Show and hide the menu bar: Move the pointer to or away from the top of the screen to access the app’s menus. You’ll probably have to “push” the cursor to the very top of the screen to make the menu bar appear. Show and hide the Dock: Move the pointer to or away from the bottom or side of the screen, depending on the Dock’s location. Collection: Audio Apps/ Productivity Apps Free apps The menu bar app Backtrack lets you record all those conversations, you forgot to click the record button for, by over-writing a 60 minute window of audio over and over throughout the day, locally on your Mac. 15 Mac Menu Bar Apps You Should Check Out Thursday, May 23rd, 2019 Author: Tom Nelson. Menu Bar apps sit in your Mac’s menu bar and provide access to an array of features and services, all with just a simple click or tap of the app’s menu bar icon. Aug 04, 2018  Menu Bar apps are little, but they play a big part of my workflow. Today's video is about my top 20 favorite menu bar apps for the Mac OS (sorry to all the PC users out there) Remember to.

Menu Bar apps sit in your Mac’s menu bar and provide access to an array of features and services, all with just a simple click or tap of the app’s menu bar icon. They can bring additional productivity, utility, or security, or add useful information to your Mac’s menu bar.

The basic menu bar with Apple-supplied menu items shown.

Our list of 15 menu bar apps is by no means all-inclusive; there are so many apps available that it would take quite a while to combine them into a single list. Instead, I’ve gathered a list of menu bar apps that I’ve either used or are popular in the Mac community, and are worth trying out.

Let’s start our list of favorite menu bar apps with ones that enhance your productivity.

Calendars

Yes, your Mac comes with its own Calendar app, which does a pretty good job of keeping track of dates and notifying you of upcoming events. But to add, edit, and view the calendars, the app needs to be running. That’s where menu bar-based calendar apps shine, letting you work with your calendars directly from the menu bar.

Fantastical

Currently at version 2, Fantastical started life as strictly a menu bar app but has grown into a full-fledged Mac app. Thankfully, the folks who make Fantastical didn’t abandon the menu bar; version 2 has all the original benefits of a lightweight menu bar app, as well as the power of a full app when you need it.

Fantastical provides easy access to your current calendar and upcoming events.

Fantastical supports multiple calendars, and calendar sets, which can automatically switch their active/inactive states depending on your location. This lets you set up calendars for work as well as home, and automatically switch between them.

• Fantastical 2 is $49.99, with a 21-day free trial.

Itsycal

If the Mac’s Calendar app is performing well for you, and the feature you’re really missing is access to Calendar from the menu bar, Itsycal is the menu bar app for you. Itsycal can display a monthly view of your Calendar app’s information, including showing events that are scheduled. If you need additional information, you can open the Calendar app directly from Itsycal.

• Itsycal is free.

Contact Managers

There are a number of contact managers for the Mac but most are full-fledged apps, with only minimal, if any, menu bar support. One of the exceptions is the app below.

Cardhop

Cardhop is the preferred way to access, edit, add to, and just work with the Mac’s Contacts app. For many Mac and iOS device users, Cardhop is the only method they use to manage their contacts; that’s how powerful this menu bar app is.

Cardhop can show upcoming events and recent contacts, as well as all of the cards in the Mac’s Contacts app.

Cardhop makes use of a powerful search capability that allows you to find contact information based on just about any detail that may be present in a contacts card. Search by name, address, birth date, or any criteria; it’s as easy as clicking or tapping the Cardhop menu bar item and starting to type. Cardhop will display any matching cards it finds.

Adding or editing contacts is just as easy; just enter the name and details and Cardhop takes care of the rest. Cardhop also includes the ability to add note fields, to enter personal details about your contact, and a timestamp field to create a history of your contacts.

One of the best features of Cardhop is its ability to act on a contact you select. If you need to send an email or make a phone call, Cardhop can launch the appropriate app to send an email or connect to your Bluetooth phone, use Wi-Fi calling, or get the macOS Continuity feature to make calls for you.

• Cardhop is $19.99 and is available with a 21-day free trial.

System Utilities

Menu bar-based system utilities have a tendency to overpopulate my menu bar. It seems the techie in me wants to know how my Mac’s resources are being used any time I’m using it. There are a number of system menu bar apps, but here are a few of my favorites.

iStat Menus

This system utility will place a number of items in your menu bar to monitor the performance of your Mac. You can keep track of CPU and GPU performance, memory usage, disk access, and network usage; there’s also a large array of built-in system sensors, including various temperature, voltage, current, and wattage readings, You can even measure ambient light levels, if your Mac is properly equipped.

The compact menu bar menus in iStat Menus can reveal details about how your Mac is performing.

iStat Menus can monitor just about every aspect of your Mac’s performance and do it without taking up too much of your menu bar’s real estate.

• iStat Menus is available for $11.99 for a single Mac, or $14.99 for a 5-user family pack. A 14-day free trial is available.

MenuMeters

The original MenuMeters was a handy menu bar system monitor by Alex Harper that stopped working when OS X El Capitan was introduced. Since then, the original open source app has been forked by various developers, to accommodate the newer versions of the Mac OS. This version works with OS X El Capitan through macOS Mojave.

MenuMeters installs as a preference pane that allows you to specify how each item (CPU, Disk, Memory, and Network) should be displayed in the menu bar. You can control the type of information displayed, update intervals, and in some cases, the colors to be used.

• MenuMeters is free.

Memory Clean

Unlike the other system monitor utilities in this group, Memory Clean is dedicated to monitoring a Mac’s memory. It can keep track of memory usage, how memory is being used, which apps are memory hogs, and which apps are inactive but still tying up memory.

Keeping track of how your memory is being used is one of the many tasks Memory Clean can perform for you.

Additionally, Memory Clean can also purge inactive memory, freeing up RAM that was set aside for apps that are no longer running.

• Memory Clean, currently at version 3, is $9.99. A free trial is available.

Mac Fan Control

This menu bar app can monitor the temperature sensors built into your Mac. But it doesn’t stop there; Mac Fan Control can use the temperature information to control the speed of your Mac’s fans.

You can set a constant fan speed, or assign one of the temperature sensors to be used to regulate a fan’s speed.

Mac Fan Control is a great way to silence a noisy fan momentarily while you perform a critical task, such as recording from a microphone that is located near your Mac. It’s also commonly used to set a fan’s speed when a temperature sensor was broken during an upgrade or tear down that went awry.

• Mac Fan Control is $14.95; a free trial period is available.

f.lux

One of the new features of the macOS was Night Shift, a system that reduces blue light from the display as the evening approaches. The idea is to enhance your sleep cycle by reducing blue light output from a digital display that can interfere with your natural circadian rhythm.

Best Mac Menu Bar Apps 2018

The f.lux app has been providing the same type of capabilities for a lot longer and may be in a better position to provide a better implementation. The f.lux system provides more control to the user and does a better job of reducing blue spectrum output of a display in the evening.

If you need a better night’s sleep after working on your Mac all day, give f.lux a look-see.

• f.lux is free.

Battery Monitors

Mac laptop users need a reliable way to monitor their Mac’s battery to help them stay informed about the current state of the battery, how much run-time is left, and the overall health of the battery.

coconutBattery

This battery monitor has been a Mac staple since 2005. Since then, coconutBattery has branched out to provide battery-monitoring services to the iPhone and iPad, as well as the Mac.

coconutBattery displays your current battery health, how often the battery was charged, the age of the battery, current charge, original and current capacity, battery temperature, and much more.

• coconutBattery is available in a free basic version and a Plus version for $9.95.

Battery Health

Understanding how well your battery is performing is one of the goals of the Battery Health app, but it can also help you prolong the battery’s runtime and longevity.

Battery Health displays the usual battery details: current battery health, capacity, charging cycles, battery temperature, age, manufacture date, the remaining charge on the battery, and how long it will take to fully charge the battery. It can also help you increase the battery runtime by showing you which apps are using the most energy.

Battery Health can also display the battery levels of connected Bluetooth devices, such as your Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard, or AirPod.

Battery Health also works for iPhone and iPad devices.

• Battery Health is $9.99; a 3-day free trial is available.

Security

There are quite a few apps for detecting malware that utilize the menu bar. But in many cases, the menu bar is used to launch the associated app. So, instead of listing those security apps, I went with a favorite password manager.

1Password

This password manager has long been a popular Mac app for creating and managing all of a user’s passwords. It provides access via the included full-featured app as well as from the menu bar, and from most Mac web browsers.

Let 1Password manage your logins and passwords, freeing you to use complex passwords for increased security.

The 1Password web extension can handle most of your web-based login and password needs, but with the addition of the menu bar interface, 1Password can be used with any app as well as any web page, even when a web page hinders the use of a password manager.

1Password can generate complex passwords for you and make sure you’re not using duplicate passwords. Since 1Password is storing the passwords and login information for you in an encrypted database, you don’t need to worry about remembering every password, 1Password takes care of that for you.

• 1Password is available for single users and a 5-user family license, as well as business licenses. A free 30-day trial is available.

File Access

If your Mac is getting a little weighed down with apps and files, either of these file access apps can help you find everything faster.

XMenu

This simple little app adds one or more menu items to the menu bar; each menu bar item can be populated with apps, folders, documents, or text snippets.

2018 Mac Pro Reviews

• XMenu is free and available from the Mac App Store.

Shortcut Bar

Another menu bar app designed to give you quick access to your favorite items, including apps, documents, folders, bookmarks, text snippets, and color swatches.

Shortcut Bar lets you create your own list of important locations and documents that you want to have quick access to.

Items can be organized into groups that can be expanded or hidden as needed – a helpful feature when your Shortcut Bar gets a bit overpopulated.

• Shortcut Bar is $8.99; a free trial is available.

Weather

In the Weather and Menu Bar Utility categories, I only found one app for each that’s worthy of mention.

Meteorologist

There have been quite a few weather widgets for the menu bar, but for me, Meteorologist stands out because of the details it can provide and the community of developers/supporters that keep the app up to date. Meteorologist supports up to eight different locations that can use one of nine different weather services, letting you pick the best service for your location.

Menu Bar Utility

Bartender

Now that you’ve likely overpopulated your Mac’s menu bar, you may find yourself needing a bartender; by that I mean an app named Bartender that can manage all those menu bar icons.

Mac Pro 2018

Bartender can organize, rearrange, and hide or show items. It can also automatically highlight menu bar icons when they update, such as battery alerts, memory filling up, or other notifications a menu bar app may support.

• Bartender is $15.00; a free 4-week trial is available.

What’s Your Favorite Menu Bar App?

Let us know which menu bar apps you use, or which ones you don’t like, by using the comments section below.

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To use a keyboard shortcut, press and hold one or more modifier keys and then press the last key of the shortcut. For example, to use Command-C (copy), press and hold the Command key, then the C key, then release both keys. Mac menus and keyboards often use symbols for certain keys, including modifier keys:

On keyboards made for Windows PCs, use the Alt key instead of Option, and the Windows logo key instead of Command.

Mac Menu Bar Settings

Some keys on some Apple keyboards have special symbols and functions, such as for display brightness , keyboard brightness , Mission Control, and more. If these functions aren't available on your keyboard, you might be able to reproduce some of them by creating your own keyboard shortcuts. To use these keys as F1, F2, F3, or other standard function keys, combine them with the Fn key.

Cut, copy, paste, and other common shortcuts

• Command-X: Cut the selected item and copy it to the Clipboard.
• Command-C: Copy the selected item to the Clipboard. This also works for files in the Finder.
• Command-V: Paste the contents of the Clipboard into the current document or app. This also works for files in the Finder.
• Command-Z: Undo the previous command. You can then press Shift-Command-Z to Redo, reversing the undo command. In some apps, you can undo and redo multiple commands.
• Command-A: Select All items.
• Command-F: Find items in a document or open a Find window.
• Command-G: Find Again: Find the next occurrence of the item previously found. To find the previous occurrence, press Shift-Command-G.
• Command-H: Hide the windows of the front app. To view the front app but hide all other apps, press Option-Command-H.
• Command-M: Minimize the front window to the Dock. To minimize all windows of the front app, press Option-Command-M.
• Command-O: Open the selected item, or open a dialog to select a file to open.
• Command-P: Print the current document.
• Command-S: Save the current document.
• Command-T: Open a new tab.
• Command-W: Close the front window. To close all windows of the app, press Option-Command-W.
• Option-Command-Esc: Force quit an app.
• Command–Space bar: Show or hide the Spotlight search field. To perform a Spotlight search from a Finder window, press Command–Option–Space bar. (If you use multiple input sources to type in different languages, these shortcuts change input sources instead of showing Spotlight. Learn how to change a conflicting keyboard shortcut.)
• Control–Command–Space bar: Show the Character Viewer, from which you can choose emoji and other symbols.
• Control-Command-F: Use the app in full screen, if supported by the app.
• Space bar: Use Quick Look to preview the selected item.
• Command-Tab: Switch to the next most recently used app among your open apps.
• Shift-Command-5: In macOS Mojave or later, take a screenshot or make a screen recording. Or use Shift-Command-3 or Shift-Command-4 for screenshots. Learn more about screenshots.
• Shift-Command-N: Create a new folder in the Finder.
• Command-Comma (,): Open preferences for the front app.

Sleep, log out, and shut down shortcuts

You might need to press and hold some of these shortcuts for slightly longer than other shortcuts. This helps you to avoid using them unintentionally.

2018 Mac Mini

• Power button: Press to turn on your Mac or wake it from sleep. Press and hold for 1.5 seconds to put your Mac to sleep.* Continue holding to force your Mac to turn off.
• Option–Command–Power button* or Option–Command–Media Eject : Put your Mac to sleep.
• Control–Shift–Power button* or Control–Shift–Media Eject : Put your displays to sleep.
• Control–Power button* or Control–Media Eject : Display a dialog asking whether you want to restart, sleep, or shut down.
• Control–Command–Power button:* Force your Mac to restart, without prompting to save any open and unsaved documents.
• Control–Command–Media Eject : Quit all apps, then restart your Mac. If any open documents have unsaved changes, you will be asked whether you want to save them.
• Control–Option–Command–Power button* or Control–Option–Command–Media Eject : Quit all apps, then shut down your Mac. If any open documents have unsaved changes, you will be asked whether you want to save them.
• Control-Command-Q: Immediately lock your screen.
• Shift-Command-Q: Log out of your macOS user account. You will be asked to confirm. To log out immediately without confirming, press Option-Shift-Command-Q.

* Does not apply to the Touch ID sensor.

Finder and system shortcuts

• Command-D: Duplicate the selected files.
• Command-E: Eject the selected disk or volume.
• Command-F: Start a Spotlight search in the Finder window.
• Command-I: Show the Get Info window for a selected file.
• Command-R: (1) When an alias is selected the Finder: show the original file for the selected alias. (2) In some apps, such as Calendar or Safari, refresh or reload the page. (3) In Software Update preferences, check for software updates again.
• Shift-Command-C: Open the Computer window.
• Shift-Command-D: Open the desktop folder.
• Shift-Command-F: Open the Recents window, showing all of the files you viewed or changed recently.
• Shift-Command-G: Open a Go to Folder window.
• Shift-Command-H: Open the Home folder of the current macOS user account.
• Shift-Command-I: Open iCloud Drive.
• Shift-Command-K: Open the Network window.
• Option-Command-L: Open the Downloads folder.
• Shift-Command-N: Create a new folder.
• Shift-Command-O: Open the Documents folder.
• Shift-Command-P: Show or hide the Preview pane in Finder windows.
• Shift-Command-R: Open the AirDrop window.
• Shift-Command-T: Show or hide the tab bar in Finder windows.
• Control-Shift-Command-T: Add selected Finder item to the Dock (OS X Mavericks or later)
• Shift-Command-U: Open the Utilities folder.
• Option-Command-D: Show or hide the Dock.
• Control-Command-T: Add the selected item to the sidebar (OS X Mavericks or later).
• Option-Command-P: Hide or show the path bar in Finder windows.
• Option-Command-S: Hide or show the Sidebar in Finder windows.
• Command–Slash (/): Hide or show the status bar in Finder windows.
• Command-J: Show View Options.
• Command-K: Open the Connect to Server window.
• Command-L: Make an alias of the selected item.
• Command-N: Open a new Finder window.
• Option-Command-N: Create a new Smart Folder.
• Command-T: Show or hide the tab bar when a single tab is open in the current Finder window.
• Option-Command-T: Show or hide the toolbar when a single tab is open in the current Finder window.
• Option-Command-V: Move: Move the files in the Clipboard from their original location to the current location.
• Command-Y: Use Quick Look to preview the selected files.
• Option-Command-Y: View a Quick Look slideshow of the selected files.
• Command-1: View the items in the Finder window as icons.
• Command-2: View the items in a Finder window as a list.
• Command-3: View the items in a Finder window in columns.
• Command-4: View the items in a Finder window in a gallery.
• Command–Left Bracket ([): Go to the previous folder.
• Command–Right Bracket (]): Go to the next folder.
• Command–Up Arrow: Open the folder that contains the current folder.
• Command–Control–Up Arrow: Open the folder that contains the current folder in a new window.
• Command–Down Arrow: Open the selected item.
• Right Arrow: Open the selected folder. This works only when in list view.
• Left Arrow: Close the selected folder. This works only when in list view.
• Command-Delete: Move the selected item to the Trash.
• Shift-Command-Delete: Empty the Trash.
• Option-Shift-Command-Delete: Empty the Trash without confirmation dialog.
• Command–Brightness Up: Turn target display mode on or off.
• Command–Brightness Down: Turn video mirroring on or off when your Mac is connected to more than one display.
• Option–Brightness Up: Open Displays preferences. This works with either Brightness key.
• Control–Brightness Up or Control–Brightness Down: Change the brightness of your external display, if supported by your display.
• Option–Shift–Brightness Up or Option–Shift–Brightness Down: Adjust the display brightness in smaller steps. Add the Control key to this shortcut to make the adjustment on your external display, if supported by your display.
• Option–Mission Control: Open Mission Control preferences.
• Command–Mission Control: Show the desktop.
• Control–Down Arrow: Show all windows of the front app.
• Option–Volume Up: Open Sound preferences. This works with any of the volume keys.
• Option–Shift–Volume Up or Option–Shift–Volume Down: Adjust the sound volume in smaller steps.
• Option–Keyboard Brightness Up: Open Keyboard preferences. This works with either Keyboard Brightness key.
• Option–Shift–Keyboard Brightness Up or Option–Shift–Keyboard Brightness Down: Adjust the keyboard brightness in smaller steps.
• Option key while double-clicking: Open the item in a separate window, then close the original window.
• Command key while double-clicking: Open a folder in a separate tab or window.
• Command key while dragging to another volume: Move the dragged item to the other volume, instead of copying it.
• Option key while dragging: Copy the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.
• Option-Command while dragging: Make an alias of the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.
• Option-click a disclosure triangle: Open all folders within the selected folder. This works only when in list view.
• Command-click a window title: See the folders that contain the current folder.
• Learn how to use Command or Shift to select multiple items in the Finder.
• Click the Go menu in the Finder menu bar to see shortcuts for opening many commonly used folders, such as Applications, Documents, Downloads, Utilities, and iCloud Drive.

Document shortcuts

The behavior of these shortcuts may vary with the app you're using.

• Command-B: Boldface the selected text, or turn boldfacing on or off.
• Command-I: Italicize the selected text, or turn italics on or off.
• Command-K: Add a web link.
• Command-U: Underline the selected text, or turn underlining on or off.
• Command-T: Show or hide the Fonts window.
• Command-D: Select the Desktop folder from within an Open dialog or Save dialog.
• Control-Command-D: Show or hide the definition of the selected word.
• Shift-Command-Colon (:): Display the Spelling and Grammar window.
• Command-Semicolon (;): Find misspelled words in the document.
• Option-Delete: Delete the word to the left of the insertion point.
• Control-H: Delete the character to the left of the insertion point. Or use Delete.
• Control-D: Delete the character to the right of the insertion point. Or use Fn-Delete.
• Fn-Delete: Forward delete on keyboards that don't have a Forward Delete key. Or use Control-D.
• Control-K: Delete the text between the insertion point and the end of the line or paragraph.
• Fn–Up Arrow: Page Up: Scroll up one page.
• Fn–Down Arrow: Page Down: Scroll down one page.
• Fn–Left Arrow: Home: Scroll to the beginning of a document.
• Fn–Right Arrow: End: Scroll to the end of a document.
• Command–Up Arrow: Move the insertion point to the beginning of the document.
• Command–Down Arrow: Move the insertion point to the end of the document.
• Command–Left Arrow: Move the insertion point to the beginning of the current line.
• Command–Right Arrow: Move the insertion point to the end of the current line.
• Option–Left Arrow: Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word.
• Option–Right Arrow: Move the insertion point to the end of the next word.
• Shift–Command–Up Arrow: Select the text between the insertion point and the beginning of the document.
• Shift–Command–Down Arrow: Select the text between the insertion point and the end of the document.
• Shift–Command–Left Arrow: Select the text between the insertion point and the beginning of the current line.
• Shift–Command–Right Arrow: Select the text between the insertion point and the end of the current line.
• Shift–Up Arrow: Extend text selection to the nearest character at the same horizontal location on the line above.
• Shift–Down Arrow: Extend text selection to the nearest character at the same horizontal location on the line below.
• Shift–Left Arrow: Extend text selection one character to the left.
• Shift–Right Arrow: Extend text selection one character to the right.
• Option–Shift–Up Arrow: Extend text selection to the beginning of the current paragraph, then to the beginning of the following paragraph if pressed again.
• Option–Shift–Down Arrow: Extend text selection to the end of the current paragraph, then to the end of the following paragraph if pressed again.
• Option–Shift–Left Arrow: Extend text selection to the beginning of the current word, then to the beginning of the following word if pressed again.
• Option–Shift–Right Arrow: Extend text selection to the end of the current word, then to the end of the following word if pressed again.
• Control-A: Move to the beginning of the line or paragraph.
• Control-E: Move to the end of a line or paragraph.
• Control-F: Move one character forward.
• Control-B: Move one character backward.
• Control-L: Center the cursor or selection in the visible area.
• Control-P: Move up one line.
• Control-N: Move down one line.
• Control-O: Insert a new line after the insertion point.
• Control-T: Swap the character behind the insertion point with the character in front of the insertion point.
• Command–Left Curly Bracket ({): Left align.
• Command–Right Curly Bracket (}): Right align.
• Shift–Command–Vertical bar (|): Center align.
• Option-Command-F: Go to the search field.
• Option-Command-T: Show or hide a toolbar in the app.
• Option-Command-C: Copy Style: Copy the formatting settings of the selected item to the Clipboard.
• Option-Command-V: Paste Style: Apply the copied style to the selected item.
• Option-Shift-Command-V: Paste and Match Style: Apply the style of the surrounding content to the item pasted within that content.
• Option-Command-I: Show or hide the inspector window.
• Shift-Command-P: Page setup: Display a window for selecting document settings.
• Shift-Command-S: Display the Save As dialog, or duplicate the current document.
• Shift–Command–Minus sign (-): Decrease the size of the selected item.
• Shift–Command–Plus sign (+): Increase the size of the selected item. Command–Equal sign (=) performs the same function.
• Shift–Command–Question mark (?): Open the Help menu.

Other shortcuts

For more shortcuts, check the shortcut abbreviations shown in the menus of your apps. Every app can have its own shortcuts, and shortcuts that work in one app might not work in another.

• Apple Music shortcuts: Choose Help > Keyboard shortcuts from the menu bar in the Music app.
• Other shortcuts: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Shortcuts.

Learn more

• Create your own shortcuts and resolve conflicts between shortcuts
• Change the behavior of the function keys or modifier keys