Maximizing the Mac Menu Bar
Maximizing the Mac Menu Bar - Derek Johnson - Medium
The menu bar is one of the most overlooked yet powerful features in macOS. In this article, I’ll show you how to get set up with an uncluttered and highly productive menu bar.Getting Started: The Basic NecessitiesFirst things first, you need to get Bartender 2. No, seriously, just go buy it right now (or start your free trial if you aren’t yet convinced). It is the de facto standard of customization for the menu bar, and you will not regret the purchase. Bartender allows you to hide anything from the menu bar, and conveniently place it into a single icon that takes up less space. It is the key to reclaiming that critical screen real estate.Bartender 2 — $15https://www.macbartender.com/Bartender 2 lets you show and hide menu bar items to a special hidden bar until you need themThe Mac menu bar shines most in providing unobtrusive access to key information like the time and date, battery status as well as things like weather or stock information.InstaCal provides quick access to your fully editable calendarInstaCal — $4.99Get it on the Mac App StoreFor quick access to a calendar and your upcoming events (and reminders), I recommend InstaCal. It allows you to show a number of useful date formats in the menu bar, instantly bringing up your calendar. InstaCal supports pretty much every calendar provider, including all your local calendars (those that show up in the Calendar app), Google Calendar, Office 365 and Outlook accounts.Forecast Bar is a highly customizable weather app for your macOS menu barForecast Bar — $5.99Get it on the Mac App StoreAnother critical piece of information is the weather, and the best I’ve found is Forecast Bar. Forecast Bar keeps the weather constantly up to date in your menu bar and is wildly customizable. A click on the menu bar item opens up a panel full of weather information — kind of like an iPhone weather app on your Mac.Menu Bar Tips and TricksNow that you have the basic building blocks, there are a few simple tricks to set things up to match your preferences.Reorder menu bar itemsHold (Cmd) ⌘ then click and drag to rearrange items in your menu barHolding (Cmd) ⌘ allows you to click and drag on menu bar items to reorder them.Customizing system menu bar itemsMany of the stock items let you control what shows up. For example:Show or hide the date, seconds, AM/PM from the clock, or even show a small analog clock (System Preferences > Date & Time)Show or hide the battery percentage on laptops (right click on battery status in the menu bar and Show/Hide Percentage)Getting more information when neededWith Bartender 2, one of the settings allows you to only have an item show up for a few seconds after it changes. For example, maybe you don’t need to always see the volume icon, but when you change the volume it will show up for a few seconds before disappearing again.A lesser known feature is the ability to press and hold the option key while clicking on system menu bar items like WiFi or Volume to get even more information.Do you have other tools or tips and tricks you find useful with the macOS menu bar? Please share them with me!