What do I do to unfreeze a program on a Mac Computer?

Question

Ok, here's the story. My friend, who owns a Mac, but who is not a computer expert, was using Microsoft Word. She accidentally hit a key -- don't know which -- and the cursor changed from an I bar into something which resembled lines of script. I know this is not a very accurate description but it is the best I can do. Anyway, no matter where we moved the mouse the cursor continued to resemble the script and we were not able to close the program. We tried a control, apple key, delete, similar to the control, alt, delete procedure you do on a pc to try to end that program, but without success. We finally had to turn off the power completely. What happened? What could we have done? Thanks for any help you can give.

Answer 1

Go to your Apple Menu on the upper left and choose 'Force Quit'. If the problem persist, choose 'Relaunch Finder'. You would be better off restarting your Mac first.
Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Nothing. Turning it off is the next logical step. Hopefully, this won't happen very often.

If you are typing a long document, use SAVE AS after the first ten minutes. Then use SAVE again, after ten more minutes of typing. That way, if Microsoft Word freezes again, you won't loose too much work.

This is just like using a Windows PC. Now aren't you glad that your MAC is more like the rest of the world?

Be safe, make backups and save regularly. It's not your fault.

Answer 3

There should be a button on the right side of your monitor that has a triangular icon. If you push that in it will restart your computer. I had Mac computers in my yearbook room at school and they would freeze up all the time. Unfortunately, sometimes you lose your work when you use this procedure.

Answer 4

Apple computers dont run much of ANY software on the market! I dont know why people aint got enuff brains to look at the software availability for a Mac before they buy to begin with! Tell your friend to use it as a doorstop and get a REAL system!