How to Fix Apps Not Responding on Mac

What Causes This?

Apps stop responding when your Mac runs low on available memory, storage, or other system resources. In many cases, the app itself is stuck on a bad process, overloaded by too many background tasks, or slowed down by cache files and system clutter. Outdated apps, macOS bugs, and startup items that keep consuming resources can also make freezing more likely.

Common Symptoms

• An app shows “Not Responding” or the spinning beach ball appears
• You click buttons or menus and nothing happens
• The app window turns dim or stops updating
• Force Quit shows one or more frozen apps
• Your Mac feels slow even when only a few apps are open

How to Fix It Manually

1. Force quit the frozen app

   1. Press Option + Command + Esc to open Force Quit Applications.
   2. Select the app that is frozen.
   3. Click Force Quit.
   4. Reopen the app and check if it works normally.

2. Restart your Mac

   1. Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner.
   2. Select Restart.
   3. If your Mac is completely frozen, press and hold the power button until it shuts down, then turn it back on.
   4. After restarting, open only the app you were having trouble with and test it again.

3. Check Activity Monitor for high resource usage

   1. Open Finder > Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor.
   2. Click the CPU tab and look for apps using unusually high CPU for a long time.
   3. Click the Memory tab and check whether memory pressure is high.
   4. If a process is stuck, select it and click the X button at the top to quit it.
   5. Be careful not to close system processes unless you know what they do.

4. Free up storage space

   1. Click Apple menu > System Settings > General > Storage.
   2. Review what is taking up space.
   3. Delete large files you do not need, empty the Trash, and remove unused apps.
   4. Try to keep several GB of free space available so apps have room to work properly.

5. Update macOS and the affected app

   1. Go to Apple menu > System Settings > General > Software Update.
   2. Install any available macOS updates.
   3. Open the App Store and check for app updates.
   4. If the app was downloaded from a website, open that app and look for its built-in update option.

6. Disable unnecessary login items

   1. Open Apple menu > System Settings > General > Login Items.
   2. Review apps that launch at startup.
   3. Remove or disable anything nonessential.
   4. Restart your Mac and see if freezing improves.

7. Clear app cache or reinstall the app

   1. Quit the app first.
   2. In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder and enter ~/Library/Caches.
   3. Find the folder related to the problem app and move its cache files to the Trash.
   4. If the issue continues, delete the app and reinstall a fresh copy from the App Store or the developer’s site.

Fix It Automatically with Kudu

If you do not want to dig through cache folders and storage settings yourself, Kudu can scan for clutter, temporary files, and other issues that may be affecting app stability. It gives you a faster way to clean up your system and reduce the background problems that often lead to freezing and unresponsive apps.

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