System Settings missing almost all options, and grey main screen

“System Settings missing almost all options, and grey main screen: After I updated my MacBook Air m1 to Sequoia 15.5 the main screen is grey and in system setting I only have to options. General and Spotlight. I have tried everything, safe mode, reinstalling the software. Nothing works, and k can’t even back up with Time Machine because it’s not in the setting. Any idea how to fix it?”

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System Settings Icons Gone Missing After Update:

Which Software did you Reinstall?:

Reinstall the macOS.

• Go Here: How to Reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support.
• If you’ve already tried that, then try it once more, perhaps using an Ethernet Cable for a more reliable connection. You’d need this adapter, if no Ethernet port: Belkin USB-C to 2.5Gb Ethernet Adapter - Apple
• Important: First, Back Up your Mac: Prior to all of this, Create a Time Machine backup of your Mac, so that you can have something to restore your Mac from, should anything go wrong with the reinstall. Know to always create a backup of your Mac, prior to making any major changes to it (i.e. reinstall)

Try running the following Terminal command to check the permissions of items within your home user folder.....it will only display files/folders where the owner is not you (post the results...if any, ideally there should not be anything):

sudo  find  ~  -not  -user  "$(id  -u)"  -ls  2>/dev/null

Copy & paste the command since everything must be typed exactly (including spaces) or you will get unexpected results.

GGBRB wrote:

After I updated my MacBook Air m1 to Sequoia 15.5 the main screen is grey and in system setting I only have to options. General and Spotlight. I have tried everything, safe mode, reinstalling the software. Nothing works, and k can’t even back up with Time Machine because it’s not in the setting. Any idea how to fix it?

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/203b44e1-ce7c-4b08-8ca6-3c8d29c44591

[Edited by Moderator]

Have you shut down and rebooted more than once since your "updated...to Sequoia 15.5 "

A SafeBoot Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support will sort many anomalies

Login and test. Reboot as normal and test. Caches get rebuilt automatically.

The current stable release of Sequoia including bug fixes, security updates is macOS 15.6

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

if necessary try the revive—

How to revive or restore Mac firmware - Apple Support

How to revive or restore Mac firmware - Apple Support

saranbs wrote:

I am having the same issue. I copied and pasted the suggested command, and I got the following output. Is there any fix for this?

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/44d15b5d-b2e0-40ca-8294-6086750330d6

Were those seven lines all of the output?

I don't think any of those items should be owned by "root", but should be owned by your own user account (I'm assuming is "saran"). If those seven files are the only items, then their ownership can be easily changed using the Finder once you toggle the view to "Show Hidden Items" using Command + Shift + Dot/Period.

However, if there are more lines and they involve the hidden Library folder within your home user folder, then it would be best to just start over completely by performing a clean install of macOS by first erasing the disk followed by reinstalling macOS & restoring from a backup made prior to this issue occurring (it may be possible to just erase all contents & settings & restore from a backup as well). Why? Who knows what else may have changes that we haven't discovered yet.

Thank you for your reply. I have changed all those items to the user account. When I executed the command again, nothing showed up. I have also tried rebooting in safe mode and reinstalled the OS using the built-in recovery system. However, the issue persists.

Leory suggests updating to macOS 15.6. However, the settings are disabled. I tried this command (softwareupdate --list) to update via terminal, but it says, "No new software available."

There are people on this Reddit blog post having the same issue. Is there any fix for this without erasing the disk and reinstalling from scratch?

I am having the same issue. I copied and pasted the suggested command, and I got the following output. Is there any fix for this?

[Edited by Moderator]