Cannot disable dark menu bar in El Capitan

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Level 1

4 points

Cannot disable dark menu bar in El Capitan

An app I was using turned OSX's "dark menu bar" option on, and, while I like it better than the light menu bar some of my menu icons are not visible in dark mode and so I'd like to turn it off. However, the problem is that I cannot. Each time I uncheck the "use dark menu bar and dock" setting in System Preferences > General nothing happens. Then when I close System Preferences and open it again I find that the box is once again checked. (I've also uninstalled every trace of the original app that made this change, reinstalled it, tried turning the option off, erasing it again, etc - all to no avail).

I've tried checking in the Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences, but there doesn't seem to be an option for this setting (while I can see the setting for hiding the menu bar).

Any ideas?

MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), null

Posted on Sep 15, 2016 12:08 PM

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Answer 1

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,050 points

Sep 15, 2016 9:07 PM in response to zandrsn

Try

defaults delete -g AppleInterfaceStyle

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Answer 2

zandrsn Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 15, 2016 9:46 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks for your answer. I tried this but got this response:

Domain (kCFPreferencesAnyApplication) not found.

Defaults have not been changed.

I tried two similar commands previously:

defaults delete $HOME/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist AppleInterfaceStyle; killall -HUP Dock

and

defaults delete .GlobalPreferences AppleInterfaceStyle; killall -HUP Dock

But got these responses:

Domain (.GlobalPreferences) not found.

Defaults have not been changed.

and

Domain (/Users/admin/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist) not found.

Defaults have not been changed.

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,050 points

Sep 16, 2016 8:55 AM in response to zandrsn

zandrsn wrote:

Thanks for your answer. I tried this but got this response:

Domain (kCFPreferencesAnyApplication) not found.

Defaults have not been changed.

Domain (/Users/admin/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist) not found.

That's odd. I wonder if there is something wrong with the GlobalPreferences file. I've never deleted that file, so I don't know if it gets recreated like the rest. Does it even exist? Does it show the contents with defaults read -g

This command in Terminal will list that file, if it exists:

ls -al ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

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Answer 4

zandrsn Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 16, 2016 6:22 AM in response to Barney-15E

I get this answer to that response:

-rw------- 1 admin staff 4143 Sep 15 19:42 /Users/admin/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

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Answer 5

zandrsn Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 16, 2016 6:25 AM in response to zandrsn

I can also see the file at that location if run:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

and then go to the location.

When this problem first started I tried to edit the .GlobalPreferences.plist files manually with a plist editor, however I noticed that while the file contains an entry for hiding the menu bar I couldn't find an entry for dark mode. There is also no entry for AppleInterfaceStyle within .GlobalPreferences.plist.

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Answer 6

Sep 16, 2016 8:54 AM in response to zandrsn

When this problem first started I tried to edit the .GlobalPreferences.plist files manually with a plist editor, however I noticed that while the file contains an entry for hiding the menu bar I couldn't find an entry for dark mode. There is also no entry for AppleInterfaceStyle within .GlobalPreferences.plist.

I tested this and found the following:

- with Dark mode set in System Preferences (check the box for "Use dark menu bar and Dock") there is an entry in .GlobalPreferences.plist with key "AppleInterfaceStyle", type string and value "Dark".

- unchecking the box to go back to the lighter menu bar has the effect that the above key is removed.

I guess that probably your .GlobalPreferences.plist may have become corrupt, probably by the application that automatically set dark mode. What was that application, by the way?

My suggestion: manually remove the .GlobalPreferences.plist file and restart your mac.

To remove it you may issue the following command at the Terminal:

rm /Users/admin/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

(since the file is yours and you have read and write permission, there is no need for using sudo or any command line options for this)

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Answer 7

zandrsn Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 16, 2016 8:58 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I tried this, and was (seemingly) able to delete the file, but when I restarted I still have a black menu bar and and I'm still unable to permanently unclick the "use dark menu and dock" option in the System Preferences > General...

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Answer 8

zandrsn Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 16, 2016 9:06 AM in response to zandrsn

Just in case anyone was wondering, the app that caused this problem was the productivity app called Undistracted (http://undistractedapp.site/ ). Unfortunately rather than reducing distractions this software has resulted in hours of distractions as I try to figure out how to undo the damage it's caused to my system.

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Answer 9

Sep 16, 2016 9:30 AM in response to zandrsn

Try restarting in Safe Mode. Hold down the Shift key immediately after pressing the power button, and until the Apple logo appears.

Note that Safe Mode takes longer to start, as it does a number of verifications and clears caches, and your mac will also be much slower while in Safe Mode.

See if you can change the setting in Safe Mode.

Then restart normally.

One other thing: did you completely uninstall that distracting application? It may be that it installed something that is still causing the problem. If Safe Mode does not cure it, run Etrecheck and post its report. It may show if remnants of that application are still there.

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