Every now and then you’ll come across the Spinning Pinwheel of Death (SPOD) on your Mac. It’s that multi-colored pinwheel that symbolizes a temporary or interminable delay while your Mac tries to figure something out. Your Mac is trying to function, but nothing happens, so the pinwheel just keeps spinning and spinning.

With one of these solutions, you can stop the spinning wheel and get a smooth Mac experience again.

Force quit the active app. Determine if the spinning wheel of death is the result of a single app by force quitting it. Restart the app and there may be no problem. If you see the spinning wheel again with that app, that may be the culprit. Check for an update for the app or uninstall and reinstall the app.

Shut down your Mac. If you can’t force the app to quit or operate your Mac, shut down your computer by holding down the power button, then restart your computer and continue working.