What NotchStar cannot stop and why
NotchStar’s Stop button cannot stop everything. It only asks, with SIGTERM, and only for processes you own. If the process belongs to another user, is a protected system service, or simply ignores the request, it stays running.
When Stop does nothing
| Situation | What you see |
|---|---|
| The process belongs to root or another user | The header says Could not stop (name). macOS does not let you signal it |
| The program ignores SIGTERM | Asked to quit shows, but the row stays |
| The program restarts itself | The row vanishes and returns. Something launched it again |
| The row’s process ID is 1 or lower | Not signalled at all |
| The program is stuck | A stuck program may not act on the request |
Why there is no force option
Forcing a process to end gives it no chance to save work or release files and ports. NotchStar leaves that out on purpose. A request that a program can ignore is safer than one it cannot, and the second press is there to make you check the row first.
What to do instead
- Quit the program the usual way, from its own window or menu. Dev servers usually stop with Control and C in the terminal that runs them.
- If a service restarts itself, find what starts it, such as a login item or a background manager, and stop that.
- For a stuck program, Activity Monitor has Quit and Force Quit. Using it is your call.
- If the row shows network and you did not expect it, check the command before stopping anything. See the Ports list columns.
To use the button itself, read how to stop a process on a port. To find where a server was started, use Show in Finder. The tab is described on the Disk feature page.
