User profile for user: DazzAU
DazzAU Author
User level: Level 1
20 points

MacOS restart process and unsaved app data

Help me understand something regarding MacOS and restarts.

I select Restart and apps start to close down but then it stalls and sits there for about 4-5 mins doing nothing. I then swap to another desktop and notice I have a spreadsheet open and a spinning ball which suggests the OS can't close it. Eventually I get a dialog stating this which says I can either Cancel or Continue.

I choose to Cancel so that I can save the spreadsheet and then select 'restart' again...but that's not what happens.

The spinning ball returns and I can again do nothing to save the spreadsheet. I must do a Force Quit which means I lose the spreadsheet data.

My question is, why can't MacOS do a clean exit from the process so that I can save the spreadsheet data given it gives me the option to cancel the restart?

MacBook Air (M5, 2026)

Posted on Sep 15, 2026 6:45 PM

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User profile for user: PreCognition
PreCognition
User level: Level 6
10,654 points

Posted on Sep 15, 2026 7:50 PM

Canceling the restart only tells macOS to stop the shutdown process. It doesn’t “undo” what has already happened to each app, and it can’t make an app responsive again if that app has already hung.


In your case, the spreadsheet app appears to be the thing blocking the restart. When you choose Cancel, macOS stops trying to restart, but the spreadsheet is still stuck with the spinning beach ball, so it may not be able to save at that point.


I’d save and close important documents before restarting whenever possible. If this happens again, after choosing Cancel, give the spreadsheet app a minute or two to recover before force-quitting it. If it never does, check whether that app has an AutoRecover/recovery copy when you reopen it.


The useful thing to troubleshoot here is really why the spreadsheet app is hanging during quit. If you tell us which app it is—Numbers, Excel, LibreOffice, etc.—that would help narrow that part down.

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User profile for user: PreCognition
PreCognition
User level: Level 6
10,654 points

Sep 15, 2026 7:50 PM in response to DazzAU

Canceling the restart only tells macOS to stop the shutdown process. It doesn’t “undo” what has already happened to each app, and it can’t make an app responsive again if that app has already hung.


In your case, the spreadsheet app appears to be the thing blocking the restart. When you choose Cancel, macOS stops trying to restart, but the spreadsheet is still stuck with the spinning beach ball, so it may not be able to save at that point.


I’d save and close important documents before restarting whenever possible. If this happens again, after choosing Cancel, give the spreadsheet app a minute or two to recover before force-quitting it. If it never does, check whether that app has an AutoRecover/recovery copy when you reopen it.


The useful thing to troubleshoot here is really why the spreadsheet app is hanging during quit. If you tell us which app it is—Numbers, Excel, LibreOffice, etc.—that would help narrow that part down.

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MacOS restart process and unsaved app data

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