Hide the menu bar apps
you don't use.

Click the BarNook icon to show your hidden apps. Click it again, or wait 15 seconds, and they're hidden again. On a MacBook with a notch, they show up in a bar below the menu bar, so nothing gets lost behind «.

Download for macOS 27 View source on GitHub

Free, Apache 2.0 · Signed and notarized · Updates through Sparkle

Hold ⌥ Option

FinderFileEditViewGo

Tue 14:25

Click the BarNook icon in the menu bar.

This MacBook has a notch. 6 apps are hidden, plus 2 always hidden. 2 stay in the menu bar.

Built for the notch

No app gets lost behind the notch.

macOS fills the menu bar from the right and collapses whatever doesn't fit behind a « button. The leftmost item goes first, and that's the BarNook icon, the one you'd click to hide everything again.

«TGS⌁Tue 14:25

5 items and the BarNook icon collapsed behind «

Showing everything in the menu bar

Every hidden app comes back at once. On a notch display there is no room for them, so macOS collapses them, and the BarNook icon too.

‹TS⌁Tue 14:25

GCPKI

The menu bar stays as it is

Showing them in a bar below

BarNook leaves the menu bar alone and lists the hidden apps under its icon, one icon per app. Click an app to pin its item into the menu bar, up to three at a time, then click the item itself.

BarNook starts with the bar if any screen has a notch, and with the menu bar otherwise. Switch any time in Settings › Menu Bar › "Show hidden items".

Get started

Install it, then pick what to hide.

Move it to Applications

Download the zip, open it, and move BarNook.app to /Applications. macOS only honors BarNook's list for apps in that folder.

Choose what to hide

In Settings › Apps, set each app to Shown, Hidden or Always hidden. Or pick "By position" and ⌘-drag items to the left of the BarNook icon.

Click to show

Click the icon to show hidden apps. They're hidden again after 15 seconds, when you click elsewhere, or, if you turn it on, when you switch apps.

Features

What BarNook does

BarNook hides and shows whole menu bar apps. It doesn't reorder items or restyle the menu bar.

One click to toggle

Click the icon to show hidden apps. Click it again to hide them.

Always hidden

Apps you almost never need stay hidden after a normal click. ⌥-click the icon to show them too.

Automatic re-hide

Apps are hidden again after a timeout you set (1–300 seconds), when you click outside the menu bar, or, if you turn it on, when you switch apps or Spaces. Never while a menu is open.

Split by the icon

With "By position", ⌘-drag an item to the left of the icon to hide its app, and to the right to show it.

A bar for the notch

Hidden apps can appear in a bar under the icon, with or without a notch. Pin up to three into the menu bar.

The clock still works

Clicking the clock opens Notification Center while apps are hidden.

Choose the icon

Pick separate icons for the hidden and shown states: the default nook, an ellipsis, arrows, a dot or a star.

Export and import settings

Export your hidden sets and options to a file and import them on another Mac.

Launch at login, automatic updates

Can start when you log in, and installs signed updates from GitHub Releases through Sparkle.

Permissions and privacy

BarNook needs two permissions

Hiding and showing work from the first launch. The welcome window asks for both permissions, and Settings opens once they're allowed.

Accessibility

Reads the menu bar layout, so the Apps list shows only apps with a menu bar item, the icon can work as a divider, and the clock zone fits your clock.

Screen Recording

While you click the clock in bar mode, BarNook briefly covers the menu bar with a picture of it, so hidden items don't flash on screen. The picture stays in memory and is discarded when the cover comes off.

No analytics or account

BarNook connects only to GitHub, to check for updates. It sends no system profile, and you can turn automatic checks off in Settings › General.

Open source

Read every line on GitHub, or build it yourself with SwiftPM. Licensed under Apache 2.0.

Limits

What BarNook can't do

These limits come from how macOS 27 works.

Whole apps, not single items. An app with two menu bar items hides both.
Focus and the camera/microphone indicator are hidden too while any app is hidden. No setting brings them back.
Icons, not live items. The bar shows app icons, so an item that changes, like a timer, shows only its app icon there.
Apps outside /Applications can't be pinned into view. The bar marks them.
A private macOS framework. A macOS update can rename or remove it. BarNook checks at launch and tells you if it's gone.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

The BarNook icon doesn't show up in the menu bar.

Check that BarNook runs from /Applications. macOS matches BarNook's list against apps in that folder only, so a copy anywhere else hides its own icon.

Why did Focus and the camera indicator disappear?

macOS hides them while any app is hidden. It's a limit of the system mechanism BarNook uses. They come back only when nothing is hidden, for example after you quit BarNook.

Can I hide one item of an app and keep another?

No. macOS 27 hides per app, so both items hide together.

Is the app available in other languages?

No. BarNook's menus and Settings are in English only.

How is it different from Bartender?

BarNook does one thing: it hides and shows whole apps, with a bar for the notch. It doesn't rearrange items, search them or restyle the menu bar. If you need those, Bartender does more.

I used Ellipsis. Will it update into BarNook?

No. BarNook is a separate app with its own signing and update key. Install it once, then set up your hidden apps again.

How do I uninstall it?

Quit BarNook from its icon menu. Every item returns to the menu bar. Then move BarNook to the Trash.

Hide the menu bar appsyou don't use.