looking for. — Gerry, Mar 19 '13 at 12:26
@Simon Of interest: Bill Gates admits Control-Alt-Delete was a mistake, blames IBM http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/26/4772680/bill-gates-admits-ctrl-alt-del-was-a-mistake — Simon, Sep 26 '13 at 13:31

score 148 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 21 '23 at 15:30

148

The keyboard shortcut you’re looking for is ⌘ + ⌥ + ⎋, alternatively known as command + option + escape. This will bring up the Force Quit Applications window (see screenshot below).

Force Quit Window

edited Apr 21 '23 at 15:30

Mithical

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answered Mar 19 '13 at 11:34

Mathias Bynens

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Is Activity Monitor equivalent or similar to the Windows Task Manager ? – Simon Mar 19 '13 at 11:37
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@Simon If you want to see in more detail what's going on instead of just force-quitting an app, yes. The force-quit shortcut is much easier to use if you just want to quickly kill a misbehaving application. – Mattie Mar 19 '13 at 12:54
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I had no idea that ⎋ was Escape -- thanks for clearing this up for me! – Gaurav May 22 '15 at 21:12
@MathiasBynens what about now? this doesn't seem to be the case in mac Mojave. – tatsu Jun 21 '19 at 08:14

score 34 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 19 '13 at 18:18

34

There is no all in one equivalent:

The equivalent of the Windows Task Manager is The Activity Monitor app.
The equivalent of Close Session or Shut Down are found in the Apple Menu.
The equivalent of Change Password is the Users pane of the Configuration app.
The equivalent of Lock Computer is "Login Window..." under the User (your user name) menu.

edited Mar 19 '13 at 18:18

devios1

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answered Mar 19 '13 at 13:35

mouviciel

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The equivalent of Lock Computer is...? – Simon Mar 19 '13 at 14:02
@Simon - I don't know: I don't need it. But if somebody has the answer, feel free to edit my answer or add it as comment. – mouviciel Mar 19 '13 at 14:04
OK Excellent... – Simon Mar 19 '13 at 14:05
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For "Lock Computer" see http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/64/is-there-a-quick-way-to-lock-my-mac – nohillside Mar 19 '13 at 14:12
@patrix Cheers ! – Simon Mar 19 '13 at 14:21
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@Simon Added Lock Computer equivalent. You can also set the screen saver to require a password and just activate the screen saver when you leave your desk (I use a hot corner to do this). – devios1 Mar 19 '13 at 18:10
@chaiguy V.Good – Simon Mar 19 '13 at 19:16
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If you just need to lock your computer quickly, you can press either Control+Shift+Eject or in keyboards without an Eject key you can use Control+Shift+Power – OMA Dec 19 '14 at 10:20

score 6 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 28 '17 at 18:49

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To complete previous answers :

The shortcut control-eject brings up the shutdown/reboot confirmation dialog (I use this a lot : you just have to type control-eject then enter to shutdown. Very handy!)
Pressing cmd-shift-Q brings up the quit session confirmation dialog.

edited Jun 28 '17 at 18:49

Community

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answered Jan 30 '14 at 09:18

Matthieu

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score 4 · Answer 4 · edited Jan 30 '14 at 05:06

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Alt/Option-Command-Esc to force applications to quit.

For Task Manager style stuff Activity Monitor is it by default and its not key invoked.

You could attach a key combo in preferences to Activity Monitor
Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> App Shortcuts -->

Application: Finder
Menu Title: whatever
Keyboard Shortcut: You key combo.

edited Jan 30 '14 at 05:06

Azik Abdullah

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answered Jan 29 '14 at 23:17

user68991

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OMA · Answer 5 · 2018-05-10T18:39:55.210

~~If you just need to lock your computer quickly, you can press:~~

Control ⌃+Shift ⇧+Eject

Edit: Unfortunately, one of Apple's OS updates killed the above key combination for no good reason. So the only key combination available now is this less convenient one (if you have a Mac Mini or an iMac you have to press the physical Power button on the computer in addition to the other two keys in the keyboard):

Control ⌃+Shift ⇧+Power ⌽

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 19 '13 at 13:39

3

You can use Activity Monitor and create a global keyboard shortcut to it via BetterTouchTool.

answered Mar 19 '13 at 13:39

Anonymous

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score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 19 '13 at 16:53

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I normally open terminal. Then use top and kill the process.

answered Mar 19 '13 at 16:53

Andrew

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Two problems with this answer: 1 you're starting a new process which will suck on a bogged down machine. 2 anybody unfamiliar with terminal will need a little more info. – Christian Jun 30 '14 at 01:55

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 29 '14 at 22:45

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see http://support.apple.com/kb/TA22781?viewlocale=en_US That is the answer to Ctrl + Alt + Delete on a PC.

answered Jan 29 '14 at 22:45

Jon

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Answers on Ask Different need to be more than just a link. It's okay to include a link, but please summarize or excerpt it in the answer. The idea is to make the answer stand alone. – nohillside Jan 29 '14 at 22:53

score -2 · Answer 9 · answered Jul 22 '14 at 21:01

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Ctrl + Shift + ESC gives you the task manager. This solved my problem. Credit to: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3718443?start=15&tstart=0

answered Jul 22 '14 at 21:01

banana

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How does this add to or improve on http://apple.stackexchange.com/a/86015/237 or other answers here? – mmmmmm Jul 22 '14 at 22:03

score -3 · Answer 10 · edited Dec 24 '14 at 01:15

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Fn+Ctrl+Opt(Alt)+Delete.

edited Dec 24 '14 at 01:15

Jawa

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answered Dec 23 '14 at 23:40

Ardni

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score -4 · Answer 11 · answered Jun 30 '15 at 17:32

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Ctrl + Alt + Delete in Windows is equivalent to Command + fn + delete in Mac OS X

answered Jun 30 '15 at 17:32

piyush nautiyal

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Ctrl + Alt + Delete: Mac Equivalent?

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