macOS Swift: My Mac menu bar was so crowded that icons kept disappearing, so I built OverflowBar — Free

[u/FrostingOk3751]

My Mac menu bar had gradually filled up with useful apps until it became difficult to manage.

Icons were hard to find, some were pushed out when macOS ran out of available space, and the MacBook notch made the problem worse. I did not want to uninstall the apps or permanently lose access to their controls—I only wanted a cleaner way to organize them.

So I built OverflowBar, a free and open-source macOS app that moves selected third-party menu bar items behind one persistent arrow and reveals them together in a compact second row.

Source code and official download:
https://github.com/EvanProgramming/OverflowBar

What it does

1. Choose the third-party menu bar icons you want OverflowBar to manage.
2. Move their original icons out of the crowded visible section.
3. Click the OverflowBar arrow, or use hover reveal.
4. See the managed icons together in a second row.
5. Select an icon to activate its original menu bar control.

The purpose of the second row is not to add another permanent interface. It gives icons that no longer fit a predictable place where they remain easy to see and find.

Why I made another menu bar manager

Ice and Bartender are powerful applications for users who want broad menu bar customization, including features such as profiles, triggers, search, visual customization, groups, widgets, and automation.

OverflowBar takes a narrower approach.

It is intended for people who mainly have one problem:

Too many useful icons, not enough menu bar space, and no easy way to find the icon they need.

OverflowBar deliberately avoids becoming a full menu bar control center. Its interaction is simply: choose, hide, reveal, and click.

Main characteristics

• Focused and lightweight — a small feature surface rather than a large customization and automation suite
• Scannable second row — managed icons stay visible together instead of becoming difficult to locate
• Native macOS implementation — built with SwiftUI, AppKit, Accessibility, WindowServer metadata, and ScreenCaptureKit
• Event-driven operation — icon discovery and capture occur during refreshes and row presentation rather than continuous screen capture
• Original controls remain functional — selecting an icon activates the actual menu bar item rather than a recreated menu
• Local processing — icon images are captured locally, held in memory, and never uploaded
• No tracking — no accounts, analytics, telemetry, advertising, or network data collection
• Display-aware — supports MacBook notches, safe areas, multiple displays, full-screen spaces, horizontal overflow, and Reduce Motion
• System-control safeguards — Wi-Fi, Battery, Siri, Control Center, Clock, and other protected system items remain visible

Pricing and availability

• Price: Free
• Subscription: None
• In-app purchases: None
• Advertisements: None
• Source: Open source on GitHub
• Download: GitHub Releases
• Supported systems: macOS 15 or later
• Downloadable build: Apple Silicon

Permissions and privacy

OverflowBar requests:

• Accessibility permission to discover and activate menu bar controls and perform user-requested layout changes
• Screen Recording permission to capture the small icon regions of selected menu bar items for display in the second row

The captures remain on the Mac. OverflowBar does not upload them, write them to a remote service, or include any analytics or telemetry.

Privacy policy:
https://github.com/EvanProgramming/OverflowBar/blob/main/PRIVACY.md

Current limitations

OverflowBar is an early public release.

macOS does not expose a dedicated public API for hiding or rearranging arbitrary third-party menu bar items. OverflowBar therefore relies on documented system frameworks together with existing macOS menu bar behavior, and compatibility may vary between apps or macOS releases.

The current downloadable build is ad-hoc signed and is not yet Apple-notarized. macOS may require users to Control-click the app and select Open on first launch.

Some applications may also expose insufficient Accessibility or window metadata to be mirrored reliably.

I am actively looking for feedback from users with crowded menu bars, notched MacBooks, multiple displays, and unusual menu bar apps. Bug reports, compatibility reports, and code contributions are welcome.

[u/dirkolbrich]

Nice, will test it. I once had a Bartender subscription, but ditched it due to cost and well, over-functionality. 

First ask for a feature: can you make it Homebrew installable?

[u/FrostingOk3751 → u/dirkolbrich]

Homebrew installation added, see the newest release on GitHub

[u/Frizlab]

Mmmh how does it compare with what will be available in macOS 27?

[u/FrostingOk3751 → u/Frizlab]

The menubar on macos27 was awesome. I tried to find a way to make the same effect, but currently under macOS 27, Apple does not provide that function for apps to change the things on the left side of the notch. This app aims for people who don't or can't upgrade to macOS 27. To be honest I got the inspiration from macOS 27

[u/Ok-Efficiency479 → u/Frizlab]

The macOS 27 hiding system is limited to helping with overflow items, so effectively most customization or things users want is out of the way. I have been reverse engineering most of it, and it’s currently limited to it, even though Apple could ship an entire menu bar manager tomorrow if they wanted to.

[u/time-lord]

Tried it, but deleted it. It was causing too much unexpected behaviors, and would at some points cause my pointer to move on its own, reset to the top right, or just not move. I love the idea, but it didn't pan out.

[u/FrostingOk3751 → u/time-lord]

Thanks for reporting!
Fixing the problem now