The Privacy Indicator Icon
In macOS, privacy is a major focus. To ensure you always know when an application is tracking where you are, the operating system can display a small Location Services icon (which looks like a compass arrow) in the top menu bar. Whenever a background app—like Maps, Weather, or a third-party utility—requests your current geographic coordinates, this arrow briefly appears to alert you to the tracking activity.
While this is an excellent security feature for monitoring rogue applications, it can be slightly distracting if you actively rely on location-aware apps. For instance, if you use a dynamic weather widget that updates every few minutes, the arrow will constantly flash on and off in your menu bar throughout the day. If you have already reviewed your privacy settings, explicitly granted location access only to apps you trust, and no longer need the visual alert every time your location is polled, you can hide this indicator.
How to Hide the Location Arrow
You can remove the Location Services indicator via your Privacy & Security settings.
- Click the Apple Logo in the top-left corner of your screen and select System Settings… (or System Preferences).
- Scroll down the left-hand sidebar and click on Privacy & Security.
- In the right-hand pane, click on Location Services.
- Scroll to the very bottom of the list of applications that have requested your location.
- Look for a section or button labelled System Services and click the Details… button next to it.
- A new window will slide down. Look at the very bottom of this window for a toggle switch labelled Show location icon in menu bar when System Services request your location.
- Click the toggle switch to turn it Off.
- Click Done.
The compass arrow will no longer appear in your menu bar when authorized apps ping your location in the background. (Note: Your apps will still be able to determine your location based on your existing permissions).