What It Does
MenuTidy adds a chevron («) and an invisible spacer to your menu bar. Icons to the left of the spacer are hidden when collapsed; icons to the right stay visible at all times.
Day-to-Day Use
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Left-click chevron | Toggle collapse/expand |
| Right-click chevron | Open menu (About, Reveal Hidden Icons on notched Macs, Check for Updates, Settings, Quit) |
| Hold command | Reveal the spacer position (blue bar) |
| command+drag an icon | Move it between hidden/visible zones |
Reveal Hidden Icons (notched Macs)
On 14″/16″ MacBook Pros and notched MacBook Airs, the menu bar wraps around the notch — and when you have more status icons than fit in the right-hand segment, the leftmost ones get clipped behind the notch with no way to click them.
MenuTidy's Reveal Hidden Icons… menu item drops a panel listing every status icon currently behind the notch. Left-click an entry to activate that icon's primary action (or open its menu); right-click sends a right-click instead, for icons that distinguish the two.
The list is cached in the background so the panel opens instantly, and stays in sync as apps launch and quit. The menu item only appears on notched displays. The first time you use it MenuTidy will ask for Accessibility permission so it can enumerate other apps' status items.
Setting Up
On first launch, MenuTidy starts expanded so you can arrange your icons.
Choosing which icons to hide
- Hold command — a glowing blue bar appears showing the spacer position
- While holding command, drag icons to the right of the bar to keep them always visible
- Drag icons to the left of the bar to include them in the collapsible group
- Release command — the blue bar disappears
Repositioning the spacer
Hold command and drag the blue bar left or right to change where the hidden/visible boundary sits.
Settings
Right-click the chevron and choose Settings… to configure:
- Permissions › Accessibility — required for Reveal Hidden Icons; shows live status with a Grant Access button if not yet granted
- Menu bar icon pill — optional grey background behind the chevron for stronger contrast on busy or wallpaper-tinted menu bars (off by default)
- General › Launch at Login — start automatically when you log in
Auto-updates are handled by Sparkle. Use the “Check for Updates…” menu item to check on demand; Sparkle’s prompt offers an “Automatically download and install updates in the future” checkbox the first time an update is available. MenuTidy checks for new versions automatically once a day in the background.
MenuTidy remembers where you've placed the chevron and the spacer across restarts. On subsequent launches it automatically collapses after a short delay to let all icons load into their saved positions first.
Installation
Two formats on every release — both signed and notarised, pick whichever suits:
- Installer (
.pkg) — recommended for first-time installs. Double-click to run; macOS Installer places the app in/Applicationswithout quarantine or App Translocation. - Download (
.zip) — unzip and dragMenuTidy.appto your Applications folder.
Building from Source
MenuTidy is a single-file Swift app with no dependencies. No Xcode project is required.
- Clone the repo:
git clone https://github.com/PerpetualBeta/MenuTidy.git - Run
gmake build - Launch with
open .build/MenuTidy.app
Requirements
macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. Universal binary (Apple Silicon and Intel).