How to hide the notch on a Mac

The notch Published 4 November 2026

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You cannot remove the notch, because it is the camera cutout in the display. You can do two things. Apple provides a per app setting that moves an app below the camera area, and macOS lets you change how the menu bar looks and when it shows. Neither makes the cutout disappear.

Option 1: move an app below the camera area

This is Apple’s own answer for apps whose menus or controls are blocked by the camera housing.

Quit the app.
In Finder, open Applications and select the app.
Choose File, then Get Info (or press Command and I).
Turn on Scale to fit below built-in camera.
Open the app again.

Apple says the setting may not appear for an app that has already been updated for your Mac, and that it can disappear after an update. The Scale to fit page has the details.

Apple’s Menu Bar settings (System Settings, then Menu Bar) include a Show menu bar background option, with choices to show your wallpaper behind the menu bar or show the menu bar background. Depending on your wallpaper this changes how much the cutout stands out against the top edge. The cutout itself stays where it is.

You can also set the menu bar to hide automatically, with choices of Always, On Desktop Only, In Full Screen Only or Never. When it is hidden, you move the pointer to the top of the screen to reveal it. See how to hide the menu bar.

What does not work

There is no Apple setting that turns the notch off.
A black wallpaper or a dark menu bar changes the surroundings, not the camera housing.
Apple documents no other way to hide it. Our guide to hidden icons and notch fixes compares what the main kinds of tool change.

If what bothers you is that icons disappear behind it, read menu bar icons hidden behind the notch instead. Hiding the shape does not bring those icons back.

NotchStar takes the opposite approach and uses the area. Its Quick Notes tool opens from the cutout when you point at it.

Quick answers.

Can I turn the notch off on a Mac?

No. It is part of the display hardware, and no macOS setting removes it.

Link to this answer

Does hiding the notch make my screen smaller?

Apple's Scale to fit setting moves an app below the camera area, so that app uses less of the screen. Apple's article says other apps in the same Space can also appear below the camera until you quit the scaled app.

Link to this answer

Keep reading.

What Scale to fit below built in camera does: How Apple's Scale to fit below built in camera setting works, where to find it in Get Info, which Macs it applies to and why it sometimes does not show.
What is the notch on a MacBook?: The notch is the cutout at the top centre of some MacBook displays that holds the camera. What it is, what Apple calls it and how macOS works around it.
Mac notch menu bar replacement: fix hidden icons: If menu bar icons disappear behind the MacBook notch, compare built in fixes, menu bar managers, TopNotch and notch utilities before replacing anything.
The MacBook notch explained: What the notch is, which MacBooks have it, why menu bar icons disappear behind it, and the options for working around or making use of it.

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