We all know how annoying it can be when the computer freezes up. One of the most irritating problems that can happen when Photoshop freezes is that of not being able to close the program.

Whether a message along the lines of ‘the document will close after saving has completed’ is appearing when you try to shut the file, or the program is simply displaying nothing at all and has just frozen entirely, there are a few solutions that you can try.

If you’re working on a computer operating on the macOS system, you can shut the program in the Force Quit Window on your device, and if you are using a Windows computer, you can head into Task Manager to end the task involving Photoshop.

Note that if you haven’t saved your document yet, you should definitely save an up-to-date version of the file before closing the program by heading to File > Save. Otherwise, you might lose your work. To clarify, do not try these techniques before saving your Photoshop file unless you are willing to lose the progress you’ve made on the design since you last saved it.

So, let’s take a closer look at these solutions!

Two Solutions for Mac Users

For those working on a Mac device, the potential solutions both involve using the Force Quit command. This command can be used as an alternative way to shut down any program, not just Photoshop.

1: ‘Force Quit’ Every Other Program

One common reason why you might not be able to close Photoshop is because the memory on your computer is full- the device is essentially overwhelmed by the number of tasks it must carry out. So, you can clear the memory a bit by abandoning unnecessary background tasks. This will free up more memory for Photoshop, letting the computer focus on the single task of closing the program.

So, the first technique involves ‘force quitting’ every program other than Photoshop. If you still need to keep other programs open for any reason, then you can only ‘force quit’ the unnecessary programs and keep the ones that you need open.

To do this, head into the Force Quit Application by pressing Cmd + Optn + Escape.

Within the window that opens up, you can go ahead and click Force Quit for any unnecessary programs. You’ll see particularly significant results if you quit applications that are carrying out memory-heavy actions. Of course, ensure first that you have saved all your work from other files that you are closing so that you don’t lose anything important.

Once you have done this, you can try closing Photoshop as normal again. If it still doesn’t work, then you can try the next solution!

2: ‘Force Quit’ Photoshop

If forcing the other programs to close didn’t reduce the memory enough for Photoshop to shut as normal, then you can force Photoshop itself to close.

To do this, make sure that you have saved the files that are open in the program, then press and hold the Optn key on your keyboard whilst clicking on the Photoshop icon in the dock. From the flyout menu that appears as a result, click on Force Quit.

Alternatively, you can bring up the Force Quit Application using the same method as before (pressing Cmd + Optn + Escape on your keyboard), then click Force Quit next to Photoshop.

Hopefully you’ll notice that Photoshop has now finally closed!

Two Solutions for Windows Users

If you’re working on a Windows device, then the techniques you can use to close Photoshop revolve around the same principles: if there is not enough memory for the computer to carry out the action of shutting the program, then it won’t be able to do it.

So, let’s explore two potential solutions which will hopefully let you close Photoshop!

1: End Every Task Other Than the One Involving Photoshop in the Task Manager

The first method we will walk through is very similar to the first solution we provided for Mac users. It involves ending every task in the background to free up enough memory for the computer to focus on closing Photoshop.

Let’s begin by searching on the device for the Task Manager program. Click on the application that comes up as a result of the search to open it.

When the window has opened up, simply scroll through all of the current tasks and end all of them except for the one in Photoshop. Again, make sure that you have saved your work in each program before closing them.

Once you’ve ended all the unnecessary tasks, you can head back to Photoshop and try closing the file as normal again. Don’t worry if it didn’t work- this next technique is sure to solve your issue.

2: End the Photoshop Task in the Task Manager

If ending all the other tasks wasn’t successful in reducing the memory enough so that the computer could focus on letting Photoshop close, then you can try closing Photoshop in a different way, by ending the task directly.

To do this, work in the Task Manager application again. First, make sure that you have saved your Photoshop file so that you don’t lose any important work. Then, click on Photoshop and hit the End Task button at the bottom right of the dialog box.

This will cause Photoshop to close! Using the task manager is such a quick and useful trick that you can use all the time to help you unfreeze your computer or free up memory. Hopefully, you’ll never have to worry about the issue now, since you have a solution at hand that can successfully close any application on your device!

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