Four Easy Ways to Organize Your Mac’s Menu Bar
When I switched to a Mac about ten years ago, I immediately fell in love with my MacBook’s menu bar, especially the various icons in the upper-right corner. I always loved having useful apps there, like clipboard managers , app launchers , or apps for updating other apps . But unfortunately, if you have several third-party apps installed on your MacBook, your menu bar can become quite cluttered. However, this can be fixed with a little cleaning, and macOS now offers several ways to declutter your menu bar.
Remove apps from the menu bar
Just as you remove unnecessary items from your desktop, you should periodically tidy up your menu bar by removing unnecessary apps. This doesn’t remove apps completely, but it frees up space in the menu bar. I do this for menu bar icons I never need. In macOS Tahoe 26, there’s an easy way to remove apps from the menu bar. Follow these steps:
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Click the Apple logo in the upper left corner of your Mac screen.
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Go to System Settings > Menu Bar .
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In the right pane, go to the Allow section in the menu bar .
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You’ll see a list of apps with an icon in the menu bar. You can uncheck any app you want to remove.
Some apps also allow you to remove their icons from the menu bar. Try checking the app’s settings to see if they allow you to remove icons from the menu bar.
Please note that removing an app icon from the menu bar can sometimes cause the app to become “headless,” meaning it will run in the background but its icon won’t appear in the menu bar or dock. This is fine for apps that only need to be configured once, but can be a problem if you want to use the app regularly. In such cases, you can use Spotlight search (Cmd + Space or the magnifying glass icon in the menu bar) or alternative tools like Alfred or Raycast to find the app name and open it.
Remove system controls from the menu bar
I’m sure you’ve noticed that the menu bar isn’t just for app icons. It also contains the clock, Wi-Fi, volume controls, and more. You can easily add and remove these controls from the menu bar if you have macOS Tahoe installed. Here’s how:
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Go to System Settings > Menu Bar .
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Go to the Menu Bar Controls section.
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Uncheck the controls you want to remove from the menu bar.
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You can’t completely remove the clock from the menu bar, but you can click “Clock settings…” and switch to “Analog” to make the icon much smaller.
Drag and drop icons to change the order in the menu bar.
You can also drag and drop app icons around the menu bar or remove them from it. Simply hold down the Command key and drag any icon in the menu bar to a different location to change its position. To remove icons from the menu bar using drag and drop, hold down the Command key and drag them outside the menu bar.
Use a menu bar manager app
To tame the clutter at the top of your Mac’s screen, I highly recommend using a menu bar manager app . These apps automatically show or hide menu bar icons based on conditions (for example, the battery icon will only appear when your MacBook’s battery level is below 25%), or they’ll add a second row of icons that’s only visible when you click the menu bar. You’ll need to try several menu bar managers to decide which one works best for you. I’ve been using Barbee for a while now , and it’s my current favorite.