The spinning beach ball issue on the Mac yet again.

[mikehalloran]

I hoped that, since this topic has been discussed many times, I would be able to find a solution but no… So, before I submit a Support request, is there a known solution?

The problem: I'm typing or doing any work in any app online or offline. I get the spinning cursor and cannot continue. Waiting does not help—it will go hours if I let it. It stops the second I touch my Magic Trackpad 2 and I can resume working but typing does not stop it. This happens at random and I cannot cause it to occur at will.

Having read many posts, I now keep the Activity Monitor open. Each time it happens, I see an activity from Dropbox. 100% of the time as is shown here.

My system:

18 Core iMac Pro 4TB 128GB RAM. MacOS Catalina 10.5.7 with latest Security updates. I reboot daily. Internal SSD has 30% storage available.

DropBox 2TB plan 14% of 2TB used.

What I've tried with some success: 

1. Disabling the "Dropbox Finder Extensions" in the "Extensions" section in System Preferences made my iMac a lot more responsive.

2. Deleting Dropbox from "Accessibility" fixed an occasional connection issue I was having with AOL Mail (that was next on my troubleshooting list).

What I've tried with no success:

3. Reinstalling the current MacOS a few times.

4. Safe Boot a few times.

5. Rebuild Launch Services a few times.

6. Disabling GoogleDrive, iCloud, WiFi — yes, Ethernet or Wifi makes no difference. All are currently disabled.

I've tried consulting an experienced Mac Tech. Apple Support, likewise, has confirmed that Dropbox is triggering it.

I just tried a chat with Support. "Johnny" confirmed that this is known and suggested that I do a screen recording. Really? 

I have a Console report to attach to a Support request and will be attaching it to that.

Running the Activity Monitor

[Jay]

Hi @mikehalloran, thanks for joining the Community!

I understand your frustration over this matter with the Dropbox desktop application.

I can see that the support agent has forwarded the ticket to a specialist team, so they would be able to investigate this in more detail on their end.

If you need any further assistance, please let me know.