Should I quit PhD after 4 years? I am at the end of my fourth-year in the Ph.D. program at an average university and I am trying to decide if it's the right decision to leave without getting Ph.D. degree. I have an M.Sc. degree and it's ABD. Although I published many conference papers, I didn't publish a journal. One reason is that I worked a lot for many projects as the lead research assistant. Other reason is that my motivation to work on these journals keeps decreasing. I am making very small progress and I always feel very bad about it. I feel like I will never be able to finish these papers. Quitting will give me relief but it also means that I wasted at least two years of my life. Also, I don't want to regret this.
My relationship with my supervisor is not good. Working with him made me really depressed. I lost all my self-confidence. I sought professional counseling but it doesn't help much. Also, my partner is graduating next semester and needs to leave and find a job. I don't need a Ph.D. to get a job. I've already got many job offers. I don't want to work in academia.
Think of being a PhD student as a job.  If you think there’s another job you’d prefer, then switch jobs.  It’s no more of a waste than spending two years at another job that you end up leaving.

That said if you already have some substantial work finished you might ask your advisor if you can just graduate this year with a weak thesis.