Most people install Bartender for one simple job: hiding the menu bar icons they don't need right now. Bartender does a lot more than that, and you pay for all of it, as a one-time license or a yearly Pro plan. If tidying the menu bar is all you're after, that's a lot of app for a small chore.
Barkeeper does that one job. It puts a small dot in your menu bar. Hold Command and drag any icon to the left of the dot, and it's hidden. Click the chevron or press the shortcut, and everything comes straight back. Nothing gets quit or disabled. The apps keep running as before.
Small, quick, and out of the way
- Tiny download. Barkeeper for Mac is about 1.2 MB.
- No permissions to start. The basic mode, where the menu bar simply expands again, asks for nothing at all.
- Nothing leaves your Mac. No account, no cloud, and Barkeeper sends nothing anywhere.
What you can do in it
- Use the Barkeeper Bar. A floating row under the menu bar shows only your hidden icons. Click one and its menu opens as if you'd clicked it up top.
- Hide some icons for good. Put them in the always-hidden group, and Option-click when you do need one.
- Let it tidy itself. Auto-hide after 5, 15 or 30 seconds, and it waits while your pointer is still on the menu bar.
- Reach it from the keyboard. Control-Option-B out of the box, or any shortcut you like.
- See what's hiding. The Menu Bar Items window lists every item by its real name, with live values like battery and volume.
- Rearrange in peace. Arrange mode holds the menu bar open while you drag icons around.
Who it's for
MacBook owners whose menu bar has filled up with sync, VPN and chat icons. People who share their screen and want a cleaner bar. And anyone who just wants the clutter gone without learning a new tool.
When to stick with Bartender
If you use triggers that show your battery when you unplug or your VPN on public Wi-Fi, presets you switch between, menu bar styling, groups, custom widgets, or search across menu bar items, keep Bartender. Barkeeper has none of that. It hides and shows icons, and that's it.
What it costs
Barkeeper isn't sold on its own. It comes with a getapps.cafe membership, from $1.99 a month on the annual plan, and that includes every other app on the menu too. There's a 7-day free trial, so you can clean up your own menu bar before paying anything.
