date and time in the menu bar is GRAY

the dim clock is actually a "feature". it tells you the status of "do not disturb" at a glance.

when DND is turned on, the clock is dim.

but when it's off, the clock is bright.

but i have found that you can place the DND icon permanently on the menubar and the clock will stay bright regardless of if DND is turned off or on. instead, the DND icon goes dim or bright.

DND turned on:

DND turned off:

just open control centre and drag DND from control centre and drop it on your menubar. you drag it by the text, not the icon.

Suggest starting from top and move down until a possible solution os found.

1 - Suggest restarting in Safe Mode. This will perform a Disk Repair, clear cache files and only load Apple Software, extensions and fonts. The boot up will be slow and can take some time - Normal.

2 - Does the issue present in this mode ?

3 - If not - there could be something in the main User Account playing up. To further isolate this - Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac. Then log out of the Main User account and log into the dummy account and test again if the issue persists.

4 - If the issue is present in the dummy account - then this appears to be a System Wide issue.

5 - Suggest downloading the Application Etrecheck directly from a well Respected ASC Contributor. And Safe to use.

The application is free or paid from added features. 

Run the application with Full Disc Access ( Security & Privacy - Full Disc Access ).

It will take a Snap Shot -  both the hardware and software.

 The Report will Not Reveal Any Personal Information. 

Post back the Full Report - copy and paste - using the Additional Text Icon ( 3rd Icon to last )

We can have a look at the report for possible issues and may have possible suggestions to resolve the issues.

Any Third Party Applications that will interfere with the normal operation of the OS, alter, modify, remove or delete or attempt to do so is an invitation for disaster and may require a Reinstallation of the OS.

Any of the below should be removed as per Developers Instructions 

This includes AntiVirus, Disk Cleaners, Disk Optimizes, UnInstaller etc.

This will include CleanMyMac , This will include BitDefender , 

This will included Norton Antivirus , Sophos Av Software

Intego AntiVirus, McAfee, MacKeeper, Avast AntiVirus

Ad Guard, Webroot

The The Built in Security  is all that is required.