Ever looked at your screen and felt a sudden wave of digital claustrophobia? It happens to everyone. You start the morning with one Safari tab and by 3:00 PM, you've got fourteen Finder windows, three separate Excel spreadsheets, a random Zoom update hanging out in the corner, and a Spotify window you haven't touched in hours. It's a mess. Honestly, the way macOS handles window management is both a blessing and a curse. You get that beautiful multitasking power, but then you're left wondering how do you close all windows on a Mac without clicking that tiny red button eighty times.
The red button is a trap, anyway.
On a Mac, clicking the red "x" doesn't actually quit the app most of the time. It just dismisses the window while the process keeps munching on your RAM in the background. If you want a clean slate, you need something faster. You need the shortcuts that power users have been using since the days of OS X Tiger.
The Magic Keyboard Shortcut for Sanity
If you want to clear the clutter right now, your best friend is the Option key. It’s the "secret" modifier that changes how almost everything works in the Apple ecosystem.
Normally, Command + W closes the active window you're looking at. Simple. But if you hold Command + Option + W, something different happens. Every single window belonging to the app you are currently using will vanish. Just like that. It’s incredibly satisfying to see six messy Chrome windows disappear into the void with one three-finger salute.
There's a catch, though. This only works for the active application. If you have Mail, Slack, and Photoshop open, using that shortcut while in Mail will only kill the Mail windows. The others will stay exactly where they are, mocking you.
Wait.
What if you want everything gone? Every app, every window, just total silence?
There isn't a single "nuke" button for every window across every app, mostly because macOS is designed to keep apps running even when their windows are gone. However, there is a workaround that feels like a fresh start. If you hold the Option key and right-click an app icon in your Dock, you'll see "Hide Others." It’s not a "close" per se, but it instantly vanishes everything except your current work. For many of us, that's the real goal—focus.
The Force Quit Method
Sometimes windows don't want to close. We've all been there. An app freezes, the spinning beachball appears, and suddenly Command + W is useless.
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In these moments, you go for the heavy hitters. Command + Option + Escape brings up the Force Quit menu. It’s the Mac version of Ctrl-Alt-Delete, but more targeted. You can select multiple apps by holding Shift or Command, then hit Force Quit. It kills the windows and the processes simultaneously. It’s aggressive. It’s fast. It’s sometimes necessary when your Mac starts sounding like a jet engine because a browser tab is stuck in a loop.
Why the Red Button Isn't Doing What You Think
We need to talk about why you're even asking how do you close all windows on a Mac in the first place. On Windows, "X" means "Goodbye." On Mac, "X" means "See you later."
Apple’s philosophy—dating back decades—is that the application is separate from the document. This is why you can close every single window in Microsoft Word and still see "Word" in the top menu bar. To truly close everything and free up system resources, you should be using Command + Q.
Think of it this way:
Command + Wis like putting a book back on the shelf but keeping your reading glasses on.Command + Qis like leaving the library entirely.
If you’re trying to clear your desktop because things are sluggish, closing windows isn't enough. You have to quit the apps. If you look at your Dock, any app with a small black or gray dot underneath it is still running. If you have twenty dots, your Mac is working harder than it needs to.
Using Mission Control to Clean Up
Sometimes you don't want to close windows; you just want to find the one you actually need. Mission Control is your air traffic controller.
Swipe up with three or four fingers on your trackpad. Boom. Everything spreads out. From here, you can't technically "close all," but you can see the carnage. If you hover over a window in Mission Control, you used to be able to close them easily, but Apple has made it a bit more of a "viewing only" tool in recent updates. Still, it’s the best way to realize you have three windows of the same folder open for no reason.
Automating the Cleanup
If you find yourself needing to close everything every single day, you should stop doing it manually. It’s a waste of time.
Apple’s Shortcuts app (which replaced a lot of what people used to do in Automator) is surprisingly powerful for this. You can actually build a "Clear Workspace" button.
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- Open the Shortcuts app.
- Create a new shortcut.
- Search for the "Quit App" action.
- Set it to quit all apps.
- Add it to your Menu Bar or Dock.
Now, one click actually does what you want. It’s a custom-built "panic button." I know people who have this mapped to a specific key on their keyboard. It’s the digital equivalent of sweeping everything off your desk into a drawer when guests arrive.
The "Close All" Command in Menus
Did you know the "Close All" command is actually hidden in plain sight?
Open any app, like Finder or Safari. Look at the "File" menu in the top left. You’ll see "Close Window." Now, hold down the Option key while that menu is open. Watch closely. "Close Window" magically transforms into "Close All."
This works in almost every native Apple app. It’s one of those "hidden in plain sight" features that makes you feel like a genius once you find it. It's the little things. Seriously.
Handling the Browser Tab Nightmare
Usually, when people ask about closing windows, they specifically mean browser windows. If you’re using Safari, you might have five windows open, each with twenty tabs. Closing these one by one is a nightmare.
In Safari, you can right-click any tab and select "Close Other Tabs," but that only helps within one window. To merge everything so you can kill it all at once, go to the "Window" menu and select "Merge All Windows." Now, all those stray windows are combined into one single window with a million tabs. From there, one Command + W (or clicking the red button) will prompt you: "Do you want to close all tabs?"
Yes. Yes, you do.
Chrome and Firefox have similar behaviors, though Chrome's "Task Manager" (found in the Three Dots menu > More Tools) is actually better for identifying which specific window is eating your CPU.
Is There an App for This?
Of course there is. If you're willing to spend a few bucks or look at open-source tools, apps like QuitAll or RedQuits exist. RedQuits is an old-school favorite that actually changes the behavior of the red button so it quits the app entirely when you click it.
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However, be careful with these. macOS manages memory differently than Windows. Sometimes keeping an app "open" but with no windows is actually more efficient because the Mac doesn't have to reload the entire framework the next time you need it. It’s a "warm start" versus a "cold start."
Practical Next Steps to Reclaim Your Desktop
If your Mac is currently a graveyard of open windows, don't panic. Start with the "Option" trick.
- Click your desktop so you're in Finder.
- Press
Command + Option + W. This kills every folder window you have open. - Look at your Dock. See those apps with dots? If you aren't using them, click the icon and hit
Command + Q. - For a total reset, just restart the computer but uncheck the box that says "Reopen windows when logging back in." It’s the ultimate "Close All."
Honestly, the best way to handle this is to prevent the pile-up. Stage Manager (the feature Apple introduced in macOS Ventura) is polarizing, but it does help. It forces windows into little groups on the side of your screen. It doesn't close them, but it keeps them out of your face.
If you're on an older Mac or just hate Stage Manager, stick to the Command + Option + W shortcut. It’s the fastest, cleanest way to get your focus back. Tomorrow morning, try to be more intentional. Close things as you finish them. Your RAM—and your brain—will thank you for it.
The goal isn't just to close windows; it's to stop the computer from feeling like a chore. Master these shortcuts, and you'll spend less time fighting with your interface and more time actually doing whatever it is you do.
Now, go close those fourteen tabs you know you're never going to read. You'll feel better. I promise.
Summary of Key Shortcuts:
- Close all windows of the current app:
Command + Option + W - Quit the app entirely:
Command + Q - Hide all other apps:
Command + Option + H - Force Quit menu:
Command + Option + Escape - Reveal "Close All" in the File menu: Hold
Optionwhile clicking the menu.
To keep your Mac running smoothly after clearing your windows, you might want to check your Login Items in System Settings to see what’s opening itself without your permission every time you boot up. Reducing those is the next logical step in decluttering your digital life.