How do I close, minimize, hide or quit from Flick?

Act on the selected row

1. Select the row

   Hold ⌥ and tap Tab until the window you want is selected, or type part of its name.

2. Press the action's keys

   Keep holding ⌥ and add ⇧ with the letter, such as ⌥⇧W to close the window. Flick stays open and the list updates, so you can tidy up several windows.

3. Let go, or leave

   Let go of ⌥ to switch to the selected row, or press Esc to close Flick without switching.

The list stays open after you let go when you started a search with Return, the search shortcut (⇧⌘Space unless you changed it) or a click, when you typed a search and Settings › Shortcuts › When you let go while searching is set to Keep the list open, or when you let go while the actions menu is open. Close and minimize work on window rows only, not on an app without windows or a browser tab. Every key is in Flick's keyboard shortcuts.

Why ⌥W types a w

Since Flick 1.1, every letter types into the search while you hold ⌥, so searching for “mail” never minimizes a window on the way. In 1.0, ⌥W, ⌥M, ⌥H and ⌥Q acted. 1.1 moved them to ⌥⇧W, ⌥⇧M, ⌥⇧H and ⌥⇧Q. ⌥⇧K opens the actions menu, and any other letter with ⌥⇧ types a capital. See what's new in Flick 1.1.

With the ⌘Tab trigger, the action keys didn't change: ⌘W, ⌘M, ⌘H and ⌘Q act while you hold ⌘. ⇧⌘K opens the actions menu, every other letter types, and ⇧⌘Q types a Q instead of logging you out. Once the list stays open, ⌥ letters type as in any text field, and ⌘A, ⌘C, ⌘V, ⌘X and ⌘Z edit the search.

The actions menu

Press ⌥⇧K for the selected row, or right-click or Control-click any row. Letting go of ⌥ keeps the menu open. Esc, or the menu's shortcut again, closes just the menu.

The menu lists only what applies: window items only on a window's row (Minimize Window not for a minimized or full-screen window), and Hide only while the app is showing. A browser tab's row gets Activate and the app's items.

Opened from the keyboard, the menu starts on Activate and shows each item's key, with ⌘ instead of ⌥⇧ once you've let go or with the ⌘Tab trigger. Press a key to run its item, or move with ↑ and ↓ and press Return. A right-click menu shows no keys, and letters go on to the search, so typing never runs an action.

Force Quit

Force Quit is the only action that asks first: “Force quit App?”, with the warning “App quits at once. Changes you haven't saved are lost.” Press Return or click Force Quit to go ahead; Esc, ← or Cancel goes back to the menu. Each press of Return counts once, so holding it can't choose and confirm in one go.

Try Quit first, which lets the app ask you to save; Force Quit is for an app that has stopped responding. How to force quit on a Mac covers the other ways.

What each action does

macOS's shortcuts act on the front window or app (⌥⌘Esc opens a window where you pick the app). Flick's act on the selected row, without switching to it first.

To bring an ignored app back, remove it from Ignored Apps, as ignore an app explains. Flick never closes, hides or quits itself. For the feature at a glance, see window actions.

Questions