How to Quickly Close Apps on Windows 8, 8.1

Reading time icon 3 min. read


Readers help support Windows Report. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Tooltip Icon

Read the affiliate disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report effortlessly and without spending any money. Read more

Since Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 are two platforms designed especially for touch based devices, managing your daily tasks will be different since you were used when talking about older versions of the Microsoft OS. Therefore, closing apps on Windows 8, 8.1 might be a tricky thing to do, especially if you have no idea regarding to the same operation.easily close windows apps
As you know Microsoft is providing two different versions of its Windows 8 system, depending on the UI you choose: tile based metro UI and normal desktop mode. With the desktop mode you will be able to open, minimize and close your apps by using the classic method (you have the “x” icon available) but when coming to metro UI mode, the apps aren’t featuring the classic interface which means that you can’t close them in the traditional way.

Anyway, Microsoft designed its Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 OS in matter of usability and portability. Thus, all the apps will not slow down your machine – even when you will not use a certain app, the same will still run on background and after a short time the Windows system will automatically close the mentioned tool. But, if you want to close all of you apps, or a certain software, right after using it, you should take a look over the guidelines from below as I will show you how to quickly close apps on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.

How to Close app on Windows 8, 8.1 and RT

The easiest way in which you can close a certain app is to move your cursor (or drag it from the top of the screen to the very bottom) to top of the app window; at that point your cursor will become a hand and then you will have to left click and hold the mouse while dragging the app to the bottom of the screen.

In case you want to close multiple apps at the same time, move your cursor to the top left corner of the app window. A list of opened apps will be then displayed; just right click on the app you want to close and choose “close”.close apps windows 8

Of course you can also use the Task Manager in order to end various processes and even the “ALT+F4” combination in order to close a certain app (though not all apps are detecting the ALT + F4 keyboard combination). So, choose the method you prefer the most and manage with ease any app you want, whether you are using a touch based device or a desktop or laptop Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows RT powered machine.

That was all for now; if you have questions or any other problems related to this topic, don’t hesitate and share your thoughts with us – use the comments field from below in that matter.