Mediaite Tech Support: What’s The Mac Equivalent of “CTRL-ALT-DELETE?”

Welcome to Mediaite Tech Support, where we’ll post the answers to whatever tech problems we seem to be having under the theory that if it helps us, it might help you. Today I encountered some pushback from my MacBook loaner, a year or so old, which didn’t seem to want to upload a video to Vimeo and then decided to be cranky when I tried to upload an image to the Mediaite WordPress system. Tweetdeck continued to work fine, but all my Firefox windows froze, which was annoying.

So I asked Twitter: “Hey Twitter- what is the equivalent of CTRL-ALT-DELETE on a Mac?” Twitter, not unlike chocolate, never lets me down. Here are the answers I received, since — surprisingly — Mac doesn’t seem to have an equivalent to CTRL-ALT-DELETE. They don’t tell you that in those fancy Mac commercials.

Here are all the nice people who helped me. Thanks guys!

@rwetzler: @rachelsklar Command + Option + Escape will force-quit the program currently running, but I don’t think there’s an

exact equivalent@zunaid: @rachelsklar option command esc keys@weareyourfek: @rachelsklar Find the desktop, go to the Apple, and click “Force Quit.” Otherwise, unplug your laptop, take the battery out, put it back.@jerame: @rachelsklar command + escape to force quit. Command + option + eject to shutdown. Hold power for 6 seconds if none of those work.@MickiMaynard: @rachelsklar isn’t really one. As @cvvalencia suggests, just restart.@theurbansherpa: @rachelsklar option-command-escape@bettykin: @rachelsklar force quit…it’s in the apple symbol drop down menu@gorner: @rachelsklar To restart: Cmd-Ctrl-Eject. To kill a nonresponsive program: Cmd-Opt-Esc.@pbump: @rachelsklar option apple escape. Do I win a prize?@mitaliperkins: @rachelsklar Command-Option-Shift-Power, but all unsaved work will be lost. [interesting theological language we use for computers, eh?]@clarinette02: @rachelsklar ‘FORCE QUIT’ not force shut down@danielshea: @rachelsklar shift apple escape maybe? http://myloc.me/YKtL@mainelife: @rachelsklar command + option + escape@markparham: @rachelsklar the equivalent of ctrl-alt-delete on a mac go to http://bit.ly/6JOdv@ThatNeilGuy: @rachelsklar Option-Apple-Esc@mattfrehner: @rachelsklar command-option-escape lets you force quit frozen programs.@funemployednyc: @rachelsklar I believe it’s command option escape. could be wrong, tho.@jimmiebjr: @rachelsklar Control-Apple Key-DeleteRT @mbrosen: @rachelsklar Command+Option+EscapeRT @mbrosen: @rachelsklar Or click and hold the frozen app’s icon in the Dock and select “Force Quit”@rileysrunning: @rachelsklar command-option-escape