How to disable command-Q for Quit?

Question

Is there any way to disable command+Q for quitting apps?

I tried adding this menuitem to the "Keyboard Shortcuts" preference pane (as suggested here), and remapping it to command+option+Q (slightly harder to hit), and the menu item changed to show this, but command+Q still causes the app to quit.

I'm using OS X 10.7, but I'd happily upgrade to 10.8 if it fixed this.

The app I really want this for is Firefox, but if there was a solution that disabled command+Q for every app, that would be fine, too.

Answer 1

Go to System Preferences, then Keyboard. Select Shortcuts. On the left pane, find Accessibility. Now on the right pane enable Invert colors and then click on the shortcut box to reassign the shortcut to Cmd+Q.

That's it. Now when you press Cmd+Q the colors of the screen will be inverted. Press it again to go back to normal colors. No more accidentally quitting applications (like closing over two hundred tabs on Firefox when trying to use Cmd+a or three dozen pdfs on Preview when trying to use Cmd+tab; last two things I did, never again.)

P.S. Whoever thought it was a good idea to use Cmd+Q to quit applications should go back to usability school.

---

There's also a nice plugin that you can use called Always Ask, which forces a prompt dialog before leaving Firefox.

Answer 2

I have found a way to do this without having to change your volume or stuff like that when you press command+Q.

go to system preferences -> keyboard -> mission control -> "do not disturb".

Then just click the box and change it to: command+Q.

Answer 3

Sorry for digging up such old post but this idea may be useful.

In System Preferences - Keyboard create a new shortcut for the application you want to prevent quit. Search for the title of the quit command in the application's menu and enter the same exact as a Menu Title for the shortcut, then give a different shortcut.

Indeed, you don't have this issue with all applications but only browser and maybe one or two other apps.

Answer 4

Using KeyRemap4MacBook, you could add this to private.xml:

<item>
  <name>disable_command_q</name>
  <identifier>disable_command_q</identifier>
  <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::Q, VK_COMMAND | ModifierFlag::NONE, KeyCode::VK_NONE</autogen>
  <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::Q, VK_COMMAND | VK_SHIFT | ModifierFlag::NONE, KeyCode::Q, ModifierFlag::COMMAND_L</autogen>
</item>

Without | ModifierFlag::NONE the first autogen element would also disable for example ⌥⌘Q. The second autogen element changes ⇧⌘Q to ⌘Q.

There are also predefined settings that make sending ⌘Q require holding ⌘Q or pressing ⌘Q twice:

They are defined in custom_shortcuts.xml:

<item>
  <name>Hold Command+Q to Quit Application</name>
  <appendix>(You can adjust the threshold time of holding by</appendix>
  <appendix>"[Holding Key to Key] Holding Threshold" in Key Repeat tab.)</appendix>
  <identifier>remap.holdcommandQ</identifier>
  <autogen>__HoldingKeyToKey__ KeyCode::Q, VK_COMMAND | ModifierFlag::NONE, KeyCode::VK_NONE, KeyCode::Q, VK_COMMAND, Option::NOREPEAT</autogen>
</item>
<item>
  <name>Press Command+Q twice to Quit Application</name>
  <identifier>remap.doublepresscommandQ</identifier>
  <autogen>__DoublePressModifier__ KeyCode::Q, VK_COMMAND | ModifierFlag::NONE,
    KeyCode::VK_NONE,
    KeyCode::Q, VK_COMMAND
  </autogen>
</item>

Answer 5

You can disable Cmd + Q by using BetterTouchTool (a wonderful app) for Mac OS:

Go to Keyboard -> Add new shortcut or key sequence -> map Cmd+Q to "No Action"

Answer 6

QBlocker

QBlocker is a free and open source app by to solve this issue by requiring a user to hold down CMD+Q to quit all apps or just certain ones.

Answer 7

Use a keyboard remapper. There's a great GPL one for OSX (I use Keyremap4MacBook) Just map the command Q key combo to something that does nothing.

Answer 8

Now there is an item in the Chrome application menu "Warn Before Quitting" which does the trick for me.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5784153/how-to-bring-back-the-hold-q-to-quit-prompt-in-google-chrome

Answer 9

Not a direct answer to your question, but you can tell Firefox to automatically open your old windows when you launch it using the When Firefox starts option under the General preferences pane.

If you don't want to change your start screen just for the occasional accidental quit, there is also a command to do it: History menu -> Restore Previous Session.

Answer 10

Go to System Preferences>Keyboard>Shortcuts then the application button on the left bar. Press the + button then Choose your application. Write "Quit (Application Name)" in the Menu Title Slot. Add your command to replace cmd-q and that's it.

Answer 11

The best way I found is next.

When I click Cmd + Q it locks my screen.

To achieve this:

• Run System Settings
• Select Keyboard in sidebar
• Press Keyboard Shortcuts button
• Select App Shortcuts in sidebar
• Press on Plus (+) button
• Write Lock Screen and assign it to Cmd + Q combination
• Press Done button

Answer 12

As you have seen, just setting a new keyboard shortcut in the System Prefs doesn't always work. It will change the shortcut shown in the menu but the application could still be listening for the Commmand+Q keypress. I've seen a few apps that do this. Even some will listen to keypresses that are not listed as shortcuts in the menu (Photoshop for example).

A 3rd party option is to use something like ControllerMate. It has the ability to remap any controller input (keyboard, mouse, trackpad, joystick, etc) and change what it does. I use it to do many remaps and run macro scripts. They can be set on a per-application basis or a global system-wide state.

Using ControllerMate, you could map Command+Q to do nothing then have Command+Option+Q call the Quit menu entry. Or you could get fancy and have Command+Q do nothing except if you press Command+Q again within 1/2 of a second then it would call the Quit menu.

ControllerMate is an amazing app. I've done many customizations like a "Boss/Spouse Mode" which is a single keypress that does the following

• mutes the computer audio
• pauses iTunes if it is playing
• quits QuickTime and/or VLC if it is running
• minimizes current Firefox windows and opens a new window to Google.com

Another suggestion (along with Henry's suggestion) is to use a session manager so if Firefox is quit by accident, you can restore easily. The built-in session manager is OK but you should also look at Tab Mix Plus. Not only does it give you amazing options for managing your tabs but its session manager is also great. I have many sessions saved and can pull them up quickly anytime in new windows.

Answer 13

Simply I have replaced the existing command with new one,

Ex. I replaced Quit command for Sublime Text for MAC,

I used to Add new shortcut and added new command alt+command+c

Answer 14

There is on solution not posted here that I thought should merit consideration. If you don't mind removing the command+q entirely from your computer you can effectively remap in Ukulele so that Command+Q execute another keyboard shortcut.

You could make it execute command+space or command+1 just assign it to something else.

There are positives and negatives to this approach but it should work.

Answer 15

Go to settings → Keyboard → shortcuts → App-keyboardshortcuts(on my mac: 'App-Tastenkurzbefehle') Press '+' Then add shortcut for the programm you wish to deactivate Command+Q. Afterwards type exectly the name of the menu point! Because my mac is geraman there is written 'Safari beenden'.

I prefer this solution because I still can close safari with a short cut but I am not doing it by accident.

Answer 16

use Switcher can prevent you to press cmd + q by mistake