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User profile for user: shassu
shassu Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Easier way to close unwanted applications 🌞

Hello my dear reader 🌸 I hope you're doing splendid


I really like to keep my workspace clean and close all the windows that I'm not using in that moment.


When I have been working for some time, often I have opened more than 10 windows all together - most of them different windows for my browser (because I prefer having many windows with few tabs to one window with many tabs) and some of them other applications like Spotify.


When I open the mission control and it shows more than five windows (= more than five different windows are open), I think it is too slow and messy to navigate between them, so I close all of them that I don't use.


The problem: I have not found a way to close a window without first opening it. I would LOVE it, if on the Mission Control I could just click all of the windows that I want to close, or to swipe them on the left or something (like you can do on iPhones for example). However, now it seems to me that all I can do is to open mission control, open the window I want to close, and then click the close-symbol on the upper left corner. When I do the same for more than 10 windows, it ends up taking a lot of my precious time :-( I will probably never get it back


Is there a better way to close the windows I am not using? 😍 I believe that there are more people who would find this solution very valuable


Thank you so very much for your comprehensive answer 💛

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.6

Posted on May 16, 2023 1:36 PM

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User profile for user: D.I. Johnson
D.I. Johnson
User level: Level 7
24,035 points

Posted on May 16, 2023 2:04 PM

Ways to access open apps and manage their windows:

You'll find these shortcut notations for various commands in the Finder and applications menu bars.


To activate the application switcher, press Command-Tab (⌘Tab). Repeated presses of the Tab key while holding the ⌘ key will select the next open application.


To close the active browser tab or an application window - Command-W (⌘W)

To close an active browser window and all contained tabs - Shift-Command-W (⇧⌘W)


To Hide an active application and all of it's windows - Command-H (⌘H)


To Quit the active, open app, ⌘Q.


To Quit any other open application, ⌘Tab to activate the app switcher, repeatedly press Tab to select the next app and finally press Q to quit the selected app.


If you have a trackpad, use Gestures to reveal all of an application's windows then tap to select and interact with them. Use Multi-Touch gestures on your Mac - Apple Support


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User profile for user: D.I. Johnson
D.I. Johnson
User level: Level 7
24,035 points

May 16, 2023 2:04 PM in response to shassu

Ways to access open apps and manage their windows:

You'll find these shortcut notations for various commands in the Finder and applications menu bars.


To activate the application switcher, press Command-Tab (⌘Tab). Repeated presses of the Tab key while holding the ⌘ key will select the next open application.


To close the active browser tab or an application window - Command-W (⌘W)

To close an active browser window and all contained tabs - Shift-Command-W (⇧⌘W)


To Hide an active application and all of it's windows - Command-H (⌘H)


To Quit the active, open app, ⌘Q.


To Quit any other open application, ⌘Tab to activate the app switcher, repeatedly press Tab to select the next app and finally press Q to quit the selected app.


If you have a trackpad, use Gestures to reveal all of an application's windows then tap to select and interact with them. Use Multi-Touch gestures on your Mac - Apple Support


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User profile for user: D.I. Johnson
D.I. Johnson
User level: Level 7
24,035 points

May 16, 2023 2:09 PM in response to shassu

Also, I highly recommend that you learn to use trackpad gestures to get the most out of navigating your Mac. Coupled with Spaces in Mission Control, it's amazing how many apps and windows you can have open and quickly access with simple gestures while keeping all of the various windows out of their own way.


You can use multiple desktops in Mission Control to maximize your efficiency and control the clutter on the desktop before you. 


These Apple Support documents will get you started:

Work in multiple spaces on Mac - Apple Support

Use Mission Control on your Mac - Apple Support


When using desktops in Mission Control, the key to maximizing your efficiency and controlling the clutter from desktop to desktop is to assign each of your applications to a particular desktop space. Once you grasp this, and especially when combined with trackpad gestures, spaces and Mission Control become awesome productivity tools.


When using Mission Control, hiding apps becomes completely unnecessary, and application windows maintain their positions and sizes. And when restarting your Mac, apps can reopen and will retain their desktop locations and their open windows.

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Easier way to close unwanted applications 🌞

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