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What is this purple icon in my menu bar? (macOS 13 Ventura)

It does nothing when clicked on and it cannot be removed.


Posted on Oct 27, 2022 6:03 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 28, 2022 10:35 AM

From what I've found, in macOS Ventura this icon appear as a result of a possibly buggy interaction between the statuses of:

  • System Settings > Sharing > Remote Management (and/or Screen Sharing, possibly), and
  • System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen Recording


It seems to be trying to indicate both the "Your screen is being observed" status from Screen Recording but is also then being combined with the status from Remote Management, hence the "Send Message to Administrator" option.


I went (in macOS Ventura) to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen Recording and start unchecking items, and the icon disappeared.


So the good news is that it would seem to just be a legitimate system indicator and does not seem to cause any actual problems, while the bad news is that it is related to some potentially buggy behavior, will annoyingly show inconsistently, and cannot be controlled easily.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 28, 2022 10:35 AM in response to Tobi.vl

From what I've found, in macOS Ventura this icon appear as a result of a possibly buggy interaction between the statuses of:

  • System Settings > Sharing > Remote Management (and/or Screen Sharing, possibly), and
  • System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen Recording


It seems to be trying to indicate both the "Your screen is being observed" status from Screen Recording but is also then being combined with the status from Remote Management, hence the "Send Message to Administrator" option.


I went (in macOS Ventura) to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen Recording and start unchecking items, and the icon disappeared.


So the good news is that it would seem to just be a legitimate system indicator and does not seem to cause any actual problems, while the bad news is that it is related to some potentially buggy behavior, will annoyingly show inconsistently, and cannot be controlled easily.

Oct 27, 2022 6:21 AM in response to Tobi.vl

Tobi.vl wrote:

It does nothing when clicked on and it cannot be removed.


https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/c6e40208-6708-4a7a-854a-8481cdbf6628


Looks like a display...(?)


Command drag

option click it open

Control click


these are all menu possibles in an effort to learn more



see if there is anything here:


Change Control Center settings on Mac - Apple Support


Change Dock & Menu Bar preferences on Mac - Apple Support


macOS Ventura - New Features - Apple





What is this purple icon in my menu bar? (macOS 13 Ventura)

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