A decent number of MacBook Pro users with Touch Bar enabled devices have noticed that the Touch Bar ceases to function or turns black after applying a MacOS update. Since the Touch Bar acts as Function keys—F1, F2, F3 and so on—as well as controls for brightness, system audio, access to various MacOS and app features, and even serves as an Escape key on certain Touch Bar models, its disappearance is far from ideal. Even if you've configured the Touch Bar to only display system toggles, having it completely vanish remains inconvenient since there’s no other way to reach those functions directly from the keyboard.

If your Touch Bar stops responding or disappears entirely on your MacBook Pro, especially after updating your Mac's operating system, follow along to troubleshoot this issue.

1: Kill / relaunch TouchBarServer process

Some users say that terminating and restarting the TouchBarServer process can restore the Touch Bar's functionality.

You can accomplish this by opening Activity Monitor, searching for “TouchBar,” selecting the “TouchBarServer” process, and clicking End Process. Alternatively, open Terminal and run the command “sudo killall TouchBarServer”.

For some, this simple step alone brings back the Touch Bar immediately. If it doesn’t work, try restarting your Mac next.

2: Restart

Many MacBook Pro owners have successfully revived their Touch Bar just by rebooting their device. Simply click the ? Apple menu and choose Restart.

3: Restart into Safe Mode

Booting in Safe Mode has resolved the missing Touch Bar problem for some MacBook Pro users.

On Apple Silicon Macs, entering Safe Mode involves shutting down the Mac, then pressing and holding the Power button until the Startup Options screen appears, followed by selecting the boot disk while holding Shift and choosing “Continue in Safe Mode”.

On Intel-based Macs with a Touch Bar, restart and hold the Shift key during boot.

4: Restart into Recovery, then Shutdown, then Boot again

An unusual but effective method has worked for some MacBook Pro users experiencing a non-responsive Touch Bar:

Begin by entering Recovery Mode by powering off the Mac, then press and hold the Power button until the Startup Options screen appears. Next, shut down the MacBook Pro fully. Wait a few minutes before powering the device back on.

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One peculiar thing about the Touch Bar suddenly failing is that all related settings within System Settings also disappear, even if TouchBarServer is still active in macOS.

Although these troubleshooting steps might seem inconvenient, using Safe Mode may also help reduce bloated System Data, potentially resolving two issues at once. Good news?

I personally ran into this exact issue when my Touch Bar stopped working following the macOS Sequoia 15.5 update on an Apple Silicon Mac equipped with a Touch Bar (one wonders how much testing Apple actually does on older Macs with now-obsolete Touch Bar tech). Searching online shows many others facing the same issue, with countless threads on Apple support forums and Reddit filled with complaints from frustrated users.

Unfortunately, for some Mac users, the Touch Bar simply won’t respond no matter what steps are taken—even after reinstalling macOS entirely. In such cases, visiting an Apple Store for diagnostics and repair might be necessary. However, if your Touch Bar-equipped Mac is out of warranty, the repair cost could be very high ($700 in some cases—almost the price of a new MacBook Air), making replacement or conversion of your old Touch Bar Mac into a desktop machine via external keyboard more practical options than spending hundreds on a device using outdated technology Apple has already moved away from.

Have you encountered a situation where your Touch Bar failed, disappeared, went dark, or became unresponsive after a MacOS update? What solution did you find that worked? Share your experience in the comments below.

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