Show Wi-Fi Status in Menu Bar

What the Wi-Fi status Menu Bar Worklet does

This Automox Worklet™ enables the Wi-Fi status icon in the macOS Menu Bar for all user accounts on your endpoints. The Worklet modifies the system preferences for each user account, verifying the Wi-Fi icon is displayed and Control Center is restarted to apply changes immediately.

By displaying wireless connection status prominently, the Worklet keeps your users aware of their network connectivity state at all times. This visual indicator serves as a constant reminder to remain vigilant about security risks associated with public or unfamiliar wireless networks.

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Why display Wi-Fi status in the Menu Bar

Security awareness is a critical component of endpoint protection. When users can easily see their wireless connection status, they become more conscious of network security implications. This visibility helps mitigate risks associated with connecting to unsecured public networks, such as coffee shops, hotels, or airports.

Automox recommends this Worklet as part of a comprehensive endpoint security strategy. The minimal overhead of displaying this icon provides significant security awareness value without impacting performance or user productivity.

How Wi-Fi status Menu Bar enforcement works

1. Evaluation phase: The Worklet iterates through all user accounts on the endpoint (excluding shared and localized accounts) and checks the Wi-Fi status setting in com.apple.controlcenter.plist. It verifies that the Wi-Fi icon value is set to 18, which enables the Menu Bar display.

2. Remediation phase: If any user account has the Wi-Fi status disabled, the Worklet updates the plist file with the correct setting (Wi-Fi value of 18). For logged-in users, Control Center is restarted to apply changes immediately without requiring a reboot.

Wi-Fi Menu Bar Worklet requirements

• macOS endpoints (all recent versions supported)

• Administrator privileges for preference modifications

• bash shell environment (standard on macOS)

• Bash access to user defaults and plist files

Expected Wi-Fi Menu Bar visibility

After successful remediation, all user accounts on the endpoint will display the Wi-Fi status icon in their macOS Menu Bar. You can verify this change by checking System Settings or the relevant system configuration. Users will immediately see the Wi-Fi icon alongside other system icons, providing real-time visibility into their wireless connection status and available networks.

This change persists across user sessions and does not affect other system configurations. The Worklet requires no additional user action or endpoint restart to maintain the setting.

How to validate show wi-fi status in menu bar changes

1. Run this Worklet on a pilot macOS endpoint and review evaluation output for show wi-fi status in menu bar.

2. Confirm Automox activity logs show successful completion and exit code 0.

3. Verify endpoint state using checks aligned to evaluation script logic, such as exit, else.

4. Validate remediation effects from script operations such as sudo, sleep, killall, then rerun evaluation for compliance.

For technical validation, compare endpoint state to the Worklet evaluation logic and remediation flow for show wi-fi status in menu bar. This supports repeatable security workflows, faster change control review, and auditable compliance evidence.

Useful script references for this Worklet include evaluation operations such as exit, else and remediation operations such as sudo, sleep, killall. Use these indicators to verify that endpoint changes match intended policy outcomes.