Guide
How to hide the menu bar on Mac
macOS can hide the menu bar always, only on the desktop, or only in full screen. Here’s where the setting lives on each version, and how to get the bar back.
Updated October 19, 2026 · macOS 14 Sonoma to macOS 27
The setting is called Automatically hide and show the menu bar. When the menu bar is hidden, move the pointer to the top of the screen and it slides back down. Move the pointer away and it hides again.
On macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 27
- Choose the Apple menu > System Settings.
- Click Menu Bar in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down.
- Next to Automatically hide and show the menu bar, choose an option.
On macOS 14 Sonoma and macOS 15 Sequoia
- Choose the Apple menu > System Settings.
- Click Control Center in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down.
- Scroll to Automatically hide and show the menu bar and choose an option.
Which option to choose
| Option | What happens |
|---|---|
| Always | The menu bar is hidden everywhere until you move the pointer to the top of the screen. |
| On Desktop Only | Hidden when you’re on the desktop, shown while you’re working in apps. |
| In Full Screen Only | Shown normally, hidden when an app is in full screen. |
| Never | Always shown, including in full-screen apps. |
To keep the menu bar visible in full screen, choose Never. Every other option hides it when an app takes over the screen.
Make the menu bar blend in instead
If you want the menu bar to feel lighter rather than gone, macOS 26 Tahoe added Show menu bar background in the same Menu Bar settings. Turn it off and your wallpaper shows through the menu bar. Sonoma and Sequoia don’t have this option.
Hide some icons, not the whole bar
Often the menu bar isn’t the problem; it’s too many icons. You can remove the ones you don’t need:
- Any icon: hold ⌘ and drag it off the menu bar.
- Apple’s icons like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Battery: turn them off in the same settings pane. See how to customize the menu bar.
- Other apps’ icons on Tahoe and later: turn an app off under Allow in the Menu Bar in Menu Bar settings.
How to get the menu bar back
Set Automatically hide and show the menu bar to Never, using the steps above for your version. If the menu bar is missing even with that setting, something else is going on. Here’s how to fix a menu bar that disappeared.