How to use the MacBook notch (and stop it hiding your menu bar)

Apple added the notch to the MacBook Pro in its 2021 redesign, then to the MacBook Air with the M2. It holds the camera, and it lets the screen reach up into what used to be bezel. You get more display, and the menu bar moves up into the strip on either side of the camera.

Most of the time you stop seeing it. But it causes one real problem, and it leaves some space on the table. This guide covers both: how to stop the notch hiding things, and how to make the space around it useful.

What the notch actually does

The notch is simply the part of the screen where the camera sits. macOS treats the area beside it as the menu bar. Apps put their menus on the left, and status icons (Wi-Fi, battery, the clock and third-party menu bar apps) sit on the right.

In full-screen apps and video, macOS usually shows the content below the notch and turns the strip around it black. That is why a full-screen video on a notched MacBook looks just like it did on older models.

The real problem: hidden menu bar icons

The right side of the menu bar has limited room: from the notch to the edge of the screen. When there are more status icons than fit, macOS does not wrap them or show a "more" menu. The ones that do not fit are simply not shown. They are still running. You just cannot see or click them.

This catches people out constantly. You install a utility, it says it is in the menu bar, and it is nowhere to be seen. It is behind the notch. An app with many menus can have the same problem on the left, where its last menus run into the notch.

Fix 1: remove icons you do not need

The simplest fix is fewer icons.

• System icons: open System Settings, then Control Center. For each item (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Sound, Focus and so on) you can choose whether it shows in the menu bar. Most are in Control Center anyway, one click away.
• Rearrange or remove by dragging: hold Command and drag a menu bar icon sideways to move it, or drag it down and off the menu bar to remove it. Put the icons you use most next to the clock, so they are the last to be hidden.
• Third-party apps: most have a setting to hide their menu bar icon. Check each one's settings, and quit the ones you never use.

Fix 2: tighten the spacing

macOS leaves generous space between status icons. There is a pair of settings, not exposed in System Settings and not officially supported by Apple, that shrink it. Many people use them without trouble. Paste these into Terminal, then log out and back in:

defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain NSStatusItemSpacing -int 6
defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain NSStatusItemSelectionPadding -int 6

Smaller numbers pack icons tighter. To go back to the default:

defaults -currentHost delete -globalDomain NSStatusItemSpacing
defaults -currentHost delete -globalDomain NSStatusItemSelectionPadding

On a crowded menu bar this can bring back two or three icons, which is often enough.

Fix 3: a menu bar manager

Menu bar managers, both free and paid, let you tuck rarely used icons into a secondary area that you open with a click. If you have a dozen status items and need all of them, this is the tidiest solution.

Fix 4: for an app's menus, scale below the camera

If an app's menus run into the notch, macOS has a per-app fix. Find the app in Applications, choose File, then Get Info, and tick Scale to fit below built-in camera. The next time it opens, macOS shows that app in the area below the notch, as if the screen had a bezel. You lose a little screen space for that app only.

If you would rather not see it at all

Two ways to make the notch disappear visually:

• A dark wallpaper, or one with a black band at the top. With a dark menu bar, the notch blends into it.
• Hide the menu bar. In System Settings, under Control Center, you can set the menu bar to hide automatically. It comes back when you move the pointer to the top.

Making the notch useful

Here is the part most guides skip. The notch sits at the exact point your eyes pass most often: the top centre of the screen, next to the clock. That makes it the best spot on the display for things you glance at. It is a waste to leave it as a black rectangle.

That is the idea behind notch apps. They turn the notch into a small panel that opens when you hover or click it, like the Dynamic Island on an iPhone. Common uses:

• Now playing. See what is on, skip, scrub, without finding the music app.
• Timers and focus. A countdown in the notch is visible without being loud. We wrote about this in focus on a Mac.
• Your next meeting. What is next, and when, with a way to join.
• A shelf for files. Drop files on the notch while you move between folders and apps, and drag them out when you get there.
• Clipboard history. The last things you copied, one keystroke away.

A notch app also helps with the hidden-icon problem. If one panel replaces your timer app, clipboard manager and weather icon, that is three fewer icons fighting for space beside the notch.

For help choosing, see our guide to the best notch app for your MacBook.

Where Crowny comes in

Crowny is our notch app. It puts music with a live visualiser, timers and focus sessions, your calendar and reminders, clipboard history, a file shelf, weather and a few games into the notch, and it shows every Claude Code, Codex and Grok session with a light for what it is doing, if you write software with coding agents. It has no account and no subscription, and it keeps your data on your Mac.

You can download it or read what a licence includes. Either way, try the fixes above first: a tidier menu bar makes any Mac nicer to use.