Is there a way to make an app quit when I close all its windows? For example, I have a pdf document open on Preview and when I close the document Preview is still open. When I click on it, the file browser thing comes up and asks me to open a file. Instead of that, I want it to be like when I close all my documents in Preview, the app quits. This happens for all apple and third-party software. Its the most annoying thing ever and I am willing to do anything to fix it.
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How to make an app quit when I close all the windows
- Thread starter anush2209
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OS X works differently to Windows. With Windows, the app runs within the window. So when you close the window, it closes the app. With OS X, the app runs and the windows are seperate.
If you want to completely quit apps, you can press CMD+Q (you can do this without having to close the windows first), or just select the app name at the top left, right next to the Apple logo, and select 'Quit'. You can also press CMD+Tab to list your open apps and CMD+Q the one of your discretion, so you don't need to be in the app that you want to close.
Hope this helps.
It doesn't happen "for all Apple and third-party software" (check the "Notes" app for instance). It is not something that is going to be "fixed".
keysofanxiety's tip is the way to go. You'll be a quicker user if you learn a few key commands that have been around for thirty years. Fortunately, the Command button is much easier to reach than the Control button (try to reach Control-T). And Command-Q will quit almost any app...unlike Control-Q or Control-F4 or whatever a particular Windows app decides to use.
Another good one is Command-Tab. It will show you what's running and your can switch between apps by leaving the Command button pushed and tapping the Tab button.
If you're using a third party keyboard that was designed for Windows (like me) there's a bit of configuration to do in System Preferences to get it to resemble Mac behavior.
In this instance, Microsoft (and every Linux distro I've tried) decided to drive on the "left" side of the road. Welcome to the "right" side!
keysofanxiety's tip is the way to go. You'll be a quicker user if you learn a few key commands that have been around for thirty years. Fortunately, the Command button is much easier to reach than the Control button (try to reach Control-T). And Command-Q will quit almost any app...unlike Control-Q or Control-F4 or whatever a particular Windows app decides to use.
Another good one is Command-Tab. It will show you what's running and your can switch between apps by leaving the Command button pushed and tapping the Tab button.
If you're using a third party keyboard that was designed for Windows (like me) there's a bit of configuration to do in System Preferences to get it to resemble Mac behavior.
In this instance, Microsoft (and every Linux distro I've tried) decided to drive on the "left" side of the road. Welcome to the "right" side!
You don’t generally need to close applications. Applications can ’nap’ when you are not using them and they will not use any or a negligible amount of processing power to keep running. OS X also compresses unused application memory so that you have ample memory for active applications. I recommend disabling System Preferences → Dock → ‘Show indicator lights for open applications’ and just don’t worry about this at all.
Like the others said, it's much better to use the system as it's supposed to be used rather than trying to force it to be something it's not - which you won't be successful with anyway.
It's not broken. That's the way it was designed to behave, on purpose. You can't change that behavior. As others have said, you can learn new habits that will save you time. And speaking of time savers, this is one. The app stays open if you close the last window (for many apps, not all) which means when you want to open another document in that app, it opens more quickly.
Generally, apps that can have more than one window open at a time will not quit when you close the last window. But apps that can only have one window open generally do quit when you close the window.
ALT+F > X (exit) will close just about application in Windows. Windows has a far more robust and consistent set of shortcuts. The user can access any menu item by using ALT+ a letter.