TuckGuide
How to Hide Menu Bar Icons on Mac
Hiding one icon and hiding the whole menu bar are different settings. Here is what macOS does on its own and where Tuck adds a reversible hidden section.
Steps
- Decide what you want hidden. To hide the whole bar until the pointer reaches the top, use System Settings, Menu Bar, Automatically hide and show the menu bar. To hide single icons, continue below.
- Try the built-in switch. Open System Settings, Menu Bar, and turn off Allow in the Menu Bar for apps you do not need to see. Many apps also have their own setting to hide their icon.
- Install Tuck and allow Accessibility. When the first build is out, open it and grant Accessibility. Screen Recording is optional.
- Move icons into a hidden section. Open Settings, Layout. Drag an icon from Visible into Hidden. Use Always-Hidden for icons you almost never need.
- Choose how to reveal them. In Settings, General, turn on Show on click or Show on hover for the empty area of the menu bar. You can also assign a hotkey in Hotkeys.
- Put an icon back. Drag it back to Visible in Layout. If an icon seems to be gone, Option-click the Tuck icon to show the Always-Hidden section.
Hiding an icon is not hiding the bar
These two things get mixed up in search results.
- Hiding the menu bar moves the whole bar off screen until you point at the top edge. Icons are still there. macOS does this with its own auto-hide setting.
- Hiding an icon keeps the bar but takes one item out of sight. The app keeps running.
Tuck does the second. Its sections are Visible, Hidden and an optional Always-Hidden. Hidden items expand into the menu bar when you ask for them and tuck away again after a short time.
What hiding does not do
Hiding an icon does not quit the app behind it. The app still runs and can still use memory. If you want it gone, quit it or remove it from Login Items.
When the built-in controls are enough
If you only need a few icons gone, the Menu Bar settings may be all you need, and one fewer app is a fair result. Add a manager when you want icons kept close but out of the way, or when you want to search for an icon by name.
Rehiding
Tuck can rehide revealed items automatically after an interval you set. The Tuck Bar is an alternative that shows hidden items in a separate bar instead of in the menu bar, which helps on notched displays.