Restart your system by using the Apple menu, or by holding the power button (for three seconds in Mavericks) to bring up the power menu, where you can choose the option to restart. Oct 09, 2018 The macOS menu bar is a great place for quickly accessing system and application functions using menu extras or 'menulets', but it can get cluttered pretty quickly as more and more icons vie for a.
- Restart App In Menu Bar Machine
- Restart App In Menu Bar Mac Pro
- Restart App In Menu Bar Mac Settings
- Restart Mac From Keyboard
- Restart App In Menu Bar Mac Os
Make your Mac invincible
Without a doubt, the menu bar is one of Mac’s great features. It’s condensed, easy to tap into on the fly, and displays much-needed information in real time.
But, with every new icon app added, things become a little more cluttered and usability takes another hit. Fortunately, it’s possible to edit the menu bar to rearrange and remove icons so that it’s able to suit your needs at any given moment. Read on for the best ways to make the menu bar on Mac truly yours.
A tool that perfects menu bar
Rethink the menu bar with this app. Bartender customizes one of the main parts of Mac's interface, efficiently.
How to rearrange items in menu bar
How much freedom you have to rearrange items in menu bar depends on which version of macOS you’re running. The users of macOS Sierra and later definitely have more creative license here than others. And if you are not there yet, it’s time to upgrade to the newest macOS anyway.
Rearranging menu items in macOS
To move an icon in the menu bar, hold Command (cmd), then click and hold the icon to drag it across the bar. Simple.
There are no restrictions here — feel free to move icons anywhere you see fit. Don’t like the clock all the way over there on the right-hand side? Drag it to somewhere more suitable. Want to place the Setapp icon over to the area of the bar once reserved for first-party apps? Do it!
The only icon that cannot be tampered with is the Notification Center. Apple has decided this must remain in the far right corner of the menu, which is fair enough — it looks good there.
Rearranging menu items in OS X versions (El Capitan and older)
Movement of icons in old versions of macOS is reserved for selected apps only: Bluetooth, audio, Time Machine, WiFi, battery, clock, and user switching. Spotlight and Notification Center must stay put, as must all third-party apps.
To move icons around within the designated area, once again hold Command, then click and hold the icon to drag it.
How to remove icons from the top bar on Mac
If there are items in the menu bar that you feel don’t belong there, hold Command, click on the icon, and drag it outside of the menu bar.
Note: this only works for first-party icons.
It is possible to remove third-party icons from the top bar on Mac by clicking on them and selecting “Quit” or “Close,” but this will stop the app from working until you reopen it.
Some apps give the option to remove icons from the top bar on Mac in their settings: [chosen app] > Preferences. However, a lot of apps won’t. To fully customize which icons appear in the menu bar, you should use a third-party app like Bartender.
If you’ve removed the first-party app and you’d like it back on the menu, it can be re-enabled in System Preferences.
How to add icons to the top bar on Mac
If you’re missing a specific system icon in the Mac’s menu bar, you can add it through System Preferences. For instance, to enable the Language icon, select Language & Region in the preference pane, click Input Sources, and check the box next to “Show Input menu in menu bar.”
Add menu bar extras
Because the menu options like Clock and Ink can’t be found in System Preferences, you might need to use the System folder as well:
- Open Finder.
- Select Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar.
- Type a path: /System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras.
- Double-click an item and it will instantly appear in your menu bar.
You can easily remove any of the icons by holding Command and dragging it outside of the menu bar as described above.
How to customize and tidy Mac menu bar
It’s possible to change the look of the default menu bar items in System Preferences and third-party apps’ ones in their respective preferences. Most of the time, you’ll be able to at least switch the color to black and white.
Change how the date and time are displayed in the menu bar
In the right corner of your menu bar, click on date and time to Open Date & Time Preferences. Go to the Clock tab and unlock the preferences by entering your administrator password, so that you can make changes. To customize the look of the clock, choose between two different time display options: Digital or Analog. You can also tick the boxes for “Show date” and “Show the day of the week.”
To instantly toggle between different display options, click on date and time in the menu bar and choose “View as Analog” or “View as Digital.”
How to use your battery status on Mac
Keeping track of your battery life from the menu bar takes a few simple actions and yet is vital to Mac’s performance.
Click on the battery icon and tick Show percentage to see how much battery power you have left. In the same drop-down menu, you can check the programs that are using significant power in case your battery is draining too fast. To optimize battery usage, select “Open Energy Saver Preferences” and adjust sleep settings.
Toggle between fast user switching icons
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There are three different options on how the Fast User Switching menu can be displayed in your Mac’s top bar – as a full name, account name or icon. Here’s how you do the customization:
- Click on the icon and open Users & Groups Preferences.
- Enter your password to unlock.
- Select Login Options in the bottom left corner of the Users & Groups.
- Go to “Show fast user switching menu” and pick one of the options.
- Untick the box if you prefer to remove the icon from the menu bar.
Show Wi-Fi status in the menu bar
To enable the Wi-Fi icon in your Mac’s top bar, go to System Preferences and select Network. Tick the box next to “Show Wi-Fi status in menu bar.”
How to replace menu bar app icons
If you want to have custom icons in your Mac’s menu bar, there’s a way to replace the default ones. To change the icon of a third-party app, find it in Applications, right-click to open a context menu, and choose “Show Package Contents.” Go to Resources folder to find the defaults – these can be used as templates for the new icons. Once you have a custom icon ready, simply copy it into the same Resources folder.
The same works for system icons, except you won’t find all of them in Applications. Here’s the path for you to take: Hard Disk > System > Library > CoreServices > Menu Extras. Once you’ve found the item you need, click on “Show Package Contents” and navigate to the icon via [MENUITEM.menu] > Contents > Resources.
In both cases, it’s a good idea to create backups of the default icons before replacing them – just in case you’ll need them later.
Hide menu bar items
One low-key feature on Mac is the ability to auto-hide menu bar. To do this, open System Preferences > General. Check the option to “Automatically hide and show the menu bar” and the menu bar will immediately disappear.
To get the menu bar to show up again, simply move the cursor to the top of the screen and hold it there for a second. Now you can access the menu whenever you need it and enjoy an extra bit of screen real estate when you don’t.
Customizing the menu bar with Bartender
If you want more control over how the menu bar looks and what it does, you should consider using the Bartender app.
Bartender lets you hide icons without quitting and rearrange icons in a way that better suits how you use the menu bar — something particularly useful if you’re running an older version of macOS.
App icons can be displayed when updating, shown in the Bartender Bar only, or hidden completely and accessed easily using a built-in search function. It’s even possible to toggle through and activate items using keyboard navigation.
Restart App In Menu Bar Mac Pro
If you’re someone that prefers a minimalist look, the app gives you the option to remove the Bartender menu item, leaving you with a crisp, clean menu bar.
Overall, the Mac menu bar is there to help you improve your productivity by giving you quick access to the apps and tools you need. Using the tips above, you can customize the menu bar in a way that works for you. Best of all, you can get full access to Bartender and over 200 more high-quality macOS apps on Setapp, with a 7-day free trial to get you started. So why not get your menu bar organized now?
The latest update to macOS, Big Sur, has been highly anticipated and talked about for some time now.
It features a lot of new functions and an updated visual appearance that make the operating system look and feel closer to iOS that Apple uses on their mobile devices.
But even though there are many good aspects to Big Sur, users are also experiencing some performance issues after installing it. One of these that we will address here is the Mac finder not responding after installing Big Sur. If this is happening to you, continue reading for some quick fixes.
Contents
What Causes Your Mac Finder to Stop Responding?
- Restart Your Computer – this is always a good first step when you have any app or program that is unresponsive and will often get things fixed quickly. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
- Force Quit Finder and Restart the App – The force quit is a command every MacBook owner should know. Just press Command, Option, Escape, and then select the Finder from the window to force quit. Open it back up from the Applications folder.
- Check for 3rd Party Plugins/Apps – This fix involves updating all of the 3rd party plugins and apps you have on your MacBook. If they aren’t updated, they can cause issues with the Finder. If no updates are available, you may need to delete them.
- Killing the Process from Activity Monitor – This is similar to a Force Quit but takes a more direct route. You’ll need to access the Activity Monitor app, and from there, you can select the Finder to kill the process.
- Power Cycling Your Computer – Power cycling can be seen as a forced reset and is another potential quick fix for the issue. Simply hold down the power button while the power/reset process cycles.
- Clearing Storage – If you don’t have enough free space, your MacBook can experience performance issues. Delete any unnecessary files or apps to clear up storage space.
- Resetting Mac to Factory Settings – This is the last effort sort of fix that will erase all of the files on your computer and reset everything to factory settings. It can work to fix corrupted files and apps.
Fix 1: Restart Your Computer
The first thing you should do if you find the Finder unresponsive after installing macOS Big Sur is to restart your computer. This can fix a variety of small issues and bugs that occur at any point and is a recommended fix to try whenever you experience a problem that you can’t figure out how to fix immediately. This may be all you need to do to fix the problem of the Finder not responding in Big Sur.
Fix 2: Force Quit Finder and Restart the App
If you encounter the issue of the Finder freezing, you will want to perform a force quit and then reopen the app. This can happen from time to time, regardless of what operating system you are on. Knowing how to force quit can help you resolve the issues with other unresponsive apps as well.
To force quit Finder, follow these steps:
- Press these three keys on your keyboard at the same time – Command, Option, Esc.
- The force quit window will pop up (see above).
- Select the Finder from the list of programs that are currently running.
- Click on Relaunch.
- This will force the Finder to quit.
- Restart Finder, and it should be responsive.
Alternatively, you can click on the Apple logo, then click Force Quit Finder.
Fix 3: Check for 3rd Party Plugins/Apps
You might have some 3rd-party plugins or apps on your computer that can be causing issues with the Finder and result in it becoming unresponsive.
If the first two fixes above did not help you resolve the issue, you can search for these troublesome 3rd-party programs.
The first thing you will want to do is make sure that all of the apps you have installed on your computer are updated to their latest versions. The newer versions of macOS, including Big Sur and Catalina, are only compatible with 64-bit apps.
So if you have any 32-bit apps on your computer, this can cause problems with the Finder when you attempt to open them.
If you have updated all of your apps and programs to their current versions and you notice any issues with the Finder still happening, you may need to delete apps that don’t have an update available as this could be the source of your issue.
Typically, developers will update their apps pretty quickly after a major macOS update. You may also consider trying out CleanMyMac to detect and remove unwanted plugins and software.
Fix 4: Killing the Process from Activity Monitor
Another fix you can try is killing the Finder Process from Activity Monitor. This is somewhat similar to force closing an app but takes a more direct approach.
To kill the process, you first need to open Activity Monitor. You can access this from the Utilities folder in your Finder, but if your finder is not responding, you can also press Command and Space to access the Spotlight Siri search.
To kill a process once you are in Activity Monitor, follow these steps:
- Select Finder from the Process Name list
- Click on the Stop button, marked by an X on the top of the window
- Select either Quit or Force Quit depending on which one works to close the process
Fix 5: Power cycling your Computer
A power cycle is a forced restart of your computer. Power cycling can fix a range of glitches and bugs and fix an unresponsive program or app, such as the Finder.
To power cycle your MacBook, follow these steps:
- Hold down the power button on your MacBook until it shuts down
- Continued holding the power button and unplug the power cables
- Hold for another 10 seconds
- Restart the computer
Fix 6: Clearing Storage
If you don’t have enough free storage space on your MacBook, it can begin to affect performance in a number of ways, including slow and unresponsive apps. If Finder is not responsive or running slow and you don’t have much free storage, clearing it can fix the issue.
You can clear out your storage in many ways, but getting rid of any large files that aren’t in use is a good place to start. Photos and videos can eat up a lot of storage space, so delete them off your drive. Unused apps can also be deleted to clear up more space.
Useful resources to help you understand, clear your storage, and gain more memory space:
- Get the best USB flash drives for your MacBook
Restart App In Menu Bar Mac Settings
Fix 7: Resetting Mac to Factory Settings
If none of the other fixes on this list have fixed the issue, resetting your Mac to its factory settings may be another way to fix a non-responsive Finder. Before doing a factory reset, you should fully back up your computer and save every file because this erases everything on the computer.
To reset to factory settings, follow these steps:
- Click on the Apple logo
- Select Restart
- As your computer restarts, hold down Command, R until the Apple logo appears.
- A window will pop up, select Disk Utility, and then Continue
- Click on Macintosh HD and then click on Erase
- From the next window, choose either Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or APFS for the format
- Click Erase
- Close Disk Utility and then select Reinstall macOS from the previous screen
- Follow the steps through the assistant, and the factory settings will be restored
Final Words
An unresponsive Mac Finder is a problem that can usually be resolved fairly quickly.
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If you are experiencing this problem after upgrading to macOS Big Sur, follow the steps in the fixes above to troubleshoot the issue and get everything on your computer operating as it should. If these fixes do not help you, you may need to contact Apple customer support.
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You can also look through the Apple discussion groups to see if anyone else has other suggested fixes. Other than that you may also see our guide on dealing with MacBook Pro running slow issue.