Work with apps on your MacBook Pro

Your MacBook Pro comes with a wide range of apps already installed, so you can stay connected with friends and family, be productive and creative, enjoy hours of entertainment, surf the web, and much more.

Note: Some macOS apps are not available in every region or language.

A Mac showing the Safari, Notes, and Messages apps.

View apps. To quickly see all the apps on your Mac, click in the Dock.

Tip: Every app that comes with your Mac includes built-in help. To learn how to use an app, go to the app you want to use, then choose Help > [App] Help in the menu bar. See Use the Mac User Guide.

Open an app. You can have multiple apps open at the same time on your Mac, and leave them open. This is especially useful for apps you return to frequently, such as Safari or Mail. To open an app, do one of the following:

Use the Dock: Click the app icon in the Dock. If an app isn’t in the Dock, click in the Dock, then click the app. For more information on the Dock, like how to add frequently used apps, see The Dock on your Mac.
Use the Finder: Click in the Dock, click Applications in the sidebar of the Finder window, then double-click the app you want to open.

Tip: To quickly open an app, use Spotlight search. Press Command-Space bar, type the app’s name in the search field, then press Return. See Search with Spotlight.

The Launchpad icon in the dock and open Launchpad window displaying various apps arranged in a grid on a Mac screen.

Close an app. Closing an app closes the window, but the app remains open even if there are no active windows (a small dot below the app’s icon in the Dock indicates that the app is open). To close an app, click in the top-left corner of the app’s window.

Quit an app. If you use an app only occasionally, you may want to quit the app when you’re done using it, especially if the app uses significant energy. To quit an app, choose [App Name] > Quit [App Name] in the menu bar. For example, choose Preview > Quit Preview.

Note: If an app doesn’t quit as expected or it’s unresponsive, you can force quit the app, though you may lose unsaved changes. To force quit an app, press Command Option Esc or choose Apple menu > Force Quit. Select the app in the dialog that appears, then click Force Quit.

Helpful?