How do I show my menu bar/toolbar permanently in full screen?

sara575 wrote:

I don't know that this is a Mac OS Catalina problem, as this started before the last update, but a couple of months ago the menu bar at the top of my screen would vanish when in full screen. Previously it was there permanently, which is my preference. I followed help topics and went to System Preferences/General and have checked and unchecked the "Automatically hide and show the menu bar", but neither makes the menu bar permanent in full screen. Is anyone else familiar with this problem? I checked community topics and didn't see anything recent/helpful, but my apologies if I missed something.

There is a difference between 'full screen' were the menubar gets hidden and

expanding a window to take up the entirety of the display window. It is here you can have your menubar visible at all times.

Hold the option key and toggle between full screen or maximizing the window

To work in a bigger window without going full screen, maximise (or zoom)

the window. Move the pointer to the green button in the top-left corner

of the window, press and hold the Option key, then choose Zoom from the

menu that appears or click the button +. The

window expands, but the menu bar and the Dock remain visible. To return

to the previous window size, press and hold the Option key, then click

the green button again.

Use apps in full screen on Mac - Apple Support

sara575 wrote:

Thank you very much, that did the trick! Am I correct in saying that I will need to take these steps for every program?

Try it and see...

What ever works for you and your work flow.

You miss out on all that Mission Control has to offer in full screen mode

Mission Control offers a bird's-eye view of all your open windows, desktop spaces, and any apps in full screen or Split View, making it easy to switch between them. 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204100