MacBook notch getting in the way of your menu bar apps? This is how you solve this

Menu bar apps blocked by MacBook notch

Do you have a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with a cutout for the camera in the screen? Then you may have noticed that you can’t always view your entire menu bar because of the cutout. This recess is also called the notch in English. Apple offers a setting for apps to ensure that the notch doesn’t bother you. We can also recommend the handy Bartender app which can also help. This way you can use the menu bar apps on the MacBook notch properly.

• Institutions
• Bartender

Adjust app settings for the notch

We’ll start with Apple’s own method of fixing the settings for the menu bar. For most people, the notch is not always a problem, but only with some apps. These are apps with many buttons in the menu bar. We recommend adjusting the settings for these specific apps. In fact, your screen space becomes smaller, because the screen stops as soon as the notch starts.

1. Stop the app in question, if it is already open. You can close apps with Command + Q.
2. Open Finder and find the app whose settings you want to adjust. Select it, but don’t open it.
3. Right-click on the app and select Show Info. You can also Command + I to use.
4. Turn on Make to fit under built-in camera.

You can now start the app (again) to admire the result. As long as you have this app open, all apps in the same space will also be shown in this appropriate way. What Apple essentially does is move the entire screen downwards. You will then no longer see a notch at all, but a wider black bar at the top of the screen. The display then looks like on MacBooks without a notch. In this way the MacBook notch is hidden. Only when you close the custom app will everything else return to the normal view. Keep in mind that an app may not show this setting if it is already optimized for use with the notch.

Read more about spaces and Mission Control in our tip.

Bartender: click under the MacBook notch for menu bar apps

It’s not just Apple that has thought about a way to make menu bar apps fit with the MacBook notch. The makers of Bartender have also come up with a smart solution that we can advise. This option has been available since Bartender 4.

Once you have set everything correctly, you can simply move your mouse ‘under’ the notch and click. All your menu bar apps will then be shown for you to access. When you’re just working on an app, your menu bar apps will be hidden. This is how you set it up:

1. Open Bartender 4 (purchase via SetApp).
2. Go to Bartender settings and open the General menu.
3. Enable the options Use Bartender Bar to show hidden items and Only on screen with Notch.
4. Place your mouse cursor ‘under’ the notch and click once.

In addition to Bartender, there are also apps for hiding the MacBook notch. These handle things slightly differently, so you can do it exactly the way you like it.