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SmartHiddenBar

Hide the menu bar clutter, reach it in one click. A small native macOS 27 menu-bar app that hides every menu-bar item to the left of its icon, shows them again in a tidy icon bar on demand, and lets you use a hidden item's menu without unhiding anything.

brew install --cask roypadina/tap/smarthiddenbar

Pages

• Installation: Homebrew, first launch (not notarized), upgrade, uninstall.
• Usage: clicks and shortcuts, the icon bar, and every Settings control.
• Permissions: Accessibility (required), Screen Recording (optional), what to do after an update.
• How it works: the allow-list, the Accessibility inventory, menu mirroring, real icons, macOS 27 findings.
• Troubleshooting: icon hidden, permission lost, nothing hides, conflicts with other menu bar apps.
• FAQ: per app vs per icon, always-hidden apps, safety, Apple's own items.
• Building from source: build.sh, signing, release zip, log path.
• Architecture: source files and what each one does.
• Credits & Support: Hidden Bar, license, Ko-fi.
• Feature requests and contributing: how to ask, supporters first, PR rules.

Quick start

1. Install with the command above and move/keep the app in /Applications. It must run from there.
2. Open it. Grant Accessibility when macOS asks (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility). See Permissions.
3. First run: ⌘-drag the SmartHiddenBar icon to the right of the items you want hidden. Everything left of it hides.
4. Click the icon to hide or show them (the click mode is set per display in Settings). ⌥-click or the icon bar shortcut (default ⌃⌥B) opens the icon bar with everything currently off the bar.
5. Right-click the icon for Show/Hide, Disable/Enable, the Apps list, Settings and Quit.

What it does

• Hides every menu bar item left of its own icon. Click to toggle.
• Icon bar: a row of icons under the SmartHiddenBar icon for everything currently off the bar. Click one to use its menu, hover for its name; icon size is adjustable.
• Menu mirroring: a hidden item's menu pops up under SmartHiddenBar's icon, and your pick is replayed on the real menu.
• Optional real menu bar icons (Screen Recording), auto-rehide, launch at login.
• No network access, no analytics. It writes a log to ~/Library/Logs/SmartHiddenBar.log and preferences to the defaults domain com.roypadina.SmartHiddenBar.

Limits worth knowing

• macOS 27 or later, Apple Silicon only (LSMinimumSystemVersion is 27.0; macOS 27 does not run on Intel Macs). Hiding uses a private API that Apple can change in any update. If it is missing, the app says so and leaves everything visible.
• Hiding is per app, not per icon.
• Apple's own items (Control Center, Wi-Fi, clock) are never hidden.

Support

If SmartHiddenBar tidies your menu bar, you can support its development — it's optional and always appreciated.

A ⭐ on the repo helps just as much.

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Repo: github.com/roypadina/SmartHiddenBar · MIT © Roy Padina