Graceful Shutdown Script on macOS

This guide walks you through setting up a custom terminal command called shutdownmac that gracefully closes all open applications on your Mac and then shuts it down. It's especially useful if you want a clean exit and don’t want to lose unsaved work.

1. Create the shutdownmac script

Open Terminal and run:

nano ~/shutdownmac

Then paste the following into the file:

#!/bin/bash

# Gracefully quit all user-facing apps
osascript <
  

2. Save and exit nano

• Press Ctrl + O then Enter to save
• Press Ctrl + X to exit

3. Make it executable

chmod +x ~/shutdownmac

4. Create an alias so you can run it like a command

echo 'alias shutdownmac="$HOME/shutdownmac"' >> ~/.zprofile

Then reload your terminal profile:

source ~/.zprofile

✅ All Set!

Now you can just type shutdownmac in your terminal and it will:

1. Quit all open apps
2. Wait 10 seconds
3. Shutdown your Mac (you’ll be prompted for your password)