How to Stop the Spinning Beachball on macOS

Step by step

1. 1 min

   Open Activity Monitor

   Press Command + Space to open Spotlight Search. Type Activity Monitor and press Return to launch the utility.

   Note: The beachball indicates the system is waiting for an unresponsive process.
2. 1 min

   Identify resource-heavy processes

   Select the CPU tab in the top navigation bar. Click the % CPU column header to sort processes by usage intensity. Locate any process highlighted in red text labeled Not Responding.

   Note: Processes consuming over 90% of CPU are likely the source of the hang.
3. 1 min

   Force Quit the unresponsive process

   Click the name of the unresponsive process. Press the X icon located in the top toolbar of the Activity Monitor window. Select Force Quit in the confirmation prompt to immediately terminate the task.

   Note: Do not force quit processes owned by root unless you are certain they are the cause.
4. 2 min

   Check available storage space

   Navigate to the Apple Menu and select System Settings. Go to General and select Storage. Ensure you have at least 20GB of free space to allow macOS virtual memory to function correctly.

   Note: Insufficient disk space forces the system to thrash, triggering the beachball.
5. 1 min

   Restart the WindowServer

   If the beachball persists, log out of your current session by pressing Command + Shift + Q. Re-logging forces the WindowServer process to restart, which manages the graphical interface.

   Note: This will close all active applications, so save your work beforehand.