How to force close finder?

Just had the same problem. Hold the Alt and then close first window. All windows will close. (i had 1000 windows open)

I've just had Finder in a crash loop because of an open window for the last hour or so, have tried ALL kinds of things and this was what just fixed it! Thank you sooooo much! 😀

Hold Alt and close FIRST (?) window sounds great, but just wondering...

Sometimes... the same congestion that is too many open windows can even block system access to Force Quit, or after Finder relaunch, all windows open again. Try using Automator.

• Open Applications / Automator
  Select New Document from Status bar and Choose Application.
  Select Quit Application, double-click to create window beside Automator
  Click Add… and select Finder app from drop box and then click Add
  At at this point, you would want to add Finder, but Finder is not in the app list!
  If you can find some way to add finder to the Automator script, please share.
  Then you can continue with creating your Quit Finder personal app
  
• Uncheck Ask to save changes and File > Save as… Quit Finder
  or any name you prefer
• Save your Quit Finder app to Desktop, Applications, Dock etc. Run your app to quit Finder with single click.

Does anyone know why Automator blocks adding finder?

You might want to consider starting a new discussion. Since this one is a couple of years old, less people are likely to look at it. A new post would be much more visible. You can link to this one.