When you first purchased your Mac, performance was probably a big consideration. While Mac computers work great for the most part, you are likely to run into some problems using them. One of them is a rainbow color wheel that causes a great deal of annoyance to many users. In this article, you’ll discover four ways to prevent the Mac spinning wheel from ruining your productivity.
Mac Spinning Wheel Colors
You may have noticed that the Mac’s spinning wheel is different colors. The wheel basically means that your computer is busy performing a task. You usually see it when you’re working on something with large files, like editing photos and videos.
- Blue spinning wheel – A blue spinning wheel is usually an app that indicates it is charging.
- Rainbow Spinning Wheel – Displays when macOS takes too long to complete a task.
Even so, the wheels do get stuck every now and then, so you may need to follow the tips below.
1. Turn Your Mac On and Off Again
When you see the Mac’s wheel spin, you’ll see that there isn’t much, if anything, with your computer. This is especially true when you click on different windows and try to exit the problem causing application.
The easiest way to prevent your computer from seeing the spinning wheel is to turn it off and on again. If you can’t use your trackpad, click the Power button next to F12 on your keyboard. You can find it in the upper right corner.
If the spinning wheel stopped spinning but you fear it might return, here are the steps to turn your Mac on and off again:
1. Click on the Apple logo in the upper left corner of your computer screen .
2. If the following list of options appears in a drop-down menu, click Restart.
3. After selecting the restart option, you will need to confirm this in the pop-up window that appears.
2. Clearing the Dynamic Link Editor Cache
Once you’ve restarted your computer, you should find that the Mac spinning wheel disappears. However, if not, it’s time to move on to more advanced solutions.
A lesser known way to deal with the spinning wheel on your Mac is to clear the cache of the Dynamic Link Editor. While this sounds daunting, you will find that the steps are simple.
How to remove Dynamic Link Editor on your Mac:
1. Go to the magnifying glass option at the top right of your toolbar to open the search bar.
2. Enter “terminal” in your search bar and click terminal.app.
3. On your Mac terminal, enter:
sudo update_dyld_shared_cache -force
Once you have done this, you will need to press Enter on your keyboard.
4. Enter your password in the terminal application.
After your computer clears Dynamic Link Editor, reopen the application you were having trouble with and verify that everything works.
3. Force Quitting Apps
Sometimes you might see the Mac wheel spinning because an application is currently busy. If so, you may prefer to force close that single app.
To force close an application:
1. Go back to the Apple logo in the upper left corner of your computer’s toolbar and click on it.
2. Go to “Force Quit…” in the drop-down menu. You can find this option between “Last Items” and “Suspend”.
3. After you have selected “Force Quit…”, the “Force Applications” window appears. Select the application you want to exit. You can also bookmark multiple applications by holding down the Command key while clicking each application with the trackpad.
4. Click the “Force Quit” button in the lower right corner.
After forcibly exiting the app, which should have happened shortly after completing the last step, open it again to see if what you did made a difference.
Related: How to Add and Remove Kexts from macOS
4. Clearing Out Your Storage
Since spinning wheel is a performance issue on your Mac, it makes sense to free up some space if none of the above methods have worked so far.
To empty your computer’s memory, do the following:
1. Navigate again to the search magnifier at the top of your screen.
2. Once your computer opens the search bar, enter “storage management”. When the Storage Management.app option appears, select it.
3. In your storage management application, reducing clutter on your computer is a great place to start. Also:
3.1. Find the “Reduce Clutter” section and click “Review Files…”
3.2. Review the files and delete unnecessary files.
4. Once you’ve cut down on your clutter, it’s time to eliminate the apps you don’t use. Finding your list of applications is very easy: click on the “Applications” button that you will see on the left sidebar.
5. Check all the apps you want to remove.
6. Once you have selected the applications you want to remove from your computer, click the “Remove …” button in the lower right corner of the window.
You can also free up space by emptying the Trash on your Mac.
Related: How to Fix Mac WiFi Problems and Dropped Connections
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What should I do if I keep getting the Mac Spinning Wheel?
If you still have the spinning wheel on your computer after following our tips and cleaning your computer, see if you need to update your software. Alternatively, you can have an expert diagnose the problem or repair your computer.
2. What are other names for the Mac Spinning Wheel?
There are a few names for Mac’s spinning wheel:
- The Spinning Pinwheel of Death (SPOD) or Spinning Wheel of Death
- The Mac Beach Ball
- The Mac Spinning Rainbow Wheel
- The Loading Wheel
3. Does the Spinning Wheel exist on all Mac computers?
Yes, you can find the Spinning Wheel of Death regardless of which Mac computer you are using as it is part of macOS.
Get Rid of the Mac Spinning Wheel with These Tips
This wheel is not just a source of frustration; It can derail all day and prevent you from completing all the tasks you wanted to do. Fortunately, there are many ways to stop this problem. The spinning wheel is usually not a persistent problem, but it is worth keeping an eye on in case it develops into a more serious problem.
