New in OS X El Capitan: How to Hide the Menu Bar

It’s no secret that, after the disastrous reliability of Yosemite in its early days, Apple focused its efforts for OS X El Capitan on performance and stability. But that doesn’t mean that Apple’s latest operating system is devoid of new features.

One neat new feature in OS X El Capitan is the ability to hide your desktop Menu Bar, similar to how previous versions of OS X let users automatically hide the Dock. When enabled, the Menu Bar slides up off the top edge of your Mac’s screen, and any user interface elements that were previously restricted by the Menu Bar’s presence – such as sorted desktop icons – will automatically move up to occupy the added space.

But this doesn’t mean the Menu Bar is gone for good; after all, the OS X Menu Bar is home to key functions in many apps. Once you hide the Menu Bar (we’ll show you how, below), you can always access it by moving your mouse or trackpad cursor up to the very top of the screen. After your cursor reaches that top edge, you’ll experience a delay of about half a second before finally seeing the bar slide back down from the top of your Mac’s display, just like how the Dock reacts when hidden.

Unlike the Dock, however, we haven’t yet found a way to adjust the time delay between when your cursor hits the top of the screen and the Menu Bar appears. This can cause a frustrating point of contention for users who prefer instant access without a delay or “drop in” animation.

The hidden Menu Bar isn’t completely new for OS X El Capitan. In previous versions of the operating system, the Menu Bar was automatically hidden when the user enabled full screen mode for compatible apps. What’s new here in El Capitan is that the user can finally banish the Menu Bar even on the Desktop, allowing for maximum screen real estate for your apps which either don’t support full screen mode, or work better in windowed mode.

How to Hide the Menu Bar

To hide the Menu Bar in OS X El Capitan, head to Settings > General. There, you’ll find a new checkbox beneath last year’s neat feature: dark mode for the Dock and Menu Bar. What we’re looking for, however, is the option labeled Automatically hide and show the menu bar.

Check that box and your Mac’s Menu Bar will instantly slide up and out of view, with any desktop icons repositioning themselves to compensate. As mentioned, simply move your mouse or trackpad cursor all the way to the top edge of the screen to temporarily reveal the Menu Bar again.

If you ever tire of the hidden Menu Bar and want to turn this feature off, just head back to Settings > General and uncheck the designated box. There’s no need to reboot or log off when enabling or disabling the hidden Menu Bar; the change happens instantly as you check or uncheck the box.

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grasshopper_fxl

and about time too!!! how long has it taken for Apple to implement this simplest of features? what? 10 ~ 15 years??? i used to despise Windows, but honestly, at least on Windows one didn’t have to mess around with PLISTs to tweak the UI just to auto-hide a stupid menubar.

for the life of me, i still can’t figure out why OSX has the least customizable UI ever. a total let-down. not to mention the horrendous design decision re the file system, as Linus pointed out already years ago. and i could go on and on. unfortunately, it’s a long list. why people keep buying is a testament to the power of marketing.

but for those who wonder, well then… where / how can i get a decent machine? simple: ASUS for bleeding-edge performance, and either Windows 10 or Linux Ubuntu. ASUS also makes phones and tablets running Android. overall, a superior user experience.

ok, end of rant. 😉
intrr

You are really talented in explaining the simplest thing in the largest amount of words possible. Though I’m not sure if that will help you save the world.
- http://www.tekrevue.com/ TekRevue
  
  I assume you’ve never had professional consumer-focused tech support experience? We try to present topics in the most basic way possible, ensuring that readers understand not just what to do but also why they’re doing it. If you think it’s too simple or “wordy,” then that’s great! It merely confirms what you probably already know: that you’re smarter than most people!
Steve Rose

there’s currently a bug with disabling this feature in Safari: you have to restart Safari in order to see the menu again once you have unticked the box in preferences
nicmart

I’ve owned dozens of Macs since 1984. Now I own a MB Air and and iMac. There is not question that El Capitan is the buggiest Mac OS I’ve ever used. That leaves aside software design decisions that have made the OS harder and harder to use. There are times, for instance, when it is impossible for find the sliver-thin scroll bar, if there is one. Frequently there is none to be found. The Mac has become a pretty face with no brain.
- http://caedmonmichael.com/ Caedmon Michael
  
  Even after you’ve selected “Always”? (I’m assuming from your experience that you know where to change the scroll bar settings and have done so.)
  - nicmart
    
    That’s right, I’ve done so. Next question?
    - http://caedmonmichael.com/ Caedmon Michael
      
      Nope. I just know that selecting Always means I always have scroll bars, which I like. Even us experienced users can miss the little things. So I offered the little bit of help I could, knowing there was a good chance it would be left unneeded.
      - nicmart
        
        Thank you for your suggestion.