IceMelt is a menu bar management tool for macOS. Its primary function is hiding and showing menu bar items, alongside a range of additional features that make it one of the most versatile menu bar tools available.
IceMelt is a fork of Ice by Jordan Baird, maintained by Scratch Itch Software. It exists to deliver a stable, actively maintained build for macOS 26 (Tahoe) and later — see What IceMelt changes below.
Note
IceMelt is in active development. Download the latest release here, and see the roadmap below for upcoming work.
Download the IceMelt-<version>.dmg file from the latest release and drag IceMelt.app into your Applications folder.
Releases are signed with a Developer ID certificate (Paradigm Consulting Company) and notarized by Apple, so they open without a Gatekeeper override.
There is no Homebrew cask for IceMelt yet. Note that brew install --cask jordanbaird-ice installs upstream Ice, not IceMelt.
macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later. See Why does IceMelt only support macOS 26 and later?
IceMelt checks its own signed update feed (https://pnikolaidis.github.io/icemelt/appcast.xml) via Sparkle. New versions are offered in-app; automatic checking and downloading are configurable in Settings → About.
Requires Xcode 26 or later.
git clone https://github.com/pnikolaidis/icemelt.git
cd icemelt
xcodebuild -project IceMelt.xcodeproj -scheme IceMelt -configuration Release buildUnsigned local builds are fine for development. Distributable builds are signed with a Developer ID certificate and notarized.
Relative to upstream Ice (0.11.x and the unreleased macos-26 branch):
- Tahoe-correct item identification. Menu bar items are resolved through Accessibility (an
AXExtrasMenuBarwalk correlated with window IDs) instead of window ownership, which macOS 26 assigns wholesale to Control Center. Items show their real names and icons, and keep their sections across app relaunches. - No hard Screen Recording gate. When capture is unavailable, the layout and search UIs fall back to app-derived icons and names instead of showing an empty pane.
- IceMelt Bar fixes for visibility and crashes on Tahoe, including correct backgrounds on external displays.
- Its own identity and update channel — bundle ID
com.pnikolaidis.icemelt, an IceMelt droplet menu bar icon, and a self-hosted Sparkle appcast signed with our own key.
Phase-by-phase plans live in PLAN.md; the current snapshot is in docs/STATUS.md.
- Hide menu bar items
- "Always-hidden" menu bar section
- Show hidden menu bar items when hovering over the menu bar
- Show hidden menu bar items when an empty area in the menu bar is clicked
- Show hidden menu bar items by scrolling or swiping in the menu bar
- Automatically rehide menu bar items
- Hide application menus when they overlap with shown menu bar items
- Drag and drop interface to arrange individual menu bar items
- Display hidden menu bar items in a separate bar (e.g. for MacBooks with the notch)
- Search menu bar items
- Menu bar item spacing (BETA)
- Canonical menu bar order with background reconciliation
- Profiles for menu bar layout
- Individual spacer items
- Menu bar item groups
- Show menu bar items when trigger conditions are met
- Menu bar tint (solid and gradient)
- Menu bar shadow
- Menu bar border
- Custom menu bar shapes (rounded and/or split)
- Different settings for light/dark mode ("dynamic appearance")
- Remove background behind menu bar
- Rounded screen corners
- Full-black menu bar to hide the notch
- Toggle individual menu bar sections
- Show the search panel
- Enable/disable the IceMelt Bar
- Show/hide section divider icons
- Toggle application menus
- Enable/disable auto rehide
- Temporarily show individual menu bar items
- Launch at login
- Automatic updates
- Usable without Screen Recording permission (degraded item previews)
- Per-display behavior
- Settings export/import
- Automated test coverage
- Menu bar widgets
IceMelt is built on the Tahoe adaptation of Ice, which reworks menu bar geometry, event handling, and item identification around behavior specific to macOS 26. Supporting macOS 14 and 15 would mean maintaining a large, untested compatibility matrix in exactly the code that is hardest to get right.
If you are on macOS 14 or 15, upstream Ice 0.11.x works well there.
Show hidden menu bar items below the menu bar
The IceMelt Bar holds everything from the hidden section, so the menu bar itself stays short.
Fuzzy search across every item, visible or hidden; Enter clicks the match.
Tint, shadow, border, and custom menu bar shapes, with separate settings for light and dark mode.
Bug reports and feature requests belong in IceMelt's issue tracker — please don't file IceMelt problems on upstream Ice.
Before reporting a bug, check FREQUENT_ISSUES.md. Participation is governed by the Code of Conduct.
Development happens on the melt branch (the default); main is kept in sync with it. Upstream Ice remains available as a git remote for cherry-picking. CI runs SwiftLint and a Release build on every push and pull request.
IceMelt is available under the GPL-3.0 license, the same license as upstream Ice.
Copyright © 2026 Scratch Itch Software. Based on Ice, © 2023–2025 Jordan Baird. If IceMelt is useful to you, consider supporting Jordan Baird, whose work it is built on.