Monterey menu bar - digital clock text color has changed from white to grey; how to solve?

the issue you are having is actually a "feature". it tells you the status of DND at a glance. when Do Not Disturb is turned on, your clock will become "dim". when DND is turned off, your clock will become "bright". but if you place the DND icon on your menubar permanently the clock will stay "bright" regardless if DND is on or off.

to place the DND icon onto your menubar, just open "control centre" and drag and drop DND onto your menubar.

FYI: drag it by the text, not the icon.

this "defect" is intentional.

when DND is turned on, the clock is dim.

but when it's off, the clock bright.

but if you place the DND icon permanently on the menubar the clock will stay bright regardless of if DND is turned off or on. instead, the DND icon goes dim or bright.

DND turned on:

DND turned off:

i can't imagine seeing apple "fixing" this "defect" when it is obviously an intentional design feature. however, you are of course free to send feedback to apple if you don't agree with their decision.

Feedback - macOS - Apple

Unfortunately, it doesn't tell you anything at a glance; not even the time.

Report this for the defect that it is: https://feedbackassistant.apple.com

That makes no sense, and is not communicated to the user in any way. The entire "focus" idea is an ill-conceived mess that nobody asked for, and the defective clock display is just one side-effect.

Agree. Need to report this design defect. There is pretty space on Mac's top taskbar to show Focus icons (DND, Personal, Work, etc.) as used on iOS devices. No need to dim the date and time which is really hard to see.

Thank you Jeffery, dragging the Focus to the bar solved the issue! I wanted to use the Focus function but also want to see the time/date. Your first post mentioned that but I didn't get it. Thanks for the second post to explain.

Just wondering, could dimming the time help focus? Apple usually has reasons behind everything. I just don't get this one.

Lei555 wrote:

I wanted to use the Focus function but also want to see the time/date. Your first post mentioned that but I didn't get it. Thanks for the second post to explain.

you're welcome.

Just wondering, could dimming the time help focus? Apple usually has reasons behind everything. I just don't get this one.

i've no idea. :)

wether or not it makes sense for you, i had nothing to do with it. i'm sorry you are not happy, but i don't work for apple, and i have no say in how they do things. therefore, it's not my problem.

as far as the "focus" idea being an "ill-conceived mess" as you say, i must thoroughly disagree. i like to be able to work with my mac without the banners and sound effects distracting / interrupting me.

you're welcome.