Menu bar missing and no control of anything

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Level 1

80 points

Menu bar missing and no control of anything

I have a 2016 MacBook Pro for work running MacOS Monterey.

The battery is old and doesn’t last long. When it gets low and puts itself to sleep, it’s a major hassle to wake it up again. I usually have to force it to shut down and start it up again.

Today it got low so I put it to sleep hoping when I got home I could plug it in and simply continue where I was. But unfortunately I had to force a shutdown. That's when the trouble started.

Here’s what it’s doing:

First: everything works fine in Safe Mode.
After logging in normally, everything seems fine but there’s no menu bar. I know there’s a System Preferences option that lets you hide it, but that’s not active.
Any folder that is open on the Desktop appears like it’s not the active window (red, yellow, green dots are gray) even if I click in it. I can drag the window from the title bar but can’t activate it. It’s as if it’s in the background. But I can close the window by clicking the dot that would normally be red.
Any application that is open behaves the same. I can open them from the Dock. But when clicking any button or checkbox or any other item there is mostly no response (with some exceptions). And it doesn’t accept input from the keyboard.
- As an example, I can open the System Preferences. I can click and and open Users & Groups. But once in there, there is no response when I click on anything. I can click the back arrow or Show All button and it will go back to the main pane.
Pressing Command + Q does not quit a running application. However, right- (Option) clicking on the item in the Dock does bring up the sub menu allowing me to choose Quit.

It’s similar to when there is a dialog box waiting for something and is preventing anything else from working.

I tried logging in to a different user account and the same thing happens there.

I have restarted multiple times.

I did a PRAM and SMC reset.

I ran First Aid from Recovery.

I ran Apple Diagnostic Utility.

None of those things have helped. The company does have a lot of garbage loaded for security, but I don’t think that is the cause. Not of this particular situation, anyway. And the I.T. support guy I usually go to is out.

So I'm searching for answers but I haven’t found anything similar here or elsewhere on the Internet.

I have never seen such weird behavior. What am I missing? Does anyone have a miracle cure for me?

Thanks

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Mar 1, 2022 2:54 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Old Toad

Level 10

215,676 points

Mar 1, 2022 4:27 PM in response to Scott Kopp

That means there are some 3rd party software that's causing the problem.

Download and run Etrecheck. Copy and paste the results into your reply. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the first window that comes up so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:

Also click the About… vurron and read the info to further permit full disk access.

Copy the report

and use the Additional Text button to include the report in your reply.

like this:

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Answer 2

Scott Kopp Author

Level 1

80 points

Mar 2, 2022 11:50 AM in response to Scott Kopp

Reinstalling OS 12 Monterey cleared up the problem.

But I still don't know what caused it.

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

215,676 points

Mar 2, 2022 1:30 PM in response to Scott Kopp

First, there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac. This user tip describes what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community.

There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs. There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.

Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear. They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware. Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.

There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is desshoigned solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it. The free version is more than adequate for most users.

That being said, if after your reinstall of Monterey you still have CleanMyMac and McAfee installed uninstall then according to the developer's instructions. They do nothing for security and can compromise system and application performance.

The report also said you had possible adware. Therefore, download the free version of download and run the free version of Malwarebytes and run it. See if it detects any adware.

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Answer 4

Old Toad

Level 10

215,676 points

Mar 1, 2022 4:07 PM in response to Scott Kopp

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following;

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

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