My Mac’s screen froze and my mouse isn’t working, so I need to know how to restart it using only the keyboard. I haven’t had this issue before, so any step-by-step help would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Yeah, you can totally restart your Mac with just the keyboard, no mouse needed! I’ve been there more than a few times. If your screen is frozen and your mouse isn’t working, first try this key combo: Control + Command + Power button. This should force your Mac to restart right away, bypassing any of the usual save dialogs (so, sorry, any unsaved work is probably lost).
If you’re using a MacBook, the Power button is usually the Touch ID button at the top right of the keyboard. On older Macs, it’s the eject key area or a dedicated button.
Alternatively, if you just want to force quit an app that’s causing the freeze, hit Command + Option + Escape. This brings up the Force Quit menu, where you can navigate with the arrow keys and hit Return to force quit the highlighted app.
But if your whole system is unresponsive, just go with Control + Command + Power.
Fair warning: Doing a force restart does risk data loss, but when your Mac’s frozen like a popsicle, it’s sometimes your only shot. Been there, done that, lost that unsaved document… oh well.
If your Mac’s throwing a full-on tantrum and you’ve already tried what @viajantedoceu suggested (which is spot on, btw), there’s another trick I sometimes use that isn’t as “nuclear” as Control+Command+Power. You can try just pressing Command+Control+Eject (if your keyboard has an eject key) and that’ll prompt a restart dialog—you’d still need something to select restart, though, so it’s not always mouse-free friendly. Meh.
But honestly, when the whole system hangs, those force restart combos are your best bet, even if it costs you an unsaved masterpiece (been there… a lot). Fwiw, occasionally the Mac’s just pretending to be frozen—give it a solid minute or two before going for any restart, because sometimes macOS coughs back to life (especially if you had a billion Chrome tabs open like I always do).
And pro tip for next meltdown: hammer those Command+S shortcuts or auto-save options whenever possible. It’s the only thing keeping me from a weekly breakdown.
Oh, if the keyboard itself is unresponsive too (which happens), then… you’re stuck. Physical power button is your only friend. At that point, it’s you vs. the machine, and the machine’s winning.
Sorry if this isn’t more optimistic, just keeping expectations real. Modern tech: can do a trillion calculations per second, can’t stop freezing.
Let’s get brutally practical. If your Mac’s screen is frozen and both mouse and keyboard are iffy, the suggestions upthread (Control+Command+Power, Command+Option+Escape) are solid but do assume the system’s at least listening to keyboard input. In my (too frequent) experience, sometimes even that fails – especially with weird USB hub setups or Bluetooth keyboard connections. THEN you’re at the mercy of physics: hold the actual power button down for about 10 seconds for a hard shutoff.
But before going DEFCON-1, here’s a slightly different approach I didn’t see from earlier replies: sometimes, while the desktop is frozen, Accessibility Shortcuts or the VoiceOver utility still work. Try Command+F5 to toggle VoiceOver. If you hear it, your keyboard’s alive – and you might be able to “tab” your way into quitting stuff, or at least confirm if the Mac isn’t totally brain-dead.
Not a cure-all, but a last-ditch hack for headless navigation. Also: if you’re running FileVault encrypted drives, force restarts can (rarely) trigger longer boot times or disk-check scans.
On the upside, keyboard restarts are faster and often less frustrating than waiting forever. Downside: risk of corrupted open files (Photoshop lovers, beware).
The approach by others here is pretty thorough, but to add nuance, sometimes wireless external keyboards aren’t detected during a freeze, while the built-in keyboard (on MacBooks) still is. Don’t waste time on a dead Bluetooth keyboard.
No matter the restart method, macOS’s auto-recovery means you usually won’t lose your whole day, but apps without auto-save (looking at you, some Adobe stuff) are toast.
Quick pro/con for you for the all-keyboard restart route (since you asked about product titles, but there’s not really a “product” to list here):
Pros:
- Fast recovery if frozen
- Performed without mouse
- Works on almost any modern Mac
Cons:
- Immediate data loss in unsaved files
- Risk of app/database/file system corruption (rare, but real)
- Wireless keyboards may not be detected
As for alternatives, you can compare this advice with those from others here, but my two cents: if you reach this point often, consider looking up why your Mac freezes—sometimes it’s just too many Chrome tabs, sometimes it’s bad RAM.
Recap: Keyboard restart is a last resort, but a useful trick to keep in your Mac user’s toolkit—if it doesn’t work, time to go old-school: hold the physical power button and embrace the chaos.