HT2473: Mac 101: The menu bar

Learn about Mac 101: The menu bar
John V Catherall
Level 1 (4 points)
iPad

Q: Menu Bar has disappeared from the Desktop, how do I reinstate it?

How to reinstate Menu Bar on Desktop?

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), iOS 6.1.5

Posted on Dec 13, 2013 8:23 AM

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John V Catherall

Q: Menu Bar has disappeared from the Desktop, how do I reinstate it?

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  • by BDAqua,Helpful

    BDAqua BDAqua Dec 13, 2013 11:05 AM in response to John V Catherall
    Level 10 (123,860 points)
    Dec 13, 2013 11:05 AM in response to John V Catherall

    Hi John,

     

    Not sure what OSX version you're on, not likely 10.5/Leopard with that iMac, but in earlier OSX versions this was likely it...

     

    Apple Menu Bar Icons Gone...

     

    Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions.

     

    PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive

     

    You've probably got a couple of corrupt preference files.

     

    Move these files to the Desktop for now...

     

    /Users/<yourname>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist

     

    /Users/<yourname>/Library/Preferences>com.apple.systemuiserver.plist

     

    /Users/<yourname>/Library/Preferences/ByHost>com.apple.systemuiserver.xxx.plist

     

    where 'xxx' is a 12 digit (hexadecimal) numeric string.

     

    Reboot.

     

    This will reset your Menu Bar to the default, you'll need to go through System Preferences to reset the ones you need. (If they are already checked, uncheck them first and then recheck them).