Menu bar items disappearing

Question

Menu bar items disappearing

Hi all! I have an older iMac (2017) running OS 13.7.1. I noticed this morning that some (not all) of the icons at the top right of my menu bar weren't there. This has happened in the past, but was fixed up on restart. However, this morning it did seem to be fixed when I restarted... until I started up Adobe InDesign. Now all but two icons are gone (the search icon and the Time Machine icon). The date, time, bluetooth, volume, etc. icons are gone. And even when I quit out of InDesign, they remain gone. It may have just been a coincidence that they disappeared when I started InDesign, but I thought I'd mention it. Any ideas?

iMac 27″ 5K

Posted on Dec 9, 2024 11:10 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Old Toad

Level 10

216,854 points

Dec 10, 2024 9:38 AM in response to DigitalChickster

Have you installed and run any "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus or VPN apps on your Mac?

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 1: 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

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

Reply

Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

216,854 points

Dec 9, 2024 1:57 PM in response to DigitalChickster

Add the system's features to the menu bar in the System/Control Center settings pane:

I can only speculate that InDesign is added via its settings.

Reply

Answer 3

Dec 9, 2024 4:33 PM in response to Old Toad

Thanks for the response, Old Toad! I did go to my Control Center settings, and Wi-Fi is set to "Show in Menu Bar" as is Bluetooth and Airdrop. Yet none of them are showing. So I'm not sure what else to check?

Reply

Menu bar items disappearing

Similar questions