What does ‘please bear with me’ mean?

Please bear with me is a more polite version of the expression bear with me, meaning ‘have patience with me’.

It’s typically used along with a conjunction (e.g., ‘while’), to explain why you’re asking for patience (e.g., ‘please bear with me while I try to find the correct file’).

Note
Bear and bare are often confused, but in this case, ‘bear with me’ is the only correct spelling.