10 Mac Menu Bar Tips

The menu bar is something you use every day in almost every mac app. Here are some shortcuts and productivity tips for using the mac menu bar.

Comments: 13 Responses to “10 Mac Menu Bar Tips”

    BB
    4 years ago

    Gary: Regarding keyboard shortcuts for menus, is there a way to create a shortcut for a submenu ? Apparently it used to work with -> between the menu title and the submenu title with no spaces, but it's not working in Catalina. Thanks.

    4 years ago

    BB: You just need the name of the menu item. It doesn't matter how far down it is. Using -> or something like it was never the method. See https://macmost.com/create-your-own-custom-mac-keyboard-shortcuts.html

    BB
    4 years ago

    Thanks, Gary. Inputting the exact name of the menu item works, but apparently not in every app. The shortcut I created to decrease quotes in email replies (Decrease) works in Apple Mail but while it shows up alongside the menu item Decrease in Spark mail, all it does it give a system sound. Any thoughts?

    4 years ago

    BB: If you get a beep, then it sounds like maybe the menu item isn't active? Is it grayed out at that moment? Could also be that Spark is using that keyboard combo for something else.

    BB
    4 years ago

    Gary: It's not grayed out, and I tried a variety of other keyboard combos to no avail. I'll keep trying and post back if I get it working. Thanks for helping me think this through.

    4 years ago

    BB: Could be a bug in that app.

    Alan Uren
    4 years ago

    An even better shortcut to fully expand a window is to double click on the tool bar area of the window.
    Double click again and the window returns to original size.

    4 years ago

    Alan: That actually does something different. It will expand the window to the largest size that the app thinks the window needs. That's not often the same as the maximum size -- from edge to edge.

    Jasper Robinson
    4 years ago

    All this time I thought that the Menu-item ellipses were just a quirky flourish!

    When the Fn+2 Menu shortcut fails, you can get it back by using another function shortcut (e.g., Fn + 3/Dock) then trying for the menu again. It’s been like this for years and doesn’t seem to affect the other Fn shortcuts.

    Carmen
    4 years ago

    Gary, I love all your tips, but I am confused about pinning a webpage and just keeping it open. Is there a difference in memory consumption?

    4 years ago

    Carmen: Memory consumption? I don't see how it would make a difference there.

    Oscar
    4 years ago

    Hi Gary,
    How might I most quickly navigate to a menu heading which is not itself an item but displays a list of items. Specifically in Mail I want to quickly open the Move To list under Messages, but a shortcut can't be made to this as it is not a final item itself...My workflow is I have to move many messages quickly to a wide variety of mailboxes for work currently I do this by shortcut to the menubar -> spell the name and pressenter to quickly navigate. Appreciate your thoughts - Thank you!

    4 years ago

    Oscar: I don't know of a quicker way than what you are currently doing. But why not use the toolbar "Move To" button instead? Or just drag and drop to the left sidebar?

Comments Closed.