Try these troubleshooting tips to fix your Mac refusing to shut down or being unable to restart, which can happen for a variety of reasons.
If you have unsaved work in apps or critical background activities need your attention, macOS won’t power down even after clicking the Shut Down or Restart option in the Apple menu. Our tutorial right ahead explores all the possible troubleshooting solutions to help fix a misbehaving Mac that won’t restart or shut down.
Save your pending work
Your Mac won’t turn off if you have any unsaved work in apps like Pages, Word, etc. macOS will close all open apps, but not the icon of the app blocking the shutdown process. Instead, it will jump in the Dock and require your attention. Click the app icon in the Dock to switch to the app, then save the document or confirm that you don’t want to save it.
With that done, you should now be able to shut down or restart your Mac normally.
Attend to open browser tab alerts
Some websites may also require action before you can close them, throwing an alert preventing your from closing the tab, quit that browser, or even turn off your computer until you attend to it.
For instance, if you’re try to shut down your Mac while listening to YouTube Music in Safari, Chrome, or Firefox, you’ll first need to confirm that you’d like to leave the YouTube Music website. Websites that let you fill out PDF forms, enter text, and edit something may exhibit similar behavior.
If you see the icon of your browser jumping in the Dock, click it to confirm that you’re trying to leave the website.
Quit all apps
Any open apps have a small dot below their icon in the Dock. However, some apps or utilities running in the background may not be visible in the Dock even when running. Some of those apps may even block you from powering off your Mac.
To fix this, check for a tiny icon of a misbehaving app on the right side of the macOS menu bar. If you see one, click it and look for a Quit button or a settings cog icon. With the app finally closed, restarting or shutting down your Mac should go smoothly without issues.
Note: If you don’t see any button to quit the app, try right-clicking the app’s icon in the Dock and it should appear in a menu there.
Force quit all apps
If quitting an app that was blocking the shut down process doesn’t work, try force quitting all apps. Yep in mind that you won’t have a chance to save your work if you force quit an app.
- Click the Apple icon and choose Force Quit or press the Command + Option + esc keys together to enter the Force Quit window.
- Select an app and then press Command + A to select everything.
- Click the Force Quit button.
You should be now able to click the Apple menu and choose Shut Down or Restart without issues.
Check for downloads in the background
If a web browser or an app is currently downloading something in the background, you may need to pause or cancel the download before trying to shut down.
Is anything installing in the background?
An app installation may temporarily block macOS from shutting your Mac down. If you suspect this, you can pause the installation, wait for it to finish, or force your Mac to shut down.
Make sure installer windows aren’t open
If you started but didn’t complete an app installation, wait until it completes. You can also click an app’s installer icon in the Dock or the desktop and choose the Cancel option. You may now be able to start or turn off your computer.
Eject external drives
You won’t be able to shut down your Mac until you’ve ejected any connected drives and peripherals. macOS will also refuse to restart or shut down the computer if you have ongoing data transfers.
Force a shutdown
If your Mac is frozen, won’t respond, shows the beach ball icon for ages, or the mouse pointer seems stuck, your only solution is to press and hold the power button until the computer shuts down. Wait for at least one minute before switching your Mac back on.
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