Going fullscreen on a Mac gives you every pixel for your work — but the menu bar disappears, only sliding back down when you push the cursor against the top of the screen. If you constantly glance at the clock, reach for Control Center, or need an app’s menus, that hide-and-seek gets old fast. Fortunately, macOS lets you keep the menu bar visible in fullscreen mode with a single setting.
Here’s where to find it and what each option does.
Keep the menu bar visible in fullscreen step by step
- Open System Settings. Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner and choose System Settings.
- Go to Desktop & Dock. In the settings sidebar, scroll down and select Desktop & Dock.
- Find the Menu Bar section. Scroll down until you see the Menu Bar heading.
- Change “Automatically hide and show the menu bar”. Open the dropdown and pick the behavior you want. Always keeps the menu bar visible everywhere, including fullscreen. In Full Screen Only keeps it visible in fullscreen apps but auto-hides it on the desktop. On Desktop only does the opposite, and Never always auto-hides it.
To keep the bar visible while apps are fullscreen, choose Always or In Full Screen Only — the change applies immediately, no restart needed.
If it still doesn’t work
If the menu bar still hides in a particular app, quit and reopen that app — a few older apps only pick up the setting on relaunch. Also confirm you’re running macOS Ventura or later: on Ventura, Apple moved this option to Desktop & Dock (it previously lived under the older Control Center / General settings), so outdated guides may point you to the wrong place. For the official documentation, see Apple Support’s macOS user guide; MacRumors also tracks where Apple relocates settings between macOS releases.
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Frequently asked questions
Where was this setting before macOS Ventura?
On older macOS versions it lived in System Preferences → General (“Automatically hide and show the menu bar”). Ventura reorganized System Settings and moved it to Desktop & Dock.
Can I show the menu bar only in fullscreen but hide it on the desktop?
Yes — that’s exactly what “In Full Screen Only” does. Pick it if you want a clean desktop but a persistent menu bar when apps take over the screen.
Conclusion
A vanishing menu bar in fullscreen mode is a preference, not a requirement. Open System Settings → Desktop & Dock, set “Automatically hide and show the menu bar” to Always or In Full Screen Only, and your clock, Control Center, and app menus stay put — even when the app fills the screen.
