January 5, 2018. That’s a good try, but still far away from perfect no customization (hate the apple icon btw, for me I need the finderbar functionality but I’m not going to hide the beautiful win10 identity), also lacks the most impressive feature in finderbar ( its linkage to the opened window so it display the main commands above). Some weird behavior also noticed (app. The menu bar runs along the top of the screen on your Mac. Use the menus and icons in the menu bar to choose commands, perform tasks, and check status. You can set an option in General preferences to automatically hide the menu bar; then it’s shown only when you move the pointer to the top of the screen. Wimoweh is a menu-bar application that allows you to have better control over how your Mac sleeps. Features Shows which apps are preventing your Mac from sleeping. January 9, 2020. Apr 27, 2018 Shortcut Bar ($8.99) - Shortcut Bar is a simple menu bar app that lets you access your favorite files, folders, apps, web bookmarks, and text snippets, essentially putting all of the files. Nov 26, 2018 Forecast Bar – Weather + Radar is free for your Mac with in-app purchases for various update frequency options. Wrapping it up. Forget searching for or opening a weather app on your Mac to check the current conditions and forecast. These cool apps put the details in your menu bar and let you view what you need with a click.
I recently switched from Windows to a Mac and one of the first things I noticed was the lack of calendar in the menu bar. While there are plenty of full-fledged Calendar apps for Mac, I wanted a simple and easy app that sits on the Menu bar. Let’s check those out.
A calendar is an important utility app that every OS should have and macOS does have a pretty good Calendar app that syncs with your iCloud account. However, you can’t actually see the calendar in the menu ba and there is no widget to go with it as well. The apps listed below are built to offer that functionality in mind and have a few other options to enhance the user experience.
Best Calendars Apps
1. iCultus
Let’s start with a simple Calendar app, iCultus is the Calendar that should have been available by default. It sits on the Menu bar at the top and shows you a calendar for the current month when you click the icon.
To be honest that’s all I need for a widget to do and maybe move forward and backward in months to plan any upcoming holidays. While it doesn’t show any events lined up on your iCloud calendar, it gives you a button to launch the Calendar app so that you can take action in the real app. It is also open-source and free if you care about that kind of stuff.
Get iCultus (free)
2. Quick View Calendar
This next app does exactly what iCultus did, so why would you choose this app over the previous one? One word; aesthetics, if you care about consistency and want a Calendar app that matches the overall theme and layout of the OS then this app is perfect.
It has that translucent interface with a dark gray and white color scheme that matches well with the Dark theme on macOS. The icon sits on the Menu bar for quick access and has arrow keys to look up upcoming and past months.
Get Quick View Calendar (free)
3. ItsyCal
Okay, we’ve got the basics covered so let’s talk about some actual features. ItsyCal is built for easy access but also offers some functionality that you would want from a Calendar app. You can customize the app to your preferences, for example, you can set the theme to match the system, highlight a day of the week, get upcoming events notification in the widget itself, and the ability to create events and appointments.
The app can also automatically launch itself at the restart, unlike the above two apps which mean I don’t have to restart the app every time the Mac reboots.
The app syncs everything to the iCloud so whatever you have planned would show up on the widget. I like ItsyCal because of two features; pinning the widget to keep it on the top, and real-time Date and Month on the Menu bar icon. Also, it’s free.
Electrical drawing software mac. Get ItsyCal (free)
4. Quick Calendar
We’ve got enough apps covered that sit on the Menu bar so let’s include one that sits in the Notification area. We all check out the notifications area anyway so it would be a good idea to put a small calendar there. Quick Calendar needs to be added manually by going to the edit menu on the bottom of the notifications panel. After you enable it, it will stay in the notifications panel.
Feature-wise, it is as basic as it gets, it only shows the current month and arrow keys to look upcoming and past months. However, if you want to have a quick glance at the Calendar while checking out Notifications, then Quick Calendar is the one.
Get Quick Calendar (free)
5. Next Meeting
Next Meeting is a little widget that shows you upcoming events on the Menu Bar. Let’s say you plan out your week in advance and have meetings at different hours, this app would take that info from the iCloud and slap it on the Menu bar so that you can miss it ever. If you click the icon, it shows you upcoming events in the coming days. You can customize which meetings to display and choose between in-progress, today’s meetings, and all-day meetings.
Get Next Meeting (free)
6. Calendars
Calendars is not like other apps in the list, instead of giving you a simple Calendar Widget on the Menu bar, it gives you full-fledged Calendar with lots of features. For starters, you can set a different picture for every month, just like a real calendar, if that’s not your jam, you can make it subtle and translucent to match the theme of your System.
It syncs with your iCloud, Facebook, and Google Calendar to keep you updated. If that wasn’t enough, you can also enable weather options in this app and you would get a real-time day-wise forecast, right below each day.
Calendars is a free app on the App Store but you can upgrade either with the Subscription($0.99/mo) or one-time license fee ($19.99).
Get Calendars (free)
7. InstaCal
While Calendars app is great for remembering birthdays from Facebook and getting reminders from Google, InstaCal is meant for professionals who use Office 365, Google Calendar, and Outlook. You can integrate, view and respond to invitations right from the Menubar pop up. Along with the menu bar, InstaCal also has a Dock app which lets you use the app to its full potential.
Apart from events, you can also view your reminders within the app and create new ones. The themes can be customized and the app has Touchbar support as well. With all these features combined, you only have to $5 to own this app which in my opinion is pretty good.
Get InstaCal ($4.99)
Best Easy Calendar Apps for Mac
Well, these were my picks for best easy calendar apps for mac when you want more than what native Calendar app offers. Itsycal, Quick View Calendar, iCultus, are great choices when you just want a quick way to look at the Calendar. Next Meeting serves its own niche where it reminds you of upcoming events, and Calendars let you integrate Facebook and Google Calendar. Instacal is best for people who want a professional Calendar app with integrations for Outlook, Office 365, etc. Which app would you use, let me know in the comments?
Make your Mac invincible
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.
2018 Mac Pro Reviews
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?