Touch Bar not working after macOS Tahoe 26.0.1 update

Hey! I have a M1, 2020 MacBook Pro and have always had issues with the TouchBar (sometimes it was laggy, sometimes it was just completely gone, etc.). I used to fix them by running 'sudo pkill TouchBarServer; sudo killall "ControlStrip";' on terminal. However, I recently updated the system to macOS Tahoe 26.0.1 and the commands aren't working anymore. My TouchBar was completely gone when I turned my Mac on today, and nothing seems to help...



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Can't restart TouchBar

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 26.0

Posted on Oct 5, 2025 12:31 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 13, 2025 5:04 PM

I also have a 2020 M1 MBP running 26.0.1 and my touch bar went totally blank today.


Here's what finally worked for me:

  • Shut down mac completely
  • Hold down power button until it starts, keep holding until "loading startup options" appears
  • Select Disk Utility and run First Aid on the Macintosh HD (in my case it came up clean)
  • Restart, log in as normal


At that point it started working again, showing the default app-specific stuff which I hate, but at least it wasn't blank. And then it showed up under System Settings, Keyboard, Touch Bar Settings...


I'm not sure if the reboot into Recovery and running of First Aid made any difference, but it certainly can't hurt.


29 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 13, 2025 5:04 PM in response to jasalazarm

I also have a 2020 M1 MBP running 26.0.1 and my touch bar went totally blank today.


Here's what finally worked for me:

  • Shut down mac completely
  • Hold down power button until it starts, keep holding until "loading startup options" appears
  • Select Disk Utility and run First Aid on the Macintosh HD (in my case it came up clean)
  • Restart, log in as normal


At that point it started working again, showing the default app-specific stuff which I hate, but at least it wasn't blank. And then it showed up under System Settings, Keyboard, Touch Bar Settings...


I'm not sure if the reboot into Recovery and running of First Aid made any difference, but it certainly can't hurt.


Oct 26, 2025 2:35 PM in response to jasalazarm

I also have a 2020 M1 MBP running 26.0.1


This gave me the touchbar back:

  • Shut down mac completely
  • Hold down power button until it starts, keep holding until "loading startup options" appears
  • Select Disk Utility and run First Aid on the Macintosh HD (in my case it came up clean)
  • Restart, log in as normal
  • If Touchbar is still not recovered run the following in terminal: "sudo pkill TouchBarServer; sudo pkill ControlStrip"
  • Restart (remove the tick on "Reopen window when logging in")

Oct 7, 2025 8:54 PM in response to sberman

It says "To change these settings, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, click Keyboard  in the sidebar (you may need to scroll down), then click Touch Bar Settings.".... I don't see any section for the touch bar settings. Even when I search for "touch bar" in settings, I get a hit for "Customize Touch Bar or Control Strip" but when I click on it, it takes me to Keyboard settings and still don't see any option for the Touch Bar settings. Tried restarting the mac and nothing...

Touch Bar not working after macOS Tahoe 26.0.1 update

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.