ChocolateBar
CompareGuidesAlready purchased?Buy now

A second row for your Mac menu bar.

ChocolateBar for Mac is a native menu bar manager. Show every menu bar icon at full size in a second row, including the ones the notch hides, or hide menu bar apps when the bar has too many icons. Click one and the app’s real menu opens. A Bartender alternative that works with or without a notch. Runs on macOS 12 Monterey through 15 Sequoia · macOS 26 Tahoe support coming soon. Universal binary for Apple Silicon and Intel. 48-hour free trial, no card. 7-day refund.

ChocolateBar on Product HuntFeatured on VisalyticaChocolateBar, #1 Weekly Winner on KittyLaunchSemi-Finalist, LaunchBuffFazier badgeFeatured on Twelve Tools

ChocolateBar for Mac is for the moment your menu bar runs out of room. Hide the menu bar apps crowding it, or give them a second row, whether your Mac has a notch or not.

Why does your menu bar run out of room?

Open Slack, Linear, your VPN, a password manager and a sync client, and the bar fills up. Older icons fall off the edge, and on a 14" or 16" MacBook Pro the notch hides them sooner. Either way you lose the icons you reach for.

Hide the clutter, or give it a second row.

ChocolateBar can hide the third-party icons crowding your menu bar, the way Bartender does. Or press ⇧⌘B, or click the ChocolateBar icon, and it shows them in a thin strip directly below the menu bar. Click an icon and the real menu opens.

See it in action

Lay the strip out wide across the screen, or stack it into a tidy column down one side. Same hidden icons, your orientation. The row opens with ⇧⌘B or a click on the ChocolateBar icon.

An additional menu bar appears!

What does ChocolateBar do?

  • Your hidden icons

    Press ⇧⌘B, or click the ChocolateBar icon, and a second row opens under the menu bar. Everything macOS hid behind the notch, full size.

  • Running apps, if you want them

    Optional, and off by default. Settings › General › Show running apps, or ⌃⌘S. One chip per app.

  • Same menus, real clicks

    Click an icon in the strip and ChocolateBar clicks the real one in your menu bar. Same menu, no fake UI.

  • Set up once

    New menu bar icons appear automatically. Install, grant permission, done.

How does ChocolateBar work?

  1. Install in seconds

    Download the 5MB app, drag it to Applications, launch.

  2. Grant Accessibility

    ChocolateBar reads and clicks your existing menu bar items. It only talks to our servers when you check for updates.

  3. Use your menu bar

    The row opens with ⇧⌘B or a click on the ChocolateBar icon. Hidden icons appear in the strip. Click them like you always have.

By the numbers

ChocolateBar reads your menu bar through Apple’s Accessibility API. That’s the only public way to see another app’s menu bar items. We’ve tried it with 30+ utilities across Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. It uses about 30 MB of RAM at launch.

Download size
5 MB
Architecture
Universal (Apple Silicon + Intel)
macOS supported
Runs on macOS 12 Monterey through 15 Sequoia · macOS 26 Tahoe support coming soon
Tested on
Apple Silicon and Intel Macs
Refund window
7 days, no forms
Apps tried
30+ menu bar utilities

A menu bar manager for the Mac you have

ChocolateBar for Mac is a menu bar manager for too many icons and for icons a notch hides, on Intel and Apple Silicon, from Monterey through Sequoia.

Comparing it with another menu bar app: Bartender · Hidden Bar · Ice · Thaw · Dozer · Barbee · All comparisons.

What does ChocolateBar cost?

$15$12USD · one-time

Launch deal · use LAUNCH30 at checkout · next 20 buyers

7-day refund, no forms · reply to the receipt email.

One year of updates · Every Mac you own · 7-day refund · Runs on macOS 12 Monterey through 15 Sequoia · macOS 26 Tahoe support coming soon · Apple Silicon and Intel · Direct download, no App Store account

48 hours, full features. No card needed.

Send feedback

What’s working? What isn’t?

Bug reports, feature ideas, anything that felt off. Read by a human. Email is optional - leave it if you want a reply.

Questions

How do I install ChocolateBar?

Download the DMG, double-click to mount it, drag ChocolateBar to your Applications folder, then launch. macOS will ask for Accessibility permission on first run - that’s how the app reads and clicks your existing menu bar items. Granting takes one click in System Settings.

What problem does ChocolateBar solve?

It gives your menu bar more room when it runs out of space. Hide the third-party icons crowding the bar, or show them in a second row below the menu bar. The row opens with ⇧⌘B or a click on the ChocolateBar icon.

Can it hide menu bar icons like Bartender?

Yes. An optional toggle hides the third-party icons cluttering the native menu bar, and a chevron lets you peek at them. The difference is that ChocolateBar can also show those same icons in a second row, so you don’t have to choose between hiding and seeing them.

How is ChocolateBar different from Bartender or Hidden Bar?

Bartender and Hidden Bar hide or tuck away menu bar icons. ChocolateBar does that too, and it adds a second row below the menu bar that shows the icons full size. The row opens with ⇧⌘B or a click on the ChocolateBar icon. It is a native universal binary and a one-time $15 purchase.

Does it show my running apps?

It can, one chip per app, so you can switch apps from the same row. It does not list windows. The row is off by default: turn on Show running apps in Settings → General, or press ⌃⌘S.

Why does it need Accessibility permission?

Apple doesn’t give apps a public way to read another app’s menu bar items. Accessibility is the workaround. ChocolateBar uses it to find your hidden icons and click them when you do. Nothing it reads from your menu bar leaves your Mac.

The notch is hiding my menu bar icons. How do I see them?

On a 14" or 16" MacBook Pro, once the menu bar is full, icons slide behind the camera notch and cannot be clicked. macOS does not add a second row for them. ChocolateBar for Mac shows those icons at full size in a row under the menu bar. The row opens with ⇧⌘B or a click on the ChocolateBar icon. The same app works on Macs with no notch. The notch guide goes further.

Does it work on macOS Ventura and Monterey?

Yes. The supported range is macOS 12 Monterey, macOS 13 Ventura, macOS 14 Sonoma, and macOS 15 Sequoia, on Intel and Apple Silicon. macOS 26 Tahoe support is coming soon. It does not run on macOS 11 Big Sur or earlier. See the Ventura page.

What is an alternative to Ice, Thaw, Dozer, or Barbee?

ChocolateBar for Mac is a paid alternative when you want a second row of menu bar apps, one shortcut away, rather than only hiding them. Ice and Thaw are free and open source. Hidden Bar and Dozer are free hiders. Barbee is a Mac App Store app. The current listing describes hiding and showing menu bar items, and it does not describe a second row. The comparisons cover each one. $15 once, or $12 for the next 20 buyers with code LAUNCH30. No Screen Recording permission. 48-hour free trial.

I installed it but nothing happens when I open it.

Two known causes. First, if macOS shows “ChocolateBar can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software” or similar, right-click ChocolateBar in Applications and choose Open, then click Open in the dialog. This tells Gatekeeper to trust the app once. Second, if launching is silent (no dialog, no icon, nothing in Activity Monitor), the download was corrupted or quarantined. In Terminal run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ChocolateBar.app and try again. If neither works, email [email protected] with your macOS version (Apple menu → About This Mac) and we’ll sort it.

Some icons open the app instead of showing a menu.

A few menu bar apps (Rectangle and Logi Options+, for example) don’t expose a menu to click - their icon only opens a window or the app itself. ChocolateBar still surfaces these in the strip, and clicking the chip opens the app just as clicking its real icon would. There’s no menu to mirror in these cases, so you get the app’s own window instead.

What’s the refund policy?

7 days, no forms. Email [email protected] and we’ll process your refund. Tell us what didn’t work if you’re up for it - it helps us improve, but it’s not required.

How do I uninstall ChocolateBar?

Open ChocolateBar Settings → General, scroll to Permissions, and click Reset & quit. That clears the Accessibility entry and quits the app, so you can drag ChocolateBar from Applications to the Trash without the permission row lingering in System Settings. (If you skip that step and the row gets stuck, run tccutil reset Accessibility app.chocolatebar.chocolatebar in Terminal.)

My menu bar is full and running out of space. What can I do?

Use a menu bar manager. ChocolateBar hides the third-party icons crowding your menu bar, the same job Bartender and Hidden Bar do, and it can also show those icons in a second row below the menu bar, one shortcut away. It works on any Mac, with or without a notch.

How do I hide my menu bar icons and peek at them again?

Turn on Enable Hide Menubar Items in Settings → General. It adds a faint | boundary and tucks every menu bar app to its left behind it, so the bar stays clean. Apple’s own menu bar icons are off by default. The apps aren’t gone: they’re all in the strip, and clicking the ¢ glyph next to the ChocolateBar icon reveals the originals, then tucks them away again. Cmd-drag the | to choose where hiding starts.

Does it work on a Mac without a notch?

Yes. The notch is only one reason a menu bar runs out of room. On an iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Air, or external display, enough running apps will crowd the bar until icons fall off the edge. ChocolateBar hides that overflow or surfaces it in a second row either way.

Can I save different menu bar setups?

Yes. Profiles save a full snapshot of your settings - which icons are hidden, their order, and your strip layout - so you can switch between, say, a pared-down work setup and a full home one. Edits auto-save into the active profile, and you can assign a hotkey to cycle through them.

Why do my menu options look different in ChocolateBar?

ChocolateBar recreates each app’s menu by mirroring it, not by capturing your screen. To protect your privacy it never asks for Screen Recording permission, and that’s the trade-off: the mirrored menus can’t carry the original icons or every custom behavior, so they look plainer than the real menu. If an option you need is missing from the mirror, or you want a menu exactly as its app draws it, keep that app’s icon visible to the right of the notch (not tucked behind ChocolateBar) and click it there.

Does ChocolateBar work on an Intel Mac?

Yes. ChocolateBar for Mac is a universal binary for Apple Silicon and Intel. It does not need Rosetta, and it is not an Electron app. It runs on macOS 12 Monterey through 15 Sequoia. macOS 26 Tahoe support is coming soon. Details are on the Intel Mac page.

I have too many menu bar icons. What can I do?

Hide the menu bar apps, or show them in a second row. ChocolateBar for Mac does both. Apple’s own menu bar icons are off by default. A work Mac full of VPN, chat, and security icons is a common case, because you often cannot remove what IT installed. The too many icons guide walks through it.

Does ChocolateBar run on older Macs?

Yes. It runs on macOS 12 Monterey through 15 Sequoia · macOS 26 Tahoe support coming soon. Universal binary for Apple Silicon and Intel, so an Intel Mac on Monterey or Ventura is supported. It needs Accessibility access only and never asks for Screen Recording. $15 one-time, 1 year of updates, 7-day refund, 48-hour free trial (no card).

A menu bar icon isn’t showing in the strip.

ChocolateBar can only show icons that macOS is currently drawing in the menu bar. If an app’s icon is missing from the strip, open that app’s own settings and turn on its Show in menu bar option (the exact wording varies by app). Once the app puts its icon back in the menu bar, it appears in the strip too.

Bought before 0.6.0? You keep lifetime updates.

Licenses bought before 0.6.0 keep lifetime updates. Licenses from 0.6.0 include one year of updates and keep working after that.

Which apps does it work with?

Anything with a menu bar icon: 1Password, Slack, Linear, Tailscale, NordVPN, Dropbox, Notion Calendar, Raycast, Fantastical, Things, Bitwarden, iStat Menus, CleanShot X, Discord, and most other menu bar apps.

Last but not least

Have a great time with ChocolateBar.