macOS Big Sur
Apple

Apple redesigned the classic Mac interface with a transparent menu bar and sidebars that show the colors from the windows below. Thankfully, there’s a way to disable the distracting transparent menus on Mac.

Overall, the design language introduced Big Sur and higher is a move in the right direction. Everything is more spaced out and the interface matches with the iPhone and iPad, while still staying true to the classic macOS.

RELATED: What's New in macOS 11.0 Big Sur, Available Now

You can dial the window transparency down using an Accessibility feature called “Reduce Transparency.” Once enabled, the transparent menu bar and sidebars will be replaced with solid color, making it easier on the eyes. You can see the difference between the default option (left) and with the transparency disabled (right) in the screenshot below.

macOS Big Sur image with and witout Transparency 2

This feature can be enabled from “System Preferences.” Click the “Apple” icon from the menu bar and choose the “System Preferences” option.

Select System Preferences from Apple Menu in Big Sur

Here, go to the “Accessibility” section.

Select Accessibility

Now, from the sidebar, choose the “Display” option and then enable the “Reduce Transparency” feature.

Go to Display menu and enable Reduce Transparency

Instantly, all the transparent and translucent menus will be replaced by a solid color.

macOS Big Sur with Transparency Disabled

Now that you have disabled the transparency effect, here are seven more macOS tweaks to boost your productivity.

RELATED: 7 macOS Tweaks to Boost Your Productivity

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Khamosh Pathak is a freelance technology writer who specializes in tutorials. His work has also been published on Lifehacker, iPhoneHacks, Zapier's blog, MakeUseOf, and Guiding Tech. Khamosh has nearly a decade of experience writing how-tos, features and technology guides on the internet.
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