iPhone spinning in Finder sidebar

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Kinoav8r Author

Level 1

12 points

iPhone spinning in Finder sidebar

Why is the iPhone spinning in Finder sidebar FOREVER?

iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 10.15

Posted on Aug 18, 2021 12:59 PM

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Answer 1

psmith22

Community Specialist

Aug 19, 2021 12:30 PM in response to Kinoav8r

Hi there Kinoav8r,

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. We understand your iPhone is loading in Finder and we'd be happy to help assist. To clarify, are you noticing this while trying to sync your iPhone to your Mac? If so, is the process ever able to fully complete or do you receive an error message at all?

We would recommend trying to connect your iPhone to your Mac with a different Apple certified charging cable and try a different USB port on the Mac as well and see if you notice any differences. It may also help to be sure both your Mac and iPhone are completely up to date with the latest software available. We've included steps for that process below if needed.

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

How to update the software on your Mac

We hope this helps.

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Answer 2

Kinoav8r Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 19, 2021 7:03 PM in response to Old Toad

Both locked and unlocked - made no difference. I also tried a "solution" I found here of restarting the iPhone = no joy. Even a forced-restart of the Finder didn't work.

It's happened several times and the only thing that has consistently worked is a forced shutdown of the Mac. Normal shutdown or restart won't work as the Finder popup comes up and prevents it. That popup being...

"The Finder can't quit because an operation is still in progress on an iOS device.

Try again after the operation is complete."

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Answer 3

Kinoav8r Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 20, 2021 8:10 AM in response to psmith22

I haven't noticed when the constantly spinning arrow icon starts, but wasn't when I clicked the "Sync" button. I think it was when the iPhone is first connected by USB cable to the Mac. No, the process never finishes - that's why I posted here. No error message received with the constantly-spinning icon.

I'll try a different cable in the future. However, this is not a consistent problem - it happens intermittently.

Mac is up to date with latest (Catalina) version (10.15.7). Same for iPhone (14.7.1).

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Answer 4

Old Toad

Level 10

210,545 points

Aug 19, 2021 2:49 PM in response to Kinoav8r

Is the iPhone locked or open while connected via its cable? If locked by unlocking it and keeping it unlocked to see if it finally loads.

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iPhone spinning in Finder sidebar

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