If a Mac menu bar icon is not showing, the usual cause is lack of space: on a MacBook with a notch, icons that do not fit to the right of the camera housing are simply not drawn. The second most common cause is a menu bar manager app that is hiding the icon on purpose. Work through the checks below in order, starting with whether the app is running at all.
Check whether the app is actually running
Before you rearrange anything, confirm the app has not quit. A menu bar app has no window and often no Dock icon, so "I can't see it" and "it isn't running" look identical.
- Open Activity Monitor (Applications > Utilities, or search with Spotlight).
- Click the CPU tab and type the app's name into the search box at the top right.
- If the process is listed, the app is running and the icon is hidden or crowded out. Go to the next section.
- If nothing is listed, the app quit or never launched. Open it from Applications and check whether the icon appears.
If it appears and then vanishes within seconds, it is probably crashing on launch. That is a job for the developer's support channel, and the reinstall step further down is worth trying first.
Notch and overflow: icons hiding behind the camera housing
This is the cause behind many "app running but no menu bar icon" reports on newer MacBooks. The notch splits the menu bar in two. The left side holds the Apple menu and the menus of the frontmost app. The right side holds status icons such as Wi-Fi, battery, Control Center and every third-party menu bar app. When the app menus on the left grow long, or you have a lot of icons on the right, the items that no longer fit are not shown. macOS has traditionally given no overflow indicator and no warning, though newer releases may add one.
Two details make this confusing:
- The hidden icons change with the frontmost app. An app with many menu titles, such as a design tool, takes more room on the left and can push icons out that were visible a moment ago.
- The icons furthest from the clock, at the left end of the icon area, are the ones that get cut off first.
Quick test
Quit a few menu bar apps you do not need right now, or click the desktop so Finder is frontmost (Finder has a short menu list). If the missing icon shows up, you have an overflow problem and not a broken app. The fixes in the next sections reduce how much the bar has to hold.
Move system icons into Control Center
On current macOS you choose what lives in the menu bar under System Settings > Menu Bar. Many system items, such as Bluetooth, AirDrop and Focus, can be set to appear only in Control Center. Apple describes these options, including the per-app "Allow in the Menu Bar" list, on its Menu Bar settings page. Each system icon you move frees room for third-party apps.
Menu bar managers that hide icons on purpose
If you installed a menu bar manager, it may be the reason an icon is missing. These apps collapse icons behind a chevron or a separate bar so the notch cannot swallow them. Ice, an open-source manager, and Bartender, a paid one, are the best-known examples. Thaw is an open-source fork of Ice, started after Ice's development slowed down.
If you use one of them, check these settings:
- Open the manager's settings and look for the list of hidden items. The missing app may be assigned to a hidden section and not to the always-visible one.
- Click the manager's chevron or its reveal shortcut and see whether the icon appears in the revealed area.
- Move the app to the visible section, or leave it hidden and reveal it when you need it.
- Quit the manager briefly. If the icon returns to the normal bar, the manager was hiding it.
After a major macOS update, check that your manager has a compatible release, since these apps depend on how macOS lays out the bar.
Reduce clutter: Command-drag to reorder or remove
You can rearrange most menu bar icons yourself. Apple's menu bar guide describes it: hold the Command key and drag an icon to a new place, or hold Command and drag an icon out of the bar to remove it. This works for system icons and for many third-party ones, though an app can opt out of being moved.
- Hold Command and drag the icons you rarely use to the left, where they are cut off first when space runs out.
- Keep the icons you need most at the right end of the bar, closest to the clock.
- Remove any icon you never click. For third-party apps, a settings option to hide the icon is often cleaner than dragging it out.
Be careful with the last point. If you remove a third-party app's icon, check how to bring it back first. Some apps put the option in their settings window, and some only bring it back when you launch the app again.
Login items and background permissions
A menu bar app that does not start at login is not in the menu bar after a restart. And on current macOS, apps that run in the background are controlled by a separate switch.
- Open System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions.
- Under "Open at Login", check that the app is listed. Use the add button to add it if not, or turn on the app's own "open at login" option in its settings.
- Under "Allow in the Background", check that the app's switch is on. Apple describes this as letting the app do tasks when it is not open, such as checking for updates.
- Also look under System Settings > Menu Bar > "Allow in the Menu Bar" on recent macOS versions. Apple lists apps there that can add items to the menu bar, and an app switched off will not show its icon.
Apple's guide to opening items automatically at login covers the Login Items pane in more detail. It also notes that holding Shift while logging in stops login items from launching for that session, which is useful to know if you hold it by habit.
Reinstall or reset as a last resort
If the app is running, the bar has room and no manager is involved, a clean reinstall is the next step.
- Quit the app from its menu bar icon if you can see it, or in Activity Monitor with Quit.
- Drag it from Applications to the Bin and empty it.
- Download the latest version from the developer and install it again.
- Open it once from Applications, and re-grant any permissions it asks for.
Restarting the Mac before you do this costs nothing and sometimes clears a stuck menu bar. Hold off on deleting an app's settings folders unless the developer tells you to, because you could lose a licence key or saved preferences.
Example: finding FoldMyMac in the menu bar and pausing with Escape
FoldMyMac makes a good worked example, since it lives only in the menu bar. It has no Dock icon, so the menu bar icon is the way to reach it. The icon is a small MacBook symbol. When the effect is paused, the symbol is dimmed.
If you cannot see the icon on a notch MacBook, try this:
- Open FoldMyMac from Applications. A deliberate launch opens the settings window, so you can confirm the app is up even if the icon is crowded out. A launch at login stays quiet and does not open it.
- Quit a couple of other menu bar apps or Command-drag a few icons away, as described above. The FoldMyMac icon should then appear.
- Click the icon. The menu shows whether the effect is on or paused, an item to pause or turn it on, Settings, Check for Updates and Quit.
While the desktop is actually folding, you can pause the effect with Escape, without touching the menu bar at all. This is handy if the icon is hidden at the moment you need it, for example when you want to watch protected video that cannot appear inside the fold. Turn Open at login on in General settings if you want FoldMyMac back after each restart. The FAQ covers pausing and licensing, and How it works explains what the app does while the lid closes. The idea in one line: the desktop bends and blurs as you close the lid.
FAQ
Why is my Mac menu bar icon not showing even though the app is open?
Most often the bar is full. On a MacBook with a notch, icons that do not fit to the right of the notch are not displayed, with no warning. Quit some menu bar apps, move system icons into Control Center, or use a menu bar manager and the icon will usually return.
Does every MacBook hide menu bar icons behind the notch?
Only models with a notch have this particular limit. Without one, the bar still has a finite width, and a menu bar manager can also hide icons, so the other checks in this article still apply.
How do I rearrange or remove menu bar icons?
Hold the Command key and drag an icon to a new position. To remove it, hold Command and drag it out of the menu bar. Not every third-party icon can be moved this way, so check the app's settings if it refuses.
The app is in Activity Monitor but there is no icon. What now?
The app is running, so look at space and visibility. Check for overflow, look at any menu bar manager's hidden list, and confirm the app is allowed under System Settings > Menu Bar. If none of that works, reinstall the app.