Force Quit showing apps still open

Question

Level 1

8 points

Force Quit showing apps still open

For 3 years now that i'm having this annoying behavior with my macbook pro and different version of OSX. Some people are reporting this strange behavior since 2014, and it's still happening. All the Apple desktop apps that I close keeps running in background and I can see them in the Force Quit window.

If I reset the SMC it goes away for a few hours, then in comes back.

The strange thing that I notice is, if I keep the Force Quit window open, and I close an app (let say Textedit or Preview), it will close properly, and dissapear in the Force Quit window normaly.

Also, it only happens with my Macbook pro... it never happen with my iMac. I was thinking a RAM or LogicBoard problem but I still don't know.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS High Sierra (10.13.6), MacBook Pro Mid 2015

Posted on Aug 30, 2018 12:50 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

leroydouglas

Level 10

200,304 points

Aug 30, 2018 12:57 PM in response to GLaganiere

Lets be clear:

command W will close a Window but typically does not Quit an app—there are a few exceptions, ex Appstore,

command Q will quit an app

Out dated third party apps/drivers have been known to cause such issues ex. Wacom

To trouble shoot further you can:

Try a SafeBoot https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Takes noticeable longer to get to the login screen as certain system caches, dynamic loader cache etc get cleared and

rebuilt. This test will tell you if third party interference; extensions etc are not loaded in safe boot mode.

Test issue in another user (or guest user) account https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204443

This will tell you if it a universal issue or isolated to your user/admin account.

side note:

When you shut down your machine it is more efficient if you let the macOS close all apps and relaunch them when you reboot.

No need to shut down, you can simply close the lid and let it sleep.

Reply

Answer 2

GLaganiere Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 31, 2018 5:21 PM in response to leroydouglas

I'm not a tech but I'm using Macs from the beginning... more than 20 years. I didn't try the safeboot check because it seems random. The issue seems worst when I put the laptop on sleep. Like I said, it's is very strange and hard to pin point. I just want to know if other people notice the same thing and may have found other clues.

Reply