I recently ran into an issue with spotlight, and I, not knowing if I'm the only one having this issue, thought I'd tell you peoples in Mac-land how I fixed it. I'm not sure if it works every time, but it did for me. I would have posted a screen shot of it, but I fixed it before I could. 
Anyway, I was using the spotlight function when it decided to break and leave the little pop up box that gives you the item info with the swirly loading circle going. I couldn't get rid of it! So, you just have to open Activity Monitor and quit the "Quick Look UI Helper" Process. It quits, gets rid of the box and swirly thing, and instantly turns itself back on to be used whenever you need it again. Hope this helps!
Anyway, I was using the spotlight function when it decided to break and leave the little pop up box that gives you the item info with the swirly loading circle going. I couldn't get rid of it! So, you just have to open Activity Monitor and quit the "Quick Look UI Helper" Process. It quits, gets rid of the box and swirly thing, and instantly turns itself back on to be used whenever you need it again. Hope this helps!
