macOS Catalina and Screen Recording Permission

macOS Catalina introduced a new privacy permission for Screen Recording. Bartender 3 requires this permission to take a snapshot of your menu bar — that's how Bartender works to manage and rearrange menu bar items.

How to Grant Permission

1. Open System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Privacy tab.
2. Select Screen Recording from the left sidebar.
3. Click the lock icon to make changes (you may need to enter your password).
4. Check the box next to Bartender 3.
5. You may need to quit and relaunch Bartender for the change to take effect.

Why Does Bartender Need Screen Recording?

Bartender uses Screen Recording to take a photo of your menu bar. This is necessary for Bartender to know which menu bar items are currently displayed and to manage them. The screen recording is only of the menu bar area and is not stored or sent anywhere.

Upgrading to Bartender 5 or 6

We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Bartender for the best experience with the latest macOS versions.