Clock in Menu Bar Gone! Can't get it back!

Hardware does not explain it.

Here is another thing you can try: create a new admin user, and login to this new account.

Is the clock visible (I expect it will be)?

If I am correct, then it something specific to your account; and something that does not load when starting in Safe Mode: a user launch agent or login item. Or see below.

If the problem occurs also in a new account, then it is system wide - probably some of the daemons or agents.

There is also the possibility of some more subtle issue with your account.

This happens sometimes, and there is a procedure that may help.

Tell us the results of the tests I suggested, and depending on the outcome, we can try to "rebuild" the account - a process that necessitates a second admin account, anyway.

Check "Focus". Some focus states hide the clock.

Do they appear if you start your mac in Safe Mode?

Please run Etrecheck and post its full report here.

Use the “additional text” button and paste the report into the text box.

lesferdinand wrote:

<Etrecheck.log>

When booting in Safe Mode the missing menu items show up again. When rebooting into normal mode, they are gone again. I've attached the Etrecheck report.

This is a clear indication that some third party software modification is responsible for the problem.

I will have a look at the report and see what I can find.

You have some rather old stuff in there - several kernel extensions like EyeTV which have no worked in a few years; there is even a "startup item" - the use of startup items have been abandoned at around 10.10 Yosemite...

These things should not in principle do anything, but should be removed, anyway.

You have several login items as well - all seem ok, but you can try temporarily removing them to see if that makes a difference.

There have been a few crashes and also kernel panics. These can be due to hardware issues, but it looks more like software.

The report, as expected, is squeaky clean... puzzling as to why this is happening.

Normally one would expect the problem to be associated with third party extensions, agents or daemons, but there are none; so I wonder if something from Apple (but nevertheless not loaded in Safe Mode) may be causing an issue. It is weird because then it should happen to everyone, or at least to everyone running the same OS on identical macs...

One other thing: did you create a new account? If you add an account now and log in to that account, does it show the same problem?

Can you run another Etrecheck report?

I am on Ventura now, so I can't post screenshots of how it looks in Monterey and I don't recall all the details.

To see Focus in the menu bar, go to System Preferences and check a box... somewhere, sorry.

I think it is somewhere in System Preferences->Dock & Menu Bar...

(in Ventura, there is a new entry for "control center" where one can turn on and off many menu bar icons)

I have the same issue. Besides the clock, I'm missing BlueTooth, Wireless and user switching from the menu bar. I've tried reinstalling MacOS, removing my system preferences plist entry, etc. but nothing has worked so far.

Here's a quick update. I removed pretty much all of the legacy stuff but I still have the same menu bar problems. I don't think it started when I added any additional 3rd party software. It seems to have coincided with the last system software update. This being a 2013 Mac Pro macOS Monterey 12.6.1 is the latest OS version it can run.

My Mac had started to become less responsive lately, often beach balling and running hot when all it had to work on was Safari and Mail, with perhaps some Time Machine and Backblaze backups going on in the background. So I'd started to try and remove applications (Dropbox, Adobe Creative Cloud, very old version of Text Expander that I ultimately replaced with Keyboard Maestro, Safari plug-ins, etc.) But none of it has really helped so far. So perhaps it is something hardware related.

Thanks for the continued help!

I created a new admin user, logged into the new account (took a long, long time) and it doesn't show the clock in the menu bar either. The clock and WiFi icons are shown on the lock screens for both accounts. But once logged in they are gone.

The reason I was thinking maybe it is hardware related was that the machine has become so incredibly slow and running hot while not under any heavy workload (for as far as I can tell from the activity monitor) and the frequent kernel panics (though they have become less frequent after all the clean-up but haven't disappeared.) Perhaps those additional menu items don't load because the system is so slow and thus their loading times out?

Another update: over the past few weeks I've continued my system clean-up but no luck. I don't have any log-in items under my user account anymore and manually deleted outdated launch agents and daemons. But it didn't help.

So I wiped my drive and reinstalled MacOS again, this time not using migration assistant. I logged into this fresh install and still no clock (and WiFi, BlueTooth, Focus) in the menu bar. I made sure that the menu bar settings have them as showing up and they do. Switched them on and off a few times but nothing. They are all there when booting into safe mode, which shouldn't be that different from a completely fresh install you'd think. I have not installed any software yet since the wipe.

Yes, I created a new account. I did then connect it to an existing iCloud id. I also created a separate, completely new "test" account, not connected to any iCloud id and that one has the same issue. The only thing that brings the clock back is booting in safe mode.

If I recall correctly the issue started to occur after one of the more recent OS updates. Given that the 2013 Mac Pro is 9 years old and no longer supported by the most recent macOS version I fear that the chances of this getting fixed are slim. But maybe the countless crash reports that have been sent Apple's way from my machine alone will amount to something...

I am planning to replace the machine but I had hoped to pass on the "trash can" Mac to my kids for schoolwork as it used to function fine till a month or two ago.

Yes, I created a new account. I did then connect it to an existing iCloud id. I also created a separate, completely new "test" account, not connected to any iCloud id and that one has the same issue. The only thing that brings the clock (and the other missing menubar items) back is booting in safe mode.

If I recall correctly the issue started to occur after one of the more recent OS updates. Given that the 2013 Mac Pro is 9 years old and no longer supported by the most recent macOS version I fear that the chances of this getting fixed are slim. But maybe the countless crash reports that have been sent Apple's way from my machine alone will amount to something...

I am planning to replace the machine but I had hoped to pass on the "trash can" Mac to my kids for schoolwork as it used to function fine till a month or two ago.