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The menu bar belongs to the app, not the window

On a Mac the menus live at the top of the screen and always belong to whichever app you are using.

The single biggest change coming from Windows: menus are not inside the window. They sit in the strip across the top of the screen, and they always belong to the frontmost app. Click a different window and the whole bar changes with it.

The layout is the same everywhere: the app’s own name first, then File, Edit, View, Window and Help. If you cannot find a command, it is almost certainly in one of those five.

On the far left, the Apple menu is system-wide rather than app-specific. It is where About This Mac, System Settings, Sleep, Restart and Log Out live, and it never changes no matter which app is in front.

The right-hand end is the status area: Wi-Fi, battery, Control Centre, the clock, and an icon for any app that asks for one.


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