The latest version of Microsoft Windows, Windows 8, runs fullscreen apps which have no close or minimize buttons. As a result, many people are getting very confused about how to close them. Even if you run or switch to other apps, the older apps keep running in the background and consume a lot of system memory. Fortunately, there are more than one ways to close down such Metro or Modern UI apps. All of these methods work in touchscreen Windows 8 devices as well as ordinary desktop computers running Windows 8.
Method 1 – Drag it Down
Windows 8 is a primarily a touchscreen operating system. The brand new Metro UI (now being called Modern UI) interface in Windows 8 is designed specially keeping the touchscreen devices in mind. So if you are running a touchscreen device on Windows 8, just tap and drag the top edge of the App you want to close to the bottom edge of your screen. It would be automatically closed by Windows. You can also use the same method using your mouse -just click and drag the top-edge of the app to the bottom of your screen.
Method 2 – Alt + F4
If you do not already know the keyboard shortcut to close any application in Windows, then it is Alt + F4. When an app is in focus in Windows 8, press the key Alt, keep it holding and then press F4 (now you can let the keys go). This would instantly close the app running in the focus. What about the apps if they are not in focus? Well, then you can use the Alt + Tab keyboard combination to switch to the app you want to close. Press Alt, keep it holding and then press Tab one or more times to switch from one to another app. When the desired app is in focus, then close it using the the Alt + F4 shortcut key as usual.
Method 3 – Task Manager
You can also use the Windows Task Manager to close (actually terminate) an app. This method should be used only if other methods fail. First of all you need to open the Task Manager. To open the Task Manager, you can use the keyboard combination Ctrl + Shift + Esc. You can also right-click on the taskbar in Windows 8 and select Task Manager from the context menu.
When the Task Manager window opens up, select an app that you want to close from the list and then click on the button labeled End task. This would instantly kill the target app. Task Manager kills (terminates) the app rather than closing it – meaning the app might not be able to save information about the files it was working on. So, as already mentioned, you should use this method only if other methods fail to work.