How To Fix macOS Big Sur Touch Bar Bug On MacBook Pro

macos Big Sur Touch Bar bug

macos Big Sur Touch Bar bug! Source: Reddit


Is the Touch Bar on your MacBook Pro not working properly anymore ever since you updated to macOS 11.0.1? This seems to be a common issue, because multiple users have reported this problem to us, within the last 24 hours.

This macOS Big Sur bug is causing parts of your MacBook’s Pro Touch Bar to disappear. Other claim that the entire Touch bar doesn’t display. In both cases the digital buttons seem to be working normally, making this more a visual problem than a functional one.

4 Ways To Fix macOS Big Sur Touch Bar Bug

This most likely is a software glitch that managed to find its way in the public release of macOS 11.0.1. However, until Apple issues and official fix you can try to following troubleshooting tips:

1. Reboot Mac

The first thing that you should attempt to do in order to fix this is to restart your MacBook Pro computer and hope that a fresh start will make the Touch Bar display normally again.
How To: Click the Apple logo available in the top-left corner of the screen, select Restart… and click Restart again to confirm your selection.

2. Turn Off Mac

You can also try to shutdown your Macbook wait for a couple of seconds and switch it back On.

3. Terminal App Trick

If the macOS Big Sur Touch Bar issue persists you can apply the following tip to re-spring the Touch Bar:

  • Click on Finder and search for Terminal.
    Tip: Make sure that you use This Mac as filtering option and not Recents.
  • Double-click on Terminal.
  • Type the following code: $ sudo pkill TouchBarServer;

4. Reset NVRAM/PRAM And SMC

Stephen confirmed that he was able to fix the macOS touch bar issue with a NVRAM/PRAM and SMC reset.
Tip: For a detailed step-by-step guide about how to reset the SMC please read here.

Fact: This touch bar fix only works for Intel-based MacBooks. M1 Mac don’t support SMC reset!

Extra Tip: Unplug MacBook From Power Outlet

In rare cases the MacBook touch bar problem can be caused by a faulty power outlet. Is the touch bar flickering or malfunctioning only when your machine is plugged in? Disconnect it and try a different power outlet or charging cable.

More: Water damage can also be the cause of the MacBook Pro touch bar not working. If you or someone else accidentally spilled water or some other liquid on the keyboard the digital touch buttons could stop displaying and working altogether.

Is the Touch Bar also not displaying properly on your MacBook Pro? Do any of the above mentioned tips work for you? Use the comments section and let us know. Do you have a better fix? Don’t hesitate to share it!

Update:
Although not related, another user reports that the Universal Clipboard between iPad and Mac has stopped working since the computer was updated to macOS Big Sur. Is your Mac also plagued by a bug after you updated to macOS 11.0.1? Don’t hesitate to use our bug report page and share it with us!

Related: You haven’t managed to update to macOS Big Sur yet because your device hasn’t enough storage? Here are a couple of tricks that will help you out!