How do I close the programs that are opened on my Mac Book Pro computer? Retina, mid 2012. My husband tells me I have too many things opened and I don’t know how to close them….
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Barbara Bobetich
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How To Close Programs On My Apple Computer?
Comments: 2 Responses to “How To Close Programs On My Apple Computer?”
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To "close" programs (also called applications or apps) you simply quit them. Use File, Quit. Or, the keyboard shortcut Command+Q. The term "close" is used both to talk about windows (close a window) and apps (close or quit an app). So just quit the apps you aren't using.
However, you may or may not get that much of a performance boost from this. Older systems, back 10, 20 or 30 years ago, could only handle so many apps running at once. Each used a little memory, so when you had many apps running, you only had a small amount of memory left for each app. But that is not true today. Today's modern computers and operating systems are very good at recognizing which apps are really being used and which ones are simply "in the background" at the moment, and allocating memory appropriately. Some apps are better than others at this, so it is still a good idea to quit apps you aren't planning to use for the rest of the day. There's no good reason no to.
There are other advantages to quitting apps you are not using, however. For instance, it can reduce screen clutter, making it easier for our eyes. It can also make the App Switched (Command+tab) more useful since you can toggle though running apps more quickly.
If you have checked "Show indicators for open apps" in System Preferences>Dock, you will see a little dot showing all the open apps. It is easier to press and hold on the open app to get a Quit. Add the Option Key to get a Force Quit.