How to close apps on Android

Closing apps on your Android is not always essential, but doing this is recommended. Running apps in the background drains the device's battery quickly, and simply backing up an app on your Android device doesn't close it. It runs in the background, and if you need to bring it up again, you can do it quickly.

Android apps running in the background are similar to the minimized window on your computer, and they take up space on RAM and reduce device performance. To improve your device's performance, including speed, and free some memory in the device, you need to close an app fully. This article illustrates how to close apps on your Android devices.

Closing Apps on Android smartphones from its Home Screen

Closing apps on Android, iPhone, or Windows phones means shutting down the apps entirely. There could be any reason to close apps on Android; it may include that the app might not respond typically, your Android devices (phone or tablet) may be low free memory, and you might want to clean up the screen.

The fastest way to shut down (or close) the running apps is from the device's Home screen.

First, find (or view) all your running apps on your device. The process of viewing running apps depends on which phone or Android version you are using.

1. Here are some ways to show up the running apps on Android devices. Look at these points and follow what suits your need.
   • Please tap on the two small square (or on some device, it has three horizontal lines) icon at the bottom of the screen.
     
   • Press the physical button at the bottom of your device, which looks like two rectangles box icon. If it is not visible on your phone, then press the area next to the Home button.
   • Swipe up the app screen from the bottom of the Home screen.
   • If you have Samsung Galaxy smartphones, press the Recent Apps button, which could be at the left of the Home button.
2. Swipe up or down, left or right (based on phone interface), to close the app you want.
3. For horizontally listed apps, swipe up on the app to shut it down immediately and properly, just like throwing them out of the screen.
   
4. For vertical listed apps on the screen, swipe the app left or right to close them instantly and adequately.
5. On some devices, you will find an exit icon on the Home screen at the upper-right corner of each opened app. Please tap on the exit button of the app to kill it.
6. If there is a three-lined button at the bottom with "X" on it, tap it to close all the currently opened apps at once.

Some Android smartphones have a Clear, Clear all, or X button at the bottom of the screen; tapping on it will kill all the opened apps at once.

Force close apps on Android

Sometimes you may face a problem that the app couldn't load properly or is unresponsive, no matter how you closed or opened it. When such a problem occurs, you must force close that app from the App manager (or Application manager or App info).

However, force closing of apps sometimes encounters problems with integrating or functioning, and you may need to uninstall and reinstall them. Closing apps in this way is not friendly, and it is mainly used at the time of troubleshooting.

On some Android smartphones, long-press the app you want to kill forcefully. A menu with two options will pop up, including "App info" and "Lock". Tap on the App info icon, which will take you to that particular app page in your App Manager setting screen. Tap on the Force stop button to close the app forcefully.

Instead of directly visiting the App manager, you can navigate through Settings options. Following are the steps to Force stop the apps from the Settings option. Remember that the efforts to visit App manager (or App Info) may vary based on your device, but they mostly follow the same structure.

1. Launch the Settings app of your Android phone and tap on the Apps & notifications If this option is unavailable on your device, look for the other options Apps, App Management, Application manager, or General > App list (Apps).
   
2. Here you might see all the apps on your device; if you don't see all of your apps listed here, there should be an option See all <#> apps. Scroll the screen, find the app you want to close forcefully and tap on it for the next screen.
   
3. Select the app and choose the option Force stop.
   
4. A pop-up appears with the option OK or Force stop to confirm your action to force stop app.
   

Once your app has stopped successfully, you can reopen it again usually. However, closing the app by force may mesh with the function or cause unintended behaviour.

How to Shut Down Running Services on Android

Android services (or functions) run in the background and keep the phone alive. These are usually not something regular users need to deal with, especially when the option is unavailable by default. However, if you know how the phone reacts after terminating the service of the particular running app, shut down the service.

1. Enable developer mode (developer option) of your Android smartphone. It is a unique option that allows you to view and edit phone settings that an average user can't see. To see how you can enable the developer mode of your device, look at the article on how to enable or disable developer options on Android.
2. Select the running services of your phone, and scroll through the list of apps to find and select the app that is running the service you want to close.
3. After that, tap on the Stop option next to the service you want to close. You might need to press OK to confirm your action based on your device.

Closing Apps on Android is not always required.

It is not usually required to close apps on your Android because the device can handle apps accordingly. The phone manages and fixes memory back and forth between the apps you are currently using and apps running in the background. Constantly closing down the apps might make your device run slower. However, if there is any reason you have to clear the apps you want, you can proceed to close them.

How to close an app on an Android TV

To close an app on your Android TV, visit Settings > Apps, then choose the app your want to close. After that, select the Force stop option to close that app. On older Android TVs, navigate to Home > Apps, and now choose the app to close.