Last night as I concluded my work day, I found myself closing at least eighteen windows. I typically have multiple applications and windows open at once and switch back and forth among windows fairly often throughout the day. As I was closing my umpteenth, I asked myself “Why am I doing all this? There has to be an easier way.”
Given that I am proponent of automating my tasks as much as possible, I launched Keyboard Maestro (my go-to automation app) and created a macro to exit all open applications and windows with a simple keyboard shortcut. If you don’t have Keyboard Maestro, you can accomplish the same thing using Apple’s Automator application.
Quick Guide: Close all Applications At Once Using Keyboard Maestro
- Launch Keyboard Maestro.
- Select File ➪ New Macro from the menu
Or
Press ⌘ + N - Type a name for your new macro.
- Click the plus symbol next to New Trigger and choose Hot Key Trigger from the list.
- Type the keyboard shortcut you want to use. I used ⌥ + ⌘ + Q
That’s it! Now every time you type in the keyboard shortcut, all windows and applications will close. Now on to Automator….
Quick Guide: Close all Applications at Once Using Automator
- Launch Automator.
- Select File ➪ New from the menu
Or
Press ⌘ + N - Click the Application icon and then click Choose.
- Type: Quit in the Search box and then double-click Quit All Applications.
- Ensure that the checkbox next to Ask to save changes is checked.
- Select File ➪ Save from the menu and save the application in the desired location (this is typically your Applications folder). You might want to add the icon to your Dock for quick access.
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