Which action should be taken if an application isn't responding on a Mac?

When an application on a Mac isn't responding, the most effective immediate action to take is to Force Quit the application. This process allows you to close the unresponsive program without needing to restart the entire system, which can be disruptive and time-consuming.

Force Quitting is particularly useful because it terminates the application that is not functioning properly, freeing up system resources and allowing you to either restart the application or use a different one without delay. It's a direct method to resolve the issue that specifically addresses the unresponsiveness of that individual program.

Options like restarting the computer may ultimately solve the problem but can be seen as a last resort because it interrupts all processes currently running on the Mac. Updating the application or checking the Internet connection can be beneficial in other contexts, especially for improving performance or connectivity in the long term but do not directly resolve the issue of an unresponsive application in the moment.