macOS Tahoe menu bar visual glitch

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macOS Tahoe menu bar visual glitch

After updating to macOS Tahoe, I noticed a visual glitch: when an app window sits behind the transparent menu bar and I move the cursor up to reveal it, only a thin underline appears instead of the expected frosted / liquid‐glass transparency.

I tried resetting the Dock via Terminal, toggling the menu bar settings, changing background color and theme, adjusting display settings, nothing fixed it. The issue only happens when Liquid Glass is enabled and there’s a window open directly behind the transparent menu bar. Enabling reduce transparency makes it bearable to use.

Device: MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

Settings:

• Menu Bar Style → Transparent

• Automatically hide and show the menu bar → enabled

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 26.0

Posted on Sep 23, 2025 3:54 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 14, 2025 1:39 PM in response to RetroArtist

Bugs can be reported to Apple here:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

Indeed, I see the same thing. Furthermore, it's variable – sometimes it's a thin line, sometimes it's a thicker line (about triple the height of the thin line), and sometimes there's no line. Here are three screenshots taken in quick succession, no settings changes just moving the cursor out of and into the menu bar area. The first one is what I'd consider expected behavior, but even if Apple had something different in mind (i.e., they meant to show the thin line to distinguish the menu bar) it should not change randomly.

[Edited by Moderator]

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Answer 2

Oct 14, 2025 1:50 PM in response to dialabrain

Note that in my top image, it's actually showing the menu bar background. If I toggle the show background setting on then off, I get the expected behavior and it looks like yours:

But...when I drag the settings window down out of the menu bar area then back up to the top, the glitch returns. Would you mind trying that step?

[Edited by Moderator]

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