It is best practice to keep a computer in a well-ventilated area. Our internal IT team recommends checking your computer’s fan: “ Excessive heat can cause a device to become unresponsive. We have included keyboard shortcuts for both Mac and PC users.ĭouble-check that all hardware is properly connected in case an issue with cables or peripherals, such as a battery-dead keyboard or frozen/broken mouse, is causing your computer to freeze. Tip: Save our graphic below of keys to press to unfreeze your computer. Once it’s shut down, release the buttons for a few seconds and then press the Power button to start the computer again. You’ll hold those buttons down simultaneously until the computer shuts down. If you’re using a Mac, you’ll want to press and hold the Command + Control + Power buttons. This will allow you to try the following steps. If the computer continues to freeze after a restart, try rebooting in safe mode by pressing the F8 key repeatedly. Wait a few seconds before turning the computer back on. If your Windows computer is completely frozen and Ctrl + Alt + Del is not working, perform a hard reset by holding the power button until the computer shuts down. Scroll until you find File Explorer, select it, and click End Task. Click on More Details and locate the Processes tab. As mentioned above, start by opening your Task Manager. On Windows devices, users can also try restarting File Explorer (previously called Windows Explorer). Top tip: on Windows and Mac devices, consider permanently uninstalling any apps that regularly cause your computer to freeze. Another option is to force quit apps via the Activity Monitor (under Finder > Applications > Utilities), which displays everything currently running on your Mac. On a Mac, press Command, Option, and Escape, which will open the Force Quit window, select the unresponsive app, and click the Force Quit button, if that doesn’t work, try force-quitting other apps.
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Alternatively, press Alt and F4 for a quicker way to close the currently active window or application. Select the unresponsive app in question and select End Task. On a Windows device, press the Control, Alt, and Delete buttons simultaneously, or Control, Shift, and Escape to open the Task Manager. The first and easiest option is to close your frozen computer programs.
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If your computer is frozen to the point where you can’t open Task Manager, Force Quit, or restart File Explorer, skip ahead to learn how to do a hard restart. Try the following 10 steps to fix a frozen computer – from a simple restart to more in-depth troubleshooting. Fortunately, many different remedies are available to help you minimize downtime and get back to work as quickly as possible when your computer is frozen. Whether it’s a personal device or a work laptop, frozen computer screens always seem to pop up at the worst possible moment.