MacBook keeps freezing: causes and fixes

Your MacBook freezes: the coloured wheel keeps spinning, the pointer no longer moves or the screen locks up. Sometimes it happens once, sometimes again and again. The cause can be an app, too little memory or storage, overheating or the hardware. This article explains step by step how to find the cause and what to do about it.

Blue Apple repairs MacBooks in Amsterdam. A Mac that often freezes can be a sign of a drive or logic board starting to fail. So it is good to take it seriously.

Right now: getting it going again

1. One app hangs: press Command + Option + Esc and force quit that app. More in Ctrl-Alt-Delete on a Mac.
2. Everything hangs: hold the power button for about ten seconds until the screen goes black, wait a moment and turn it on again.

Step 1: one app or the whole Mac?

If it always happens in the same app, check for an update of that app, or delete and reinstall it. If it happens everywhere, continue with the steps below.

Step 2: storage and memory

• Storage: check in System Settings, General, Storage how much space is free. With less than about ten percent free, any Mac gets slow and can freeze.
• Memory: open Activity Monitor and look at memory pressure under Memory. If it is often red, you ask more than your Mac can handle. Close apps and browser tabs you are not using. See Activity Monitor explained.

Step 3: software

1. Install the latest macOS update.
2. Start up in safe mode. If the Mac does not freeze there, a program that starts at login causes the problem. Check System Settings, General, Login Items.
3. Create a new user and test with it. If everything runs smoothly, the problem is in your own account.
4. Run First Aid on your startup disk in Disk Utility.

Step 4: heat

If your MacBook mainly freezes when it is warm, or Activity Monitor shows kernel_task using a lot of processor, macOS is slowing the processor to cool it. Dust in the cooling, blocked vents or dried-out thermal paste are then often the cause. Read MacBook runs hot or slow.

Step 5: hardware test

Run Apple Diagnostics: shut the Mac down; on a Mac with an Apple chip hold the power button until you see the startup options, then press Command + D. On an Intel Mac hold the D key during startup. The test reports faults in, among others, memory, battery and power.

Signs that it is hardware

• The Mac also freezes in safe mode or with a new user.
• It restarts by itself with a message that there was a problem.
• The drive shows errors or disappears in Disk Utility.
• It mainly happens when moved, or after a drop or liquid damage.

Then make a backup as soon as possible. A failing drive can stop from one day to the next.

What we do at Blue Apple in Amsterdam

We test the storage, memory, temperature, battery and logic board, and check for traces of liquid. Then you hear what the cause is and what a repair costs, before we start. More on our page about MacBook repair in Amsterdam. If your Mac does not start at all any more, read MacBook will not start up.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the wheel keep spinning on my Mac?

The spinning wheel means an app is not responding for a moment, often because the Mac is waiting for the drive or memory.

Is forcing it off bad for my MacBook?

Now and then it is not a problem. Only do it when nothing else works, because unsaved work is lost.

Does reinstalling help against freezing?

For software problems sometimes. For a faulty drive or logic board, no.