Mac freezes with spinning beach ball
The spinning beach ball means your Mac is waiting for something to finish. Press Cmd+Option+Escape to force quit whatever isn't responding. If the beach ball keeps happening, you're running out of RAM.
The beach ball appears when an app crashes but doesn't close, or when your Mac runs out of memory and slows down. Force quitting the frozen app fixes it immediately. If beach balls keep happening, your Mac doesn't have enough RAM for what you're doing, and you need more memory or to close more apps.
- ✓Keep your keyboard accessible so you can press Cmd+Option+Escape
- ✓Have Activity Monitor ready to open if Force Quit doesn't work
- ✓Note which app was open when the beach ball appeared
Fix-IT-Bot will walk you through each step, just tap, no typing needed.
Skip, I just want a technicianCommon mistakes to avoid
- Waiting too long for the beach ball to resolve. If it's been 2 minutes, force quit
- Holding down the power button instead of force quitting. Force quit is gentler
Signs you need professional help
- If Memory Pressure is constantly in red with only a few apps open, or if beach balls happen multiple times per day, give us a call and we'll assess your RAM.
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