Thaw
A macOS tool for menu bar organization and appearance customization
About Thaw
Thaw is a macOS menu bar manager that hides menu bar items, provides an Always Hidden area, and temporarily reveals hidden items on hover, by clicking an empty area, scrolling, or swiping. It offers drag-and-drop sorting, solid or gradient menu bar colors, wallpaper-sampled adaptive tones, shadows, borders, and multiple shape options. Core actions connect to an existing launcher through the thaw:// deep link; the project is provided under the GPL-3.0 license and requires macOS 26+ to install.
Best for
Best use cases
Organizing an overcrowded menu bar
Adjusting the menu bar appearance to the wallpaper
Triggering Thaw actions through a launcher
Features
Menu Bar Management
Hide, temporarily show, and automatically re-hide menu bar items, with drag-and-drop sorting.
Adaptive Menu Bar Tint
Use solid colors, gradients, or adaptive tones sampled from the wallpaper.
Menu Bar Appearance Options
Supports shadows, borders, and shapes with rounded corners, dividers, and notch adaptation.
Launcher Integration
Core actions connect to an existing launcher through the thaw:// deep link.
Pros
- Rich menu bar organization options
- Broad appearance customization
- Supports existing launchers
Cons
- Requires macOS 26+
- Accessibility permission is required on first launch; Screen Recording permission is optional