The Seven Best Mac Menu Bar Apps
If there’s something you want to track regularly, it should be in your Mac’s menu bar. The left side of the menu bar naturally displays the menu of the current application. However, the right side is a series of icons, and with the right app you can put anything there.
This is a list of the apps I’ve found most useful in the menu bar, but it’s by no means exhaustive—developers have gotten pretty creative over the years. Visit MacMenuBar.com if you want to see even more menu bar tools.
Check your calendar
Click on the clock in Windows and you will see a calendar. This feature was not copied by macOS for reasons unknown to me. That’s why I recommend Itsycal , a tiny free app every Mac user needs . This app adds a calendar icon to the menu bar that you can click to view a mini calendar.
This would be useful even if all you could see was which dates occur on which day of the week (which I need to keep referring to), but Itsycal offers more. All your appointments from the macOS calendar app are displayed, making it easy to see which days you’re free and which days you’re busy. The app is also customizable—you can choose which appointments are shown, the appearance and information offered by the icon, and whether you want to highlight the weekend or any other day of the week. This is a great addition to any menu bar.
View current temperature
I like to look at the temperature before going outside – the menu bar is perfect for this. That’s why I’m glad Apple is finally offering weather updates in the menu bar . This will add the temperature and current conditions icon to the top of the screen—click the icon to view conditions for the next few hours and for all your saved locations. You can tap on any city to open it in the Weather app.
However, this feature is not enabled by default and is a bit hidden. You need to open System Preferences , then go to Control Center . Scroll down until you see the subheading “Menu Bar Only” and then in the box next to “Weather ” switch to “Show in Menu Bar” . You will now see the weather in the menu bar. I’m glad I can get this without having to install a third party app.
Check your colleague’s time zones
If you work remotely, time zones are the bane of your existence. Your colleagues in Europe end their day around the same time everyone on the west coast of North America wakes up, and that doesn’t take into account the fact that daylight saving time occurs at different times in different places.
The There app takes care of this, allowing you to see what time your colleagues are at . Just install the app and add the colleagues you want to track and where they live. If desired, there is even the opportunity to add photos. Once everything is set up, you can click an icon in the menu bar and see what time your colleagues are, meaning you’ll never bother them during breakfast or dinner again.
Check cards quickly
If you’re constantly searching for where everything is, consider downloading Mappa Mini , a free menu bar app that you can use to search maps and addresses . Just click the icon and enter where you’re looking – you’ll immediately see where it is and the address. You can also copy the address or open the location in your preferred maps app or website. This is cool
Turn your taskbar into a virtual note
No offense to people who put real stickers on your screen when you need to remember something – it’s a system that works. If you’d rather go paperless for your work, OneThing is an app that lets you leave notes for yourself in the menu bar . You can even leave emojis for emphasis or use Markdown to create clickable links.
Get a Windows-style Start menu.
Do you wish macOS had a Windows-style Start menu ? XMenu is basically this. With it, you can add icons for your documents, applications and other folders. Click on the icons and you will be able to view everything in those folders, including subdirectories. It’s a quick way to get to apps or files without having to open a Finder window.
Clear Mac Menu Bar
Installing even a few of these apps will quickly create a lot of clutter, which can be a particular problem on notched Macs. The good news is that you can hide menu bar icons you don’t use using the free Ice app. With it, you can clear out your Mac menu bar by hiding apps you don’t need to access frequently. You can click an icon at any time to view the icons you choose to hide. This is a feature Apple should have added to their operating system decades ago, but I’m glad there’s a free tool to do the job.