How to close a modern app on Windows 8.1

How to close an app on Windows 8.1 (flip) 780_wide

If you have been using Windows 8 for a while, you might have noticed that closing an app Windows 8.1 by dragging down will keep it in memory. But it stays in a suspended state, which means that the app will sit on the system without using any of the processor’s power and just a tiny fraction of memory (less than 1MB on well-coded apps).

All this means that apps in Windows 8.1 still work like in smartphones, they don’t need to be closed, the operating system is smart enough to keep many suspended apps (a.k.a doomed), and when your PC needs more resources to take up on a harder task, Windows will automatically close all the necessary apps by cross referring and closing the oldest first. And don’t worry when you switch back to an app, it will resume where you left off.

Although, this is a great technology, there will be times when a particular Metro-styled app may just stop responding or it’ll start acting up and you’ll need to force an app to close. In Windows 8.1 to close an app, you now have to drag it down and hold until you see a flip animation, then release (This is also applicable to Windows RT 8.1).

Quick Tip: Keep in mind that there is more than one way to terminate an app in Windows 8.1 — you can simply use Alt+F4 keyboard shortcut for example –. Also check this previous Windows guide to learn 4 ways to close Metro designed apps in Windows 8.

It’s worth noting that this way to close apps in Windows 8.1 is only working on a few apps, like Internet Explorer, Reading List, Calculator, Sound Recorder, and a few more. In other words it works on the new modern apps released for 8.1, other apps such as News, Netflix, People, etc., will close seconds after you terminate them like you used to in Windows 8.

SEE ALSO: Windows 8.1 Trick: Quickly restart apps without going back to Start

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.