You are either finishing up a critical presentation or enjoying a movie on Netflix. To get rid of all distractions, you go ahead and scale the window up to full screen. However, to your dismay, you find that you can’t get out of the mode. There’s no menu bar, the dock is hidden, and you have no way of leaving. A moment of panic when you realize you are ‘trapped’ in this mode is an experience almost all Apple users can relate to.
Being in the full screen feature is primarily intended to offer you a larger workspace and fewer distractions. It might, however, sometimes seem like a trap. It can merely be the feature doing its job, and the controls just being concealed. However, very often it is a software bug where the program refuses to recognize the usual commands.
This post answers the question Mac Full Screen Exit How To in various ways. We will discuss quick keyboard shortcuts that work instantly to more extensive system troubleshooting for highly resistant cases. After going through this post, you will have a complete set of solutions at your disposal to get back your screen whether you are tech-savvy or not.
Full Screen Mode on Mac Explained
It is always easier to work on the solution after you grasp what the problem is. The full-screen mode feature of macOS is an addition that allows hiding the menu bar (top strip of the screen) and the Dock (the icon bar at the bottom). Making your app to take the entire display.
Normally Exiting a Full Screen
In ordinary situations, exiting the full screen mode on your Mac is indicative. Your two main choices are:
- The Green Button: Make your mouse cursor hover at the top-left corner of the display. The window controls (red, yellow, and green buttons) should drop down. Clicking the green button again will restore the window to its normal size.
- The Menu Bar: Bring your cursor to the top of the display. The menu bar will reveal itself, allowing you to click on ‘View’ and then ‘Exit Full Screen’.
Reasons for Failure
In case the above-discussed ways of exiting a full screen were fool-proof, you wouldn’t be asking this question. Here are the reasons behind your Mac getting stuck:
- Software bugs: Software bugs are one of the main reasons for this problem. It could be temporary glitches from a specific app, or macOS itself may be temporarily confused when trying to display a particular image.
- User error: It is possible that you may have unintentionally pressed a key combination that either locks the screen or hides the interface controls in a different way than you anticipated.
- Incompatible software: Issues with the interface behavior resulting from running old apps on the latest macOS version are quite common. For example, the failure to recognize exit commands would be one such case.
Mac Full Screen Exit with Limited Effort
Without a doubt, your first stop should be here if you are now stuck in a situation like this. These are the methods that can practically guarantee a successful Mac Full Screen Exit even if you are a complete beginner or by just forcing the computer to quit the mode.
Get Familiar With The Keyboard Shortcuts
Among all the ways of moving around on macOS, probably, the most triumphant way is by keyboard shortcuts. Additionally, when in a situation where you have tried to use mouse or trackpad but nothing has happened on the screen,
The ‘Esc’ Key for All Cases practically
Almost all the time, you will be able to use your Esc (Escape) key to get out. This key resides at the upper-left corner of the keyboard. Pressing it once should show the result of the full-screen window being minimized immediately. That is the case with the video player and web browser most of the time.
Power Users’ Shortcut
On the off chance that the Esc key does not help, the app may be signaling for a system-level command altogether. The system shortcut responsible for toggling a full screen on and off, in macOS is: Command + Control + F.
This command works for the vast majority of Apple native apps (such as Mail, Safari, Finder) and quite a few third-party apps as well (such as Chrome or Slack). If you get to the point of knowing this shortcut by heart, you would hardly ever find yourself in situations where you get stuck.
Instruction: In case your keyboard is not from Apple or if it’s the type where the function keys are mapped differently, you may want to give Fn + F a try.
The Cursor Hover Technique
In the event that keyboard shortcuts fail, there is still another way to make the graphical user interface visible again.
- First drag your mouse pointer to the very top-left corner of the display.
- Keep it there for at least one second. Do not quickly move the pointer; instead, pretend as if you are putting an object and a hand at the corner.
Such a signal lets macOS know that you want the window controls. Hence, if your computer is functioning properly, macOS should drop the menu down to reveal the green button. Simply clicking the green button at this point will complete the process.
Troubleshooting: Sometimes the menu bar behaves erratically. It might come down then go up instantly. Or it refuses to stay up at all. Under such a case, one should conclude that the root of the problem is not only limited to the software alone. Besides, it may be a corrupted app and/or a background process conflict.
Unfreezing Your Screen: Intermediate Solutions
It may turn out that the culprit is app freezing rather than invisible controls. Anyhow, if it feels like the system is completely frozen and that your keyboard and mouse efforts are being ignored, or if the ‘spinning beachball’ appears, then you are going to have to be a bit more aggressive.
Force Quit the Application
In a situation where you have gotten into a full screen mode with an app that has actually crashed and is not responding, the only way to get out of that is to manually terminate the app. The Force Quit option is what you are going to use here. Since the ‘Quit’ is no longer accessible from the menu bar, you will have to call up the ‘Force Quit’ menu.
The “Kill Switch”:
Simultaneously Press Command + Option + Esc. This is the Apple equivalent of Ctrl-Alt-Delete on Windows.
Instructions:
- After you execute the key combination, a window titled “Force Quit Applications” will appear on the screen which is currently frozen.
- Find the application you are still stuck with. Most likely, the text ‘(Not Responding)’ in red will be next to its name.
- Click on the app icon and then press the blue ‘Force Quit’ button.
- A pop-up warning will ask you to confirm this action. You have to confirm.
Note that you should be aware that when you do a Force Quit, the app will be shut down immediately. Any work that you had not saved will be lost. However, all your open apps and the OS itself will be unaffected.
The Best Old Restart
Suppose Force Quit is not working or if everything has completely frozen, then the last resort is to turn the computer off and then on again. When you restart your computer, any information in the RAM (Random Access Memory) as well as temporary cache files gets cleared. Frequently, what presents itself as a display glitch is actually a memory leak or a temporary file error, and thus a system reboot provides a ‘fresh start’ for the machine.
How to execute:
- In case of complete screen freeze, you will not be able to click on the Apple logo to restart the system and therefore it is imperative to:
- First, locate your Mac’s physical power button (or Touch ID button).
- Then press and hold it for roughly 10 seconds.
- The screen shall go black and the computer will be completely powered off.
- After a few seconds, press the power button once more to boot the system.
System-Level Fixes for Stubborn Issues
When a Mac Full Screen Exit becomes elusive to you no matter what you do, or you see the problem somewhere else too, then it is likely enough that the problem is in the macOS layer.
Update macOS
An older operating system is often behind the scenes of interface bugs. The more developers keep their apps up to date, the more they optimize them for the latest macOS version. Where your applications are up to date but your OS is not, software and display drivers may fail their communication resulting in a hang.
Apple also frequently launches new releases that address this sort of bug. One of the best things you can do to keep your computer from running into these problems is to simply keep the system up to date.
Step by step:
- Apple Menu (top left corner)
- System Settings (or System Preferences)
- General, Software Update
- If an update is available, install it and restart your computer.
Resetting NVRAM/PRAM (Only Applicable to Intel Macs)
Apart from the volume setting, startup disk, and other system settings, NVRAM (short for Non-Volatile Random-Access Memory stored information) also holds certain display resolution and window sizing details.
When NVRAM data becomes corrupted, the system may lose track of window-scaling operations thus the inability to exit a full screen on a Mac.
Major Note: An Apple Silicon Mac handles these settings changes-free during restart whereby the NVRAM reset step is completely skipped. This is, therefore, a step unique to Intel-based Macs only.
How to do it:
- Fully power off the Mac.
- Turn it on and instantly press and hold these four keys simultaneously: Option + Command + P + R.
- Hold these buttons down for 20 seconds.
- You can let go of the buttons after hearing a second startup chime or after the Apple logo has appeared and disappeared twice.
Troubleshooting at a Higher Level
Different from the situations of frozen screens, where you can use Force Quit or Restart, in case you still cannot reliably exit a Mac Full Screen after all the shortcuts, restarts, and updates attempts, then the issue might be deeper.
Safe Mode Boot
Safe Mode is a way of booting the OS so that it loads only the basic features. When you boot your Mac in Safe Mode, extensions by third parties are not allowed to load, nor are the startup items, system extensions, and non-essential fonts that you have installed.
Experiments:
- Boot into Safe Mode and perform the action that typically leads to the problem. Try to exit full-screen mode after going full-screen to an app.
- In case you manage a Mac Full Screen Exit without issues running it in Safe Mode, then it means that the culprit is a third-party app, plugin, or a startup item that you have currently installed.
- If Safe Mode is no different and there is still a problem, it points to an issue with your macOS installation or hardware.
Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3):
- Turn off your Mac.
- Press and hold the power button until the screen displays “Loading startup options”.
- You will be prompted to select the volume, which is usually ‘Macintosh HD’.
- Hold the Shift key, and then select the ‘Continue in Safe Mode’ option by clicking on it.
For Macs With Intel Chips:
- Turn your computer off completely.
- After switching it on, immediately press and hold the Shift button.
- You can release the button once you see the login screen.
New User Account Troubleshooting
There are situations where a preferences file in your user account is corrupt. To get this out of the way you simply create a new user account and check if the problem persists.
- System Settings > Users & Groups.
- Click Add Account and create a standard user profile.
- Log out of your current account and log into the new one.
- Test the full-screen functionality.
When the Mac Full Screen Exit operation becomes feasible with the new user account, it implies that the original user profile’s settings or library files are the issues.
App Specific Issues and When to Seek Help from a Pro
There may be different kinds of “full screen” modes depending on the software you are using. Do not lose heart at once.
Gaming Exception
Games normally make use of their own graphics engines that tend to override the macOS defaults. When you are playing a game, the standard macOS shortcuts (Esc or Command + Control + F) can be disabled so as not to allow accidental clicks during the gameplay.
If you are stuck inside a game and can’t get out, then look for the in game menu. Typically, you’ll have to locate ‘Video Settings’ or ‘Graphics Settings’ and then change the display mode from ‘Full Screen’ to ‘Windowed’ or ‘Bordered Window’.
Video Players
A video browser playout (YouTube, Netflix, Vimeo) having a ‘Chrome or Safari’ can freeze up too. It may even happen that the video player container gets locked when the browser itself continues to be functional. A straightforward solution to the problem is reloading the page. You can easily do it by pressing Command + R. So, the page gets reloaded, and usually, the video player defaults to the mode that is not maximized.
Apple Support
In case you have gone through all the stages from the unattended Escape key to NVRAM reset and still have no Mac Full Screen Exit, then it is time to bring hardware into the discussion.
Is the screen showing you such weird things that will be very difficult to describe? Are there patterns of light or color flashes? Are there artifacts (blocky sections of the screen) seen when the freeze occurs? These are certainly signs of Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) failure. To put it simply, no amount of software troubleshooting is going to make a difference. You should contact Apple Support or an Authorized Service Provider to get the hardware diagnosed face-to-face.
Summary
Immersive view mode traps can be very annoying and even disrupt your working progress. In most cases, a ‘Mac Full Screen Exit’ problem arises due to software and can be resolved easily. Remember that the Esc key and Command + Control + F shortcut are your first lines of defense.
Should the occurrence be frequent, upgrading your system and removing all the stale and redundant apps would be saving your time. A neat, updated Mac makes you a happy Mac.
Is your favorite app frequently freezing on you?
Or maybe you have your own secret trick of escaping full-screen that we have not mentioned?
Comment here if you would like to share your experience with fellow Mac users or if you know someone who hasn’t quite got a hold of his/her Mac yet, send him/her this guide!
