I use two external monitors with my MBP. The menu bar on the screen I am not currently focused on is low-lighted, making some text unreadable:
Ordinarily, it looks like this:
I would like the menu bar on both screens to be identical. Is this possible?
That is normal.
Much like a window that has focus looks different from a background window, the same is true of the menu bar of the active display vs the menu bar on other displays.
Maybe this will help: you can merely click on an empty space on the menu bar to make that display "active".
That is normal.
Much like a window that has focus looks different from a background window, the same is true of the menu bar of the active display vs the menu bar on other displays.
Maybe this will help: you can merely click on an empty space on the menu bar to make that display "active".
AFAICT there is no option to change that. I do use two displays, and despite my old eyes I don't feel bothered by this dimming of the menu bar.
Two things you can do:
a) Send Apple feedback. Only Apple can change the OS.
b) Experiment with different desktop wallpapers to hopefully find one that gives you better contrast when inactive
Yes, I know that's normal behaviour -- I just want to change that normal behaviour if possible. I've seen various command line options to change things so wondered if "grey when not active" could be set to false.
It's very nit-picky I know, I just want to be able to glance at that info on either monitor, without needing to do anything.
Have you installed any third-party products that also include a menu extra item that may not be compatible with Big Sur?
It looks to be normal behaviour, the entire menu bar is greyed out / low-lighted on the not-in-use screen.
The main loss is "What's On" as the font when low-lighted is just too light.
I don't have a secondary display attached to my M1 mini to test further. Is there a change in behavior between Light and Dark appearance modes, or different (darker) Desktop wallpaper?
No change between light and dark. Setting the desktop background to plain black makes the text almost visible.
Is there a way to stop MacOS low-lighting the menu bar on external monitors not currently in focus
