NotchMindOn a MacBook with a notch, menu bar icons only have the space to the right of the camera. Run enough menu bar apps and the extra icons slide behind the notch, where you can’t see or click them. macOS doesn’t warn you.
1. Hide the ones you don’t need
- macOS 26 Tahoe: open System Settings → Menu Bar and turn off the apps you don’t need up there.
- Older macOS: hold ⌘ and drag an icon off the menu bar to remove it. Many apps also have a “Show in menu bar” setting.
2. Squeeze the spacing
macOS leaves generous space between icons. You can tighten it in Terminal:
defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain NSStatusItemSpacing -int 6
defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain NSStatusItemSelectionPadding -int 6Log out and back in to see it. To undo:
defaults -currentHost delete -globalDomain NSStatusItemSpacing
defaults -currentHost delete -globalDomain NSStatusItemSelectionPadding3. Use a menu bar manager
Apps like the free, open-source Ice, or Bartender, tuck icons into a hidden section you open with a click or a hover.
4. Shorten the app menus
An app with many menus (File, Edit, View…) pushes its own items toward the notch too. Apple’s Scale to fit below built-in camera option, in the app’s Get Info window, gives it room below the camera.
5. Use the notch instead of the menu bar
Notch apps put things like music, battery, Bluetooth, downloads and timers in the notch, so you can remove their separate menu bar icons. NotchMind, which I make, also steps aside when your pointer is on the menu bar right next to the notch, so it never covers icons there. See menu bar icons behind the notch.