Menu Bar Icons Missing or Disappeared on Mac? Here's How to Fix It

One moment all your menu bar icons are there, the next some have vanished. This is a common frustration for Mac users, especially on MacBooks with notched displays. Here’s what causes it and how to fix it.

Why Menu Bar Icons Disappear

The Notch Effect

On MacBooks with a notch (MacBook Pro 14" and 16" from 2021 onward, MacBook Air M2 and later), the camera housing cuts into the menu bar space. When you have more icons than can fit in the available space, macOS simply hides the overflow. There’s no scroll, no indicator—they just vanish.

Too Many Icons

Even on Macs without a notch, there’s limited menu bar real estate. The menu bar shares space with application menus, and apps with long menu names (looking at you, Adobe) can push your icons off-screen.

App Crashed or Quit

Sometimes an icon disappears because its parent app crashed or was quit. If you expect to see Dropbox or your VPN icon and it’s gone, check if the app is still running.

System Settings Changed

macOS updates occasionally reset certain preferences. After an update, check System Settings > Control Center to ensure your preferred icons are still set to show.

How to Find Missing Icons

Check Behind the Notch

If you suspect icons are hidden behind the notch, try these approaches:

  1. Close applications to shorten the app menu, giving icons more room
  2. Use full-screen mode in your current app—this hides the app menu entirely and may reveal hidden icons
  3. Check Menu Bar Settings in System Settings to see if icons are configured to show

Verify Apps Are Running

Open Activity Monitor (in Applications > Utilities) and search for the app whose icon you’re missing. If it’s not running, launch it. If it is running but the icon is missing, try quitting and relaunching the app.

Reset the Menu Bar

For system icons, go to System Settings > Control Center and toggle the missing icon off, then on again. This can reset its visibility.

Check Login Items

If an icon should appear at startup but doesn’t, verify the app is in your login items: System Settings > General > Login Items.

Preventing Future Disappearances

Use a Menu Bar Organizer

The best solution for notch-equipped Macs is a menu bar organization tool. These apps let you:

  • Prioritize important icons so they never get hidden
  • Create a collapsible section for less important icons
  • Access any icon on demand, even when space is limited

Bar Bar Jinks solves this by letting you assign each icon to one of three tiers: always visible, collapsible, or hidden. The collapsible icons expand with a click, ensuring you can always access them regardless of available space.

Reduce Your Icon Count

Audit which apps really need menu bar presence:

  • Does that app need to run at startup?
  • Could you access it from the Dock instead?
  • Is the menu bar icon actually useful, or just visual noise?

Many apps let you disable their menu bar icon in preferences while still running normally.

Keep App Menus Short

When working with apps that have long menu bar menus, consider using full-screen mode to reclaim space for your icons.

Troubleshooting Specific Icons

Wi-Fi Icon Missing

Go to System Settings > Control Center > Wi-Fi and set it to “Show in Menu Bar.”

Battery Icon Missing

Go to System Settings > Control Center > Battery and enable “Show in Menu Bar.”

Sound/Volume Icon Missing

Go to System Settings > Control Center > Sound and set it to “Always Show in Menu Bar.”

Bluetooth Icon Missing

Go to System Settings > Control Center > Bluetooth and set it to “Show in Menu Bar.”

When Icons Still Won’t Appear

If you’ve tried everything and icons still won’t show:

  1. Restart your Mac — Sometimes a fresh start resolves menu bar glitches
  2. Check for macOS updates — Bugs in menu bar behavior are occasionally fixed in point releases
  3. Reset NVRAM — On Intel Macs, restart and hold Option+Command+P+R for 20 seconds (Apple Silicon Macs don’t need this)
  4. Create a new user account — Test if the issue persists in a fresh account to rule out preference corruption

Conclusion

Missing menu bar icons are usually caused by space constraints, especially on notched MacBooks. While macOS doesn’t provide elegant solutions for this, third-party organizers can ensure you always have access to your icons. The key is being intentional about which icons deserve permanent visibility and which can be tucked away until needed.