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System & FinderFit More Menu Bar Icons

Mac menu bar manager: fit more icons beside the notch

macOS has no built-in Mac menu bar manager. On macOS 26 Tahoe you can only switch icons on or off in System Settings › Menu Bar, and icons that don’t fit beside the notch are hidden. Fit More Menu Bar Icons narrows the gaps between icons so more fit. Hide Menu Bar Icons can tuck the rest away.
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One of 68 fixes in MrFixable. Lifetime license, no subscription. Updated October 22, 2026. Works on macOS 14.2 Sonoma and later. Checked on macOS 26 Tahoe.

Fit More Menu Bar Icons in MrFixable

What Fit More Menu Bar Icons does

The problem
On a MacBook with a notch, the menu bar has less room, and icons that don’t fit simply disappear behind the notch, with no way to reach them. macOS leaves wide gaps between icons, and System Settings has no option to make them smaller.
With Fit More Menu Bar Icons
Menu bar icons sit closer together, so more of them fit beside the notch. Nothing is hidden or removed.
  • Tighter spacing
    The gaps between icons, and the padding around each one, are made much smaller.
  • System icons right away
    Wi-Fi, battery and Control Center update at once. Other apps’ icons update when you restart those apps, or everywhere after you log out and back in.
  • Still too many?
    Hide Menu Bar Icons tucks the ones you rarely use behind an arrow. The two work well together.

Good to know

  • Useful on any Mac with a crowded menu bar, not just ones with a notch.

  • On macOS 26 Tahoe, System Settings › Menu Bar lets you switch icons off entirely. This fix keeps them all and makes room instead.

  • macOS keeps the setting, so it works even when MrFixable isn’t running.

  • Switch it off and the spacing you had before comes back.

Questions

  • How do I pin the menu bar on a Mac?

    Set the menu bar to never hide. 1. Choose Apple menu › System Settings. 2. Click Menu Bar. 3. Set Automatically hide and show the menu bar to Never. The menu bar now stays on screen, even in full-screen apps. On macOS 14 Sonoma and 15 Sequoia, the setting is in System Settings › Control Center.

  • How do I see hidden icons in the Mac menu bar?

    Make room so they come out from behind the notch. 1. Switch to an app with short menus, like Finder. 2. Quit apps you don’t need. 3. Turn off icons you never use in System Settings › Menu Bar. Fit More Menu Bar Icons frees more room by putting the remaining icons closer together.

  • How do I unhide the menu bar on a Mac?

    Move the pointer to the top of the screen and it slides down. To keep it showing: 1. Open System Settings › Menu Bar. 2. Set Automatically hide and show the menu bar to Never. If you only want it showing outside full-screen apps, choose In Full Screen Only instead.

  • Why are my MacBook menu bar icons missing?

    Your menu bar ran out of room. On a MacBook with a notch, macOS puts the icons that don’t fit behind the notch and doesn’t show them anywhere else. Apps with long menus take even more room. Putting icons closer together, or hiding the ones you rarely use, brings the rest back.

  • How do I change the spacing between menu bar icons on a Mac?

    Turn on Fit More Menu Bar Icons. System Settings has no option for it. In Terminal, the same change is defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain NSStatusItemSpacing -int 6, and the same command with NSStatusItemSelectionPadding, then log out and back in. The fix puts back your previous spacing when you turn it off.

  • Is it an alternative to Bartender or Ice?

    Not on its own. Fit More Menu Bar Icons only puts icons closer together and hides nothing. Hide Menu Bar Icons is the fix that tucks icons behind an arrow, the core job of Bartender and Ice. If you need finer control over each icon, a dedicated menu bar manager is the better choice.

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