Why is there no menu bar in time machine on my macbook pro?

The only backup criteria that I can think of is to exclude items (or stop excluding them). Click the Options button in Time Machine Settings to do that.

Also see the instructions in Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

I had the same basic question; the answer was no other than specific exclusions.

My solution was to use Carbon Copy Cloner. CCC can be set to generate Time Machine-like backups that are 100% compatible with Migration and Setup Assistant. And it's far more flexible than TM.

TM is a very good app and does a great job for what it is. I wanted greater control over various backup scenarios and CCC gives me that.

Time Machine is accessed from System Settings (System Preferences in versions prior to Ventura). There is no menu bar.

<< Is there any way to edit current backup criteria? >>

what is it that you want to change? and Why?