Menu bar gray rather than in color

I did some fiddling around yesterday because the contrast/saturation on my MacBook air was too intense. I don't know what I did to cause this but my menu bar is gray instead of the translucent color it used to be. How can I fix this?


MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.6

Posted on Sep 18, 2025 09:55 AM

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Posted on Sep 18, 2025 11:42 AM

Yes, the Reduce Transparency setting has a dependency on the Increase Contrast setting. Turning ON Increase Contrast also turns ON Reduce Transparency, and you cannot turn OFF Reduce Transparency unless you turn off Increase Contrast.


So, try turning off Increase Contrast. Note that you can increase the contrast of the entire display with the slider a little lower in the setting pane.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 18, 2025 11:42 AM in response to nancy275

Yes, the Reduce Transparency setting has a dependency on the Increase Contrast setting. Turning ON Increase Contrast also turns ON Reduce Transparency, and you cannot turn OFF Reduce Transparency unless you turn off Increase Contrast.


So, try turning off Increase Contrast. Note that you can increase the contrast of the entire display with the slider a little lower in the setting pane.

Menu bar gray rather than in color

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