Mac beach balls and unresponsive trackpad? This fix seems to work
Users experiencing beach balls on Mac when running macOS 26.5 and unresponsive trackpad have found a reliable solution by deleting the ~/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight folder.
Intelligence analysis by Llama
A fix has been found for the beach ball and unresponsive trackpad issue on Mac running macOS 26.5. Deleting the ~/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight folder seems to resolve the problem.
Imagine your Mac is trying to do too many things at once, like a kid trying to do their homework and play video games at the same time. This can cause the Mac to freeze and the trackpad to become unresponsive. Deleting a special folder on the Mac can help fix this problem.
Analysis
A Growing Problem: Beach Balls and Unresponsive Trackpads on Macs Running macOS 26.5
There have been growing complaints about users experiencing beach balls on the Mac when running macOS 26.5, with some also saying that their trackpad becomes completely unresponsive for several seconds at a time. Activity Monitor typically reveals three culprits, and there does now appear to be a reliable solution to the problem.
The Cause: Apple Intelligence Photo Scanning?
I last month highlighted the issue, speculating that Apple Intelligence photo scanning might be the cause. Checking Activity Monitor typically reveals high CPU usage with one, two, or three processes. One process was variously using anything from 50% up to 150%: mediaanalysisd. Googling this found a number of users complaining about the same issue, with others seeing high CPU usage also for kernel_task and corespotlightd.
A Reliable Fix: Deleting the ~/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight Folder
Macworld’s Michael Simon also fell victim to this. At any moment, my Mac will freeze, with my trackpad becoming unresponsive and a spinning beach ball replacing my cursor. It only lasts a few seconds, but on the worst days, it happens dozens of times an hour and renders the trackpad completely unresponsive, as if my MacBook were shut down. Each occurrence lasts no more than a few seconds, but it’s enough of an annoyance to severely cut down on my productivity.
He tried a number of unsuccessful approaches before finally finding one that works: deleting the ~/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight folder. That of course means that the Mac has to rebuild Spotlight, but he says two weeks later the issue hasn’t returned. My own experience is limited to less than a day, but I too have so far found no recurrences of the issue.
Key points
- Users experiencing beach balls on Mac when running macOS 26.5 and unresponsive trackpad have found a reliable solution by deleting the ~/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight folder.
- Deleting the folder means the Mac has to rebuild Spotlight, but this seems to resolve the problem.
- The issue may be related to Apple Intelligence photo scanning, but this is still speculative.
If this fix continues to work for users, it could be a significant relief for those experiencing beach balls and unresponsive trackpads on their Macs. It may also lead to further investigation into the root cause of the issue, potentially resulting in a more permanent solution.
However, if the issue returns after deleting the folder, it could indicate a more complex problem that requires a different solution. This could lead to further frustration for users and potentially impact their productivity.
