When the menu bar covers a remote desktop
For macOS 13 Ventura and later. Updated October 2026.
Some remote desktop and virtual machine apps show the session in a window that covers the whole screen, top edge included, without switching to macOS full screen. The Mac's menu bar then sits over the top of the session. Whatever the other computer shows there, such as window title bars, tabs or its own menus, can't be clicked, and windows in the session can't be dragged by their title bars. There are three ways to get that strip back.
Switch the app to real full screen
In macOS full screen the menu bar stays out of the way, as long as the setting is on In Full Screen Only (how macOS comes) or Always. Click the green button at the top left of the app's window, press Control-Command-F, or choose Enter Full Screen from the app's View or Window menu. Some apps have a full-screen mode of their own that isn't macOS's; if the bar still covers the session, try the green button.
The bar still slides in whenever the pointer touches the very top edge of the screen. To click something at the top of the session, stop just short of the edge.
Or hide the bar on the desktop too
If the session has to stay in a window, set "Automatically hide and show the menu bar" to Always. The bar then hides on the desktop as well, and the top of the screen belongs to the session. The setting is in System Settings, under Menu Bar on macOS 26 and later, Control Center on macOS 14 and 15, and Desktop & Dock on macOS 13. Step by step.
The catch: the bar is then hidden in every app, not just the session.
Or hide it only while the session is in front
Menu Bar Toggle is a free app with per-app rules. Give the remote desktop app a rule and the bar hides while the session is in front, then comes back as soon as you switch to anything else.
- Install Menu Bar Toggle, click its icon in the menu bar and choose Settings….
- Under Per-app rules, click + and pick the remote desktop or virtual machine app under Recently Used or Running Apps, or use Choose Application… to find it.
- Leave the rule on Auto-hide.
If the rule doesn't seem to work, the session is probably shown by a separate viewer app rather than the one you opened. Start a session, then add the app that's in front. It appears under Recently Used once you've used it.
The bar is still there when you need it: move the pointer to the top edge of the screen and it slides in.