Menu bar clutter on Macs is real, but Bartender helps by hiding everything you don’t need and surfacing it when you do. Here’s how to use it to declutter your menu bar for good without losing functionality.
Why Bartender Is So Useful
It sometimes seems like every app adds a menu bar item. Over time, the number of items in our menu bar grows.
The problem is Apple’s solution to decluttering this area isn’t very useful. Sure, you can enable and disable specific items, but there are some you might need occasionally but don’t want to see all the time.
That’s where Bartender comes in. If you only need an item once in a while, you can hide it behind the Bartender icon. You click it to open the Bartender Bar, and there you find all the items you chose to hide.
Bartender is available as a free, four-week trial. You have to pay $15 to continue using the app after that.
How to Hide an Item with Bartender
Right-click the Bartender icon in the menu bar and click “Preferences.”
Click the “Menu Items” tab. All available items are listed on the left of the window. Click an item to select it.
