Menu Bar Icon Randomly Disappears (macOS 26.1 → 26.2)

[FaizanAshiq]

Menu Bar Icon Randomly Disappears (macOS 26.1 → 26.2)

Observed behavior:

1. After booting macOS, the BetterDisplay menu bar icon is sometimes missing, even though the menu bar toggle is enabled in settings.
2. If I disable and re-enable the menu bar icon toggle, the icon immediately appears.
3. I can open the menu and use it normally (e.g., brightness control).
4. After performing an action, the menu bar icon disappears again.
5. Checking settings shows the menu bar option is still enabled.

Expected behavior:

• Menu bar icon should remain visible as long as it’s enabled.
• User interactions (brightness changes, etc.) should not cause it to disappear.

Environment:

• Issue started on macOS 26.1
• Still reproducible on macOS 26.2
• Appeared suddenly (worked fine before)
• Looks unrelated to manual user settings; likely a system or lifecycle issue

Notes:
Initially suspected macOS instability after upgrade, but since the issue persists across 26.1 → 26.2, it seems reproducible and app-related.

Let me know if logs or diagnostics would help — happy to provide.

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MacOS Version

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Video Reference

2025-12-24.09-29-26.mp4

[waydabber]

If you are not using an app to manage menu bar icons that might cause the issue, you can try resetting BetterDisplay. If it's an app issue, then a reset should solve any configuration problem. https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/wiki/Safe-mode,-app-reset,-app-removal#simple-app-reset

If it's an environmental or general macOS installation/stability issue, I don't really have a recommendation.

[FaizanAshiq]

@waydabber It was indeed resolved by resetting the BetterDisplay app.