Menu bar items not showing
On smaller screens, and in situations where there’s a lot of menu bar items, macOS may hide some items. This is because the menu bar is full, and can not fit other items. In this situation, iStat Menus is running perfectly, but hidden from view.
Avoiding the notch #
The camera housing at the top of the M2 MacBook Airs, 14-inch MacBook Pros, and newer 16-inch MacBook Pros can mean there is reduced space for menus and status items. Any items that can not fit on the right side of the notch will be hidden by macOS. Status items never appear on the left side of the notch.
If your menu bar is full, like the image below, additional items will not show.
Removing unneeded items #
Most system menu bar items can be removed. If you don’t want to see an item, holding ⌘ (command) and dragging it out of your menu bar should remove it. If you ever need to re-add the item, there’s typically a related check box in System Settings, typically in the Control Center section.
Most third party apps that have menu bar items can also optionally hide the items.
Analog system time #
The macOS system clock can be set to display as an analog clock, which saves a bit of space, and is a great option if you’d like to use the iStat Menus time item.
Removing labels #
The menu bar items in iStat Menus are incredibly configurable, and can be very compact, if that’s how you’d like them. Labels can also be removed. This can help keep iStat Menus tiny on smaller screens.
Combined mode #
iStat Menus can combine any or all of its items into a single menu bar item. You can choose which items are shown in the menu bar and which are shown in a combined dropdown, allowing you to save space in the menu bar while still having access to all the information in the dropdown.
For more information, please see our combined help page.
Other apps #
There’s quite a few apps that help manage what’s shown in your menu bar. They often allow hiding and showing a subset of the icons with a single click. Here’s some apps that may assist with that.