Mac Won't Shut Down

Have you ever tried shutting down your Mac, but it refuses to do it? This issue may be caused by several issues, which should be relatively easy to troubleshoot. Furthermore, if the issue does not get resolved, we will teach you how to force your Mac to shut down, regardless if it is ready to do it or not.

When you try to shut down your Mac, it will first try to close all running applications, save their state, and make use that no recent changes will be lost in the process. However, this also means that in case an app freezes or fails to save properly, it may prevent your Mac from shutting down.

Wait it Out

On rare occasions, your Mac might take more than 20-30 seconds to shut down. We advise you to wait at least 2-3 minutes before proceeding with other fixes. Sometimes your Mac just needs more time to save all data and shut down safely.

See if Any Applications Failed to Close

Typically, Mac will warn you when a program is preventing the computer from shutting down. However, it is possible that you may miss this notification accidentally, and you will be left wondering why this operation is taking so long. Thankfully, there's another way to check for apps causing problems. Look at the Dock on the bottom of the screen and see if any of them have a 'dot' underneath – this signals that they are still open. Right-click then and select 'Force Quit' to close them.

Force the Shutdown

If all else fails, then you can force the shutdown. First, make sure to save all data and close all running applications. After this, hold the 'Power' button on your Mac for at least 10-15 seconds, and your Mac should turn off completely.