It often appears in web apps, like Google Sheets. It usually occurs when a website sends a wait command. This isn’t to be confused with the blue spinning wheel, which is also sometimes called the “JavaScript pinwheel.” A blue wheel mostly appears in web content when running Java apps. It’s triggered when an application doesn’t respond for a few seconds and signals that you should wait before giving the app more instructions.
That rainbow spinning wheel (whatever you might call it) is a common macOS wait cursor. What Is the Spinning Wheel of Death on a Mac? The good news is a spinning wheel means macOS hasn’t crashed completely. You might be able to wrestle back control. People call it different things, including the spinning wheel, beachball, or pinwheel of death. Your Mac hijacking your cursor and asking you to wait around is never welcome.
