getting the beachball with every click

Even if your SMART report shows verified—your HD can still be failing—or a faulty SATA cable.

Try booting of an external HD/bootclone to bypass both internal HD and SATA cable—this would be informative.

How to create a boot clone

Back up your Mac if you have not done so already. To learn how to do that please read https://www.apple.com/support/backup/. To learn how to use Time Machine read Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac. The reason for creating a backup is that the symptoms you describe could be indicative of an impending hard disk drive failure, so securing your data is a primary concern.

Then, shut down your Mac and restart it in "Safe Mode". To learn how to do that please read Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support. Compare how your Mac works in Safe Mode to how it has been, and describe your observations in a reply to this Discussion.

Then, restart normally. If the same problem returns, please read the section If an issue doesn't happen in safe mode for Apple's recommended actions.

Finally, you can temporarily create a new User Account, and log in to that account to determine if the problem also exists when logged in to that Account. To learn how to do that read How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac. When you are finished troubleshooting, you can remove the temporary User Account by following these instructions: macOS Sierra: Delete a user or group. Before removing it, confirm you don't need any of the files you might have created in that Account.

Let me know what you determine.

Safari/Preferences/Advanced - enable the Develop menu, then go there and Empty Caches. Quit/reopen Safari and test. Then try Safari/History/Show History and delete all history items. Quit/reopen Safari and test. You can also try try Safari/Clear History…. The down side is it clears all cookies. Doing this may cause some sites to no longer recognize your computer as one that has visited the web site. Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J. When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder. Select Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db and move it to the trash.

Go to Safari Preferences/Extensions and turn all extensions off. Test. If okay, turn the extensions on one by one until you figure out what extension is causing the problem.

Safari Corruption See post by Linc Davis

I had similar issues with long waits.

Try to see with Activity Monitor what proces is causing the mac to hang. In my case it was Safari with several webpages that did not respond. Killing the processes shows if it the only one to hang or if there are several (in my case several Safari pages).

In my opinion Sierra is still slow in booting, waking up, login, opening applications etc. compared to previous versions, Windows 10 and Ubuntu.

Success in trouble shooting

It is possible that your drive is failing. What does the SMART report say ? (there is a link for it in the Etrecheck report you posted).

What is your mac model? What is the OS version?

Your profile mentions Sierra, but there is a strange message in the report "Time Machine information requires OS X 10.8 or later" which suggests a much older OS.

Unknown Files:ⓘ

/System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.controlstrip.plist

/System/Library/CoreServices/ControlStrip.app/Contents/MacOS/ControlStrip

/System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.screencapturetb.plist

/System/Library/CoreServices/screencapturetb.app/Contents/MacOS/screencapturetb

/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.driver.ethcheck.plist

/usr/libexec/firmwarecheckers/ethcheck/ethcheck --integrity-check-nonthunderbolt-daemon

/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.driver.ethcheckthunderbolt.plist

/usr/libexec/firmwarecheckers/ethcheck/ethcheck --integrity-check-thunderbolt-daemon

4 unknown files found.[Check files]

Click on [Check files].

I'm also getting mega beachballing - mostly with Safari. Last night my whole iMac locked up and I had to force restart. Safari Version 10.1 (12603.1.30.0.34) is basically unusable right now. I'm runnning MacOS Sierra 10.12.4, iMac late 2012, 21.5 inch. I ran disk utility but it didn't find a problem with the drive.

Here are my results of Etrecheck, the Smart report won't print. I always back up, and my back up is current.

I also ran Etrecheck:

EtreCheck version: 3.1.5 (343)

Report generated 2017-04-27 14:37:47

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 2:38

Performance: Excellent

Failed to read adware signatures!

Problem: Beachballing

Description:

Occurring mostly with Safari Version 10.1 (12603.1.30.0.34) but it happened with other apps, so much so I had to force shutdown/restart. It doesn’t seem to occur yet with Firefox.

Hardware Information: ⓘ

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac13,1

1 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-3470S) CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information: ⓘ

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 1920 x 1080

System Software: ⓘ

macOS Sierra 10.12.4 (16E195) - Time since boot: about 13 hours

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E662 disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

iMAC HDD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 999.35 GB (406.87 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

USB Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Seagate Backup+ Desk

Seagate Backup+ Desk

Logitech USB Receiver

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Applications/PMHMac.app

[not loaded] com.sony.driver.dsccamFirmwareUpdaterType00 (1.2.00.09240 - SDK 10.5 - 2015-02-11) [Support]

/Applications/zoom.us.app

[not loaded] zoom.us.ZoomAudioDevice (1.1 - SDK 10.8 - 2017-02-26) [Support]

/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.sony.driver.dsccamDeviceInfo00 (1.3.0.07310 - SDK 10.7 - 2017-04-06) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.marvell.kext.USBGenericPrinterClass (1.0.0 - 2017-04-06) [Support]

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 6 Apple tasks

[loaded] 165 Apple tasks

[running] 83 Apple tasks

[killed] 28 Apple tasks

28 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 41 Apple tasks

[loaded] 177 Apple tasks

[running] 85 Apple tasks

[killed] 16 Apple tasks

16 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.epson.esua.launcher.plist (2017-01-13) [Support]

[running] com.epson.eventmanager.agent.plist (2017-01-13) [Support]

[running] com.epson.scannermonitor.plist (2017-01-13) [Support]

[running] com.sony.SonyAutoLauncher.agent.plist (2015-02-11) [Support]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2017-04-17) [Support]

[loaded] com.apple.ist.ds.SplunkAgent.plist (2016-12-08)

[loaded] com.malwarebytes.HelperTool.plist (2016-08-26) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2010-08-25) [Support]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2017-04-16) [Support]

[loaded] com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist (2010-01-17) - /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/SafariSyncClient.app/Contents/MacOS/SafariSyn cClient: Executable not found!

[loaded] com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (2017-03-22) [Support]

[loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (2017-04-26) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2017-03-28) [Support]

[failed] com.hp.printerAgent.plist (2012-09-04) [Support] - /Library/Printers/hp/laserjet/P1100_1560_1600Series/printerAgent: Executable not found!

[loaded] com.spotify.webhelper.plist (2017-03-28) [Support]

User Login Items: ⓘ

iTunesHelper Application (2017-03-24)

(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Dropbox Application

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

AdobeResourceSynchronizer Application Hidden

(/Applications/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/Support/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 2.2.3.7 (2009-05-21) [Support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 25.0.0.163 - SDK 10.9 (2017-04-20) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2017-04-06)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.20 - SDK 10.6 (2017-04-16) [Support]

AdobePDFViewer: 11.0.20 - SDK 10.6 (2017-04-16) [Support]

Flash Player: 25.0.0.163 - SDK 10.9 (2017-04-20) [Support]

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.6.5 - SDK 10.6 (2016-07-08) [Support]

Unity Web Player: UnityPlayer version 5.3.4f1 - SDK 10.6 (2016-05-16) [Support]

DirectorShockwave: 11.6.1r629 (2011-09-20) [Support]

iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 - SDK 10.8 (2013-04-22)

User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: 1.0.105 (2013-04-25) [Support]

ZoomUsPlugIn: 4.0.22259.0125 - SDK 10.11 (2017-02-26) [Support]

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

AdBlock - BetaFish, Inc. - https://getadblock.com (2017-04-26)

Translate - SideTree.com - Apps for Mac and Web - http://SideTree.com/extensions.html#Translate (2016-01-30)

Player for YouTube™ (Flash version) - James Fray - http://add0n.com/youtube-tools.html?from=flash (2017-04-26)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Flash Player (2017-04-17) [Support]

Flip4Mac WMV (2009-05-21) [Support]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

iMAC HDD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 592.48 GB

Destinations:

Seagate Backup Plus Drive [Local]

Total size: 2.00 TB

Total number of backups: 99

Oldest backup: 3/16/15, 12:56 PM

Last backup: 4/27/17, 2:04 PM

Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk used 592.48 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

17% mds

6% mdworker(16)

4% firefox

4% WindowServer

2% trustd(3)

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

1.26 GB kernel_task

721 MB plugin-container

475 MB firefox

442 MB mdworker(16)

213 MB Finder

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

11.15 GB Available RAM

7.34 GB Free RAM

4.85 GB Used RAM

3.82 GB Cached files

88 MB Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Apr 27, 2017, 02:03:30 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Safari_2017-04-27-140330_[redacted].hang

/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari

Apr 27, 2017, 01:31:31 AM Self test - passed

Apr 27, 2017, 01:28:58 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/iTunes_2017-04-27-012858_[redacted].hang

/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunes

Apr 27, 2017, 01:28:55 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Safari_2017-04-27-012855_[redacted].hang

Apr 27, 2017, 01:28:53 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/TextEdit_2017-04-27-012853_[redacted].hang

/Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit

Apr 27, 2017, 01:28:53 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Mail_2017-04-27-012853_[redacted].hang

/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/MacOS/Mail

Apr 27, 2017, 12:17:59 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent_2017-04-27-001759_[ redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

/System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.We bKit.WebContent.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

I can't get the Smart report to show.

I thought I posted this, but maybe not. I booted in safe Mode, Safari and Safari Web Content continue to hang.

Eric, there's a huge improvement just doing Steps 1 and 2 (Emptying Caches, and deleting all history items). The app launches much faster.