First, it can be a stand-alone issue with a certain app. Why does the Mac spinning wheel of death appear? It usually takes about 4 seconds for the app to decide that it’s non-responsive.

When an app receives more events than it can process, the window server automatically shows you the spinning ball. The ball signifies that your Mac cannot handle all the tasks given to it at this moment.Įvery app on your Mac has a so-called window server. Its official name is the Spinning Wait Cursor, not so official - the Spinning Beach Ball of Death or SBBOD. In this article we’ll take a look at what is the spinning beach ball, why and when it shows up, and what you can do about it. Since it’s not always clear how to deal with with the wheeling cursor or what caused it in the first place, let’s break it all down.

If you’re lucky it disappears in a few seconds, but more often it remains for minutes, leaving you helplessly locked out of the app or your whole Mac.

The rainbow-colored circle is a painful sight to see for Mac users. But to help you do it all by yourself, we’ve gathered our best ideas and solutions below. So here's a tip for you: Download CleanMyMac to quickly solve some of the issues mentioned in this article.

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