How To Add An App To Mac Menu Bar

How To Add An App To Mac Menu Bar Software
How To Add An App To Mac Menu Bar Without
How To Add An App To Mac Menu Bar Settings
Add App To Mac Menu Bar

Use the menus and icons along the top of the screen to open new windows, connect to a Wi-Fi network, check your Wi-Fi status, change the volume, check your battery charge, query Siri, and more. The menu items change, depending on which app you’re using. The menu bar is a great place to perform quick searches, track battery life, and switch Wi-Fi networks on your Mac, but it can do way more than that if you let it. I've rounded up some menu apps below that not only have features that will boost your productivity, but are lightweight enough to run entirely from the menu bar.

Hi, sugapablo.
Icons on the right side of the Apple menu bar, other than the Spotlight icon, are known as menu extras.
You can't directly add application icons to the menu bar. The Dock or the Finder Sidebar are where you should place icons for frequently-needed applications. See:

• <a href='http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh145.html'>'Ma c OS X 10.4 Help: Adding items to the Dock.'
• 'Mac OS X: About the Dock.'
• 'Mac OS X 10.4 Help: Organizing the sidebar in a Finder window.'

You can launch applications via the menu bar through the Scripts menu extra.
1. Launch the AppleScript Utility, which is found in the Macintosh HD > Applications > AppleScript folder.
2. Select:
• 'Show Script Menu in menu bar.' This places the Scripts menu extra in the menu bar. It looks like a scroll of paper being partially unrolled.
• In 'Show application scripts', select 'top.'
3. Add aliases to applications you want to use frequently to the the Macintosh HD > Library > Scripts folder. If you do not know how to create an alias, see:

• Mac OS X: How to Make an Alias.
• 'Mac OS X 10.4 Help: Creating an alias.'

You can then launch the applications whose aliases you've added to that folder by selecting them from the Scripts menu in the menu bar.
You can also create a new folder in the Macintosh HD > Library > Scripts folder, e.g. call it 'Apps' and place the aliases to applications within such to better organize where the aliases reside. Mousing over the Apps folder in the Scripts menu will display a secondary menu showing the aliases to applications you've added therein.
Note that there are a variety of third-party applications, such as launchers, that can be added to the menu bar that will enable you to launch applications from the menu bar. However, one should be very careful with these for the following reason: Apple reserves that area for their own use, and they state so in the Apple Human Interface Guidelines. In the chapter on Menus, in the section on Menu Bar Extras, they write:

'Reserved for use by Apple, the right side of the menu bar may contain items that provide feedback on and access to certain hardware or network settings...
Important: Don’t create your own menu bar extras. Use the Dock menu functions to open a menu from your application’s icon in the Dock.'

Accordingly, developers should not be creating or requiring their own menu extras. Third-party menu extras have often become problematic after Mac OS X Updates as they use hacks, like MenuCracker, to load their menu extra. Changes in the OS introduced by Mac OS X Updates can render third-party menu extras incompatible.
Good luck!
😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

Sep 14, 2006 5:24 AM

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Without a doubt, the menu bar is one of Mac’s great features. It’s condensed, easy to tap into on the fly, and displays much-needed information in real time.

But, with every new icon app added, things become a little more cluttered and usability takes another hit. Fortunately, it’s possible to edit the menu bar to rearrange and remove icons so that it’s able to suit your needs at any given moment. Read on for the best ways to make the menu bar on Mac truly yours.

A tool that perfects menu bar

Rethink the menu bar with this app. Bartender customizes one of the main parts of Mac's interface, efficiently.

How to rearrange items in menu bar

How much freedom you have to rearrange items in menu bar depends on which version of macOS you’re running. The users of macOS Sierra and later definitely have more creative license here than others. And if you are not there yet, it’s time to upgrade to the newest macOS anyway.

Rearranging menu items in macOS

To move an icon in the menu bar, hold Command (cmd), then click and hold the icon to drag it across the bar. Simple.

There are no restrictions here — feel free to move icons anywhere you see fit. Don’t like the clock all the way over there on the right-hand side? Drag it to somewhere more suitable. Want to place the Setapp icon over to the area of the bar once reserved for first-party apps? Do it!

The only icon that cannot be tampered with is the Notification Center. Apple has decided this must remain in the far right corner of the menu, which is fair enough — it looks good there.

Rearranging menu items in OS X versions (El Capitan and older)

Movement of icons in old versions of macOS is reserved for selected apps only: Bluetooth, audio, Time Machine, WiFi, battery, clock, and user switching. Spotlight and Notification Center must stay put, as must all third-party apps.

To move icons around within the designated area, once again hold Command, then click and hold the icon to drag it.

How to remove icons from the top bar on Mac

If there are items in the menu bar that you feel don’t belong there, hold Command, click on the icon, and drag it outside of the menu bar.

Note: this only works for first-party icons.

It is possible to remove third-party icons from the top bar on Mac by clicking on them and selecting “Quit” or “Close,” but this will stop the app from working until you reopen it.

Some apps give the option to remove icons from the top bar on Mac in their settings: [chosen app] > Preferences. However, a lot of apps won’t. To fully customize which icons appear in the menu bar, you should use a third-party app like Bartender.

If you’ve removed the first-party app and you’d like it back on the menu, it can be re-enabled in System Preferences.

How to add icons to the top bar on Mac

If you’re missing a specific system icon in the Mac’s menu bar, you can add it through System Preferences. For instance, to enable the Language icon, select Language & Region in the preference pane, click Input Sources, and check the box next to “Show Input menu in menu bar.”

Add menu bar extras

Because the menu options like Clock and Ink can’t be found in System Preferences, you might need to use the System folder as well:

Open Finder.
Select Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar.
Type a path: /System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras.
Double-click an item and it will instantly appear in your menu bar.

You can easily remove any of the icons by holding Command and dragging it outside of the menu bar as described above.

How to customize and tidy Mac menu bar

It’s possible to change the look of the default menu bar items in System Preferences and third-party apps’ ones in their respective preferences. Most of the time, you’ll be able to at least switch the color to black and white.

Change how the date and time are displayed in the menu bar

In the right corner of your menu bar, click on date and time to Open Date & Time Preferences. Go to the Clock tab and unlock the preferences by entering your administrator password, so that you can make changes. To customize the look of the clock, choose between two different time display options: Digital or Analog. You can also tick the boxes for “Show date” and “Show the day of the week.”

To instantly toggle between different display options, click on date and time in the menu bar and choose “View as Analog” or “View as Digital.”

How to use your battery status on Mac

Keeping track of your battery life from the menu bar takes a few simple actions and yet is vital to Mac’s performance.

Click on the battery icon and tick Show percentage to see how much battery power you have left. In the same drop-down menu, you can check the programs that are using significant power in case your battery is draining too fast. To optimize battery usage, select “Open Energy Saver Preferences” and adjust sleep settings.

Toggle between fast user switching icons

There are three different options on how the Fast User Switching menu can be displayed in your Mac’s top bar – as a full name, account name or icon. Here’s how you do the customization:

Click on the icon and open Users & Groups Preferences.
Enter your password to unlock.
Select Login Options in the bottom left corner of the Users & Groups.
Go to “Show fast user switching menu” and pick one of the options.
Untick the box if you prefer to remove the icon from the menu bar.

Show Wi-Fi status in the menu bar

To enable the Wi-Fi icon in your Mac’s top bar, go to System Preferences and select Network. Tick the box next to “Show Wi-Fi status in menu bar.”

How to replace menu bar app icons

If you want to have custom icons in your Mac’s menu bar, there’s a way to replace the default ones. To change the icon of a third-party app, find it in Applications, right-click to open a context menu, and choose “Show Package Contents.” Go to Resources folder to find the defaults – these can be used as templates for the new icons. Once you have a custom icon ready, simply copy it into the same Resources folder.

The same works for system icons, except you won’t find all of them in Applications. Here’s the path for you to take: Hard Disk > System > Library > CoreServices > Menu Extras. Once you’ve found the item you need, click on “Show Package Contents” and navigate to the icon via [MENUITEM.menu] > Contents > Resources.

In both cases, it’s a good idea to create backups of the default icons before replacing them – just in case you’ll need them later.

Hide menu bar items

One low-key feature on Mac is the ability to auto-hide menu bar. To do this, open System Preferences > General. Check the option to “Automatically hide and show the menu bar” and the menu bar will immediately disappear.

To get the menu bar to show up again, simply move the cursor to the top of the screen and hold it there for a second. Now you can access the menu whenever you need it and enjoy an extra bit of screen real estate when you don’t.

Customizing the menu bar with Bartender

If you want more control over how the menu bar looks and what it does, you should consider using the Bartender app.

Bartender lets you hide icons without quitting and rearrange icons in a way that better suits how you use the menu bar — something particularly useful if you’re running an older version of macOS.

App icons can be displayed when updating, shown in the Bartender Bar only, or hidden completely and accessed easily using a built-in search function. It’s even possible to toggle through and activate items using keyboard navigation.

If you’re someone that prefers a minimalist look, the app gives you the option to remove the Bartender menu item, leaving you with a crisp, clean menu bar.

Overall, the Mac menu bar is there to help you improve your productivity by giving you quick access to the apps and tools you need. Using the tips above, you can customize the menu bar in a way that works for you. Best of all, you can get full access to Bartender and over 150 more high-quality macOS apps on Setapp, with a 7-day free trial to get you started. So why not get your menu bar organized now?

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