Make your menu bar black.
- Never touches your wallpaperDynamic, shuffling and per-Space wallpapers stay as they are.
- Works on macOS 27Built for macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 27.
Black Menu Bar gives your Mac a solid black menu bar and blends the MacBook notch into it. Your wallpaper is never replaced or repainted. One switch, ready right away.
$0.99, once.
macOS 26 or later, including macOS 27.
Try it here: it switches the menu bar at the top of this page, just like the Black Menu Bar icon does on your Mac.
Never touches your wallpaper.
Apps that black out the menu bar by editing your wallpaper paint a black band into a copy of it and set the copy as your wallpaper. A dynamic wallpaper stops changing, a shuffling one stops shuffling, and every Space and every new picture needs a new copy.
Black Menu Bar turns the menu bar black. Your wallpaper is never replaced, repainted or copied: it keeps changing as it always did, and the bar stays black.
| Topic | Apps that replace your wallpaper | Black Menu Bar |
|---|---|---|
| Your wallpaper | Apps that replace your wallpaper: Replaced with an edited copy | Black Menu Bar: Left exactly as it is |
| Dynamic wallpapers | Apps that replace your wallpaper: Replaced by a still copy | Black Menu Bar: Keep changing through the day |
| Shuffling wallpapers | Apps that replace your wallpaper: Stop shuffling | Black Menu Bar: Keep shuffling |
| A different wallpaper on each Space | Apps that replace your wallpaper: Each one needs its own copy | Black Menu Bar: Stay as they are |
| Picking a new wallpaper later | Apps that replace your wallpaper: Means making a new copy | Black Menu Bar: Nothing to redo |
Built for macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 27.
Works on macOS 27.
Black Menu Bar requires macOS 26 or later and works on macOS 27. Update your Mac, and the menu bar stays black.
The notch disappears into the bar.
On a MacBook with a notch, the camera housing is a black cut-out at the top of the screen. Black Menu Bar makes the menu bar around it the same black, so the notch blends in.
How it works
- 1
Get it from the Mac App Store.
$0.99, once. It needs macOS 26 or later and works on macOS 27.
- 2
Open it.
The menu bar turns black right away. Black Menu Bar lives in the menu bar as a small icon, out of your Dock.
- 3
Switch it when you like.
Click the icon and choose Black Menu Bar to turn the black off or on; the app remembers your choice. Quit puts the menu bar back to normal.
Your Mac stays as it was.
Black Menu Bar makes the menu bar black. Your settings stay as you set them, and quitting the app puts the menu bar back to normal.
It is private by design: no account, no analytics, no network access. Your on/off choice stays on your Mac.
Guides
How-to
How to hide the notch on a MacBook in macOS 26 and 27
The camera housing is hardware, so no setting removes it. What you can change is the screen around it — and the best way to do that keeps both your full screen and your wallpaper, on macOS 26 and macOS 27.
Guide
How to change the menu bar color on a Mac (macOS Tahoe and macOS 27)
System Settings has no color picker for the menu bar. Most ways to change its color edit or replace your wallpaper; one makes the menu bar black and leaves the wallpaper alone, on macOS 26 and macOS 27. Here is each option, with what it costs.
Comparison
TopNotch alternatives: apps that hide the MacBook notch in 2026
TopNotch's last release came out in June 2023. Two questions sort the alternatives: does the app edit your wallpaper, and does it say it supports macOS 27?
How-to
macOS Tahoe menu bar transparent? How to bring the background back
macOS 26 removed the menu bar's background, so the menu titles sit right on your wallpaper. Apple added a switch to bring a background back — here is where it is, what it looks like, and the solid black alternative that works on macOS 26 and 27 and never touches your wallpaper.
Explainer
Mac menu bar text color: why it is white or black, and how to change it
There is no setting for the menu bar text color. macOS chooses white or black for you by looking at the wallpaper behind the bar — which is why the text can be dark in Dark Mode and white in Light Mode. Here is what changes it, and where a black menu bar that never touches your wallpaper fits in.
How-to
How to turn off Liquid Glass on a Mac (macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 27)
Apple gives you no single switch to turn Liquid Glass off. It gives you three settings that each take some of it away — here is what each one does on macOS 26 and 27, and how to make the menu bar solid black on macOS 27 without touching your wallpaper.
Questions
What does Black Menu Bar do?
Black Menu Bar makes the macOS menu bar solid black and blends the MacBook notch into it, while your wallpaper stays exactly as it is. It has one setting: an on/off switch in its menu bar menu.
Does Black Menu Bar keep my wallpaper as it is?
Yes. Black Menu Bar never replaces, repaints or copies your wallpaper, so dynamic wallpapers keep changing through the day, shuffling wallpapers keep shuffling, and every Space keeps its own wallpaper.
Does Black Menu Bar work on macOS 27?
Yes. Black Menu Bar works on macOS 27. It requires macOS 26 Tahoe or later.
Does Black Menu Bar hide the notch on a MacBook?
Yes. The notch on a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro is black, and Black Menu Bar makes the menu bar around it the same black, so the notch blends into one solid bar.
Do my settings stay as they are?
Yes. System Settings and accessibility options stay exactly as you set them. Quit Black Menu Bar, and the menu bar is back to normal.
Does it work with more than one display?
Yes. Black Menu Bar makes the menu bar black on every display.
How much does Black Menu Bar cost?
$0.99 on the US Mac App Store, paid once; the App Store shows the equivalent price in other countries. There are no in-app purchases and no subscription.
Is Black Menu Bar private?
Yes. Black Menu Bar has no account, no analytics and no network access. Your on/off choice is stored on your Mac and never leaves it.
How do I switch it off?
Click the Black Menu Bar icon in the menu bar and choose Black Menu Bar to switch the black menu bar off or on, or choose Quit. The menu bar is back to normal right away.
One switch. $0.99.
- Never touches your wallpaperDynamic, shuffling and per-Space wallpapers stay as they are.
- Works on macOS 27Built for macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 27.
Paid once: no in-app purchases, no subscription. Black Menu Bar requires macOS 26 or later and works on macOS 27.