On macOS, there’s a known issue where certain apps, including Bartender, might not receive Accessibility and Screen Recording permissions properly, despite the user granting them in System Settings. As a result, Bartender may display its permission request window repeatedly.
Fortunately, there are a few ways to get around this Mac issue.
Please navigate to System Preferences > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording. It should look like this: Screenshot
Next, remove (not uninstall!) Bartender from the Screen Recording & System Audio menu by clicking Bartender and then clicking the ‘-’ sign. There is no need to uninstall Bartender or click the blue toggle bar during this step. Here is a screenshot to illustrate: Screenshot
This should do the trick for you.
PS. If you find the ‘-’ button isn’t working for you, try clicking the ‘+’ button to re-add Bartender.
If you’ve never used the Terminal before, it can be a little intimidating. The Terminal is basically a way to communicate directly with the Mac using “commands”. Don’t worry, I’m not expecting you to be a pro here. What we’ll do is copy & paste the relevant commands into Terminal and hit Enter. That’s it.
First, go ahead and open Terminal using Finder. It looks like this: Screenshot
Next, open Activity Monitor, search for Bartender and Force Quit the application.
If you’re using Bartender via Direct Download (not SetApp), run the commands below:
tccutil reset All com.surteesstudios.Bartender;
If you’re using Bartender via SetApp, run the commands below
tccutil reset All com.surteesstudios.Bartender-setapp;
Now, relaunch Bartender, grant permissions like you would normally and the issue should stop happening.
If the first two options don’t help resolve the permissions issues, it could be that your permissions database may be corrupted. You can read more about solutions available in this in-depth article on MacWorld.
If you’re tried all of the above and are still stuck on this screen, the best next step will be for me to follow your process & see what may be wrong. Please follow the steps below and we’ll review your situation individually: