toolbar is unreadable when background is a light color

Question

toolbar is unreadable when background is a light color

Since the latest software update the toolbar on my screen becomes the color of whatever is running behind it. When that background is a light color the toolbar is unreadable. If I click someplace across the top of the screen the background will darken and the text becomes readable. That is okay, but it is annoying. Is there a setting I can use to keep the toolbar from adopting the color of the screen behind it? Or, is there a way to make the text on the toolbar sensitive to the background color, so that the type is black when the screen behind it is a light color?

iMac 24″, macOS 26.0

Posted on Oct 13, 2025 6:12 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

dialabrain

Level 10

135,905 points

Oct 13, 2025 6:21 AM in response to perryfromweybridge

Enable "Show menu bar background" in System Settings > Menu Bar.

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

135,905 points

Oct 13, 2025 6:26 AM in response to perryfromweybridge

Just to add, you can also enable "Reduce transparency" in System Settings > Accessibility > Display.

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,138 points

Oct 13, 2025 6:38 AM in response to perryfromweybridge

As neuroanatomist noted, it should change the text to work with the background, but I have seen it not switch correctly at times. If you change the desktop picture to something that will force the change, then switch back to the picture you want, it keeps the correct text color.

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Answer 4

Oct 13, 2025 6:23 AM in response to perryfromweybridge

Do you mean the Menu Bar at the top of the screen? You can turn on the background for that in System Settings > Menu Bar.

Note that with default settings, the Menu Bar should change the text color automatically based on the background wallpaper. Here are two of my Spaces with different wallpapers:

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