Tuck 1.1.0
Keep your menu bar to the icons you use. Tuck hides the others until you
click its arrow.


WHAT'S IN THIS FOLDER

  • Tuck.app: the app
  • Install Tuck.command: installs it (run this)
  • Read Me.txt: this file


BEFORE YOU START

  • Any Mac (Apple Silicon or Intel) running macOS 27 or later. Tuck uses a part of
    macOS 27 that earlier versions don't have.


INSTALL

  1. Double-click "Install Tuck.command".

     If macOS says it can't be opened ("Apple could not verify…"): click
     Done, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down and click
     "Open Anyway", then double-click the installer again.

     Or open Terminal, type  bash  followed by a space, drag
     "Install Tuck.command" into the Terminal window, and press Return.

  2. The installer copies Tuck into Applications and opens it. A welcome
     window explains the rest.

  3. ⌘-drag Tuck's green arrow to the right, next to the Control Center
     icons. New icons start at the left, the first place macOS squeezes into
     its » overflow menu when the bar is full. If you can't see the arrow,
     click » and ⌘-drag it out from there.

  Prefer to do it by hand? Drag Tuck into Applications and open it. The
  first time, macOS blocks it: go to System Settings → Privacy & Security
  and click "Open Anyway".


USING Tuck

  • Choose what to tuck: right-click the arrow → Menu-Bar Apps…, then set
    each app to Show or Tuck. Or, while everything shows, ⌘-drag an icon to
    the left of the arrow to tuck it, or to the right to show it.

  • Click the arrow (or press ⌃⌥B) to show every icon for a moment. Tuck
    puts them away again after 10 seconds, but waits while your pointer is
    in the menu bar or a menu is open.

  • Or just rest the pointer on the arrow: everything shows, and tucks
    away again soon after you move away from the menu bar. (This needs
    Accessibility access, below.)

  • Press ⌃⌥F to search: type part of an app's name and press Return to
    open its menu, even if it's tucked or squeezed into macOS's » overflow.
    You can also right-click the arrow to open a tucked app.

  • While everything shows, Tuck moves the app's menus aside to make room
    (you'll see Tuck in the Dock for that moment). Your app comes back to
    the front when Tuck tucks away. You can turn this off in Settings.

  • Icon spacing (Settings): narrower gaps fit more icons. Each app picks
    it up when it next opens; "Restart Menu-Bar Apps…" does that for you.

  • Accessibility access (optional, asked for in the welcome window) lets
    Tuck see where icons sit, show everything on hover, and open menus for
    you. Hiding works without it.
    On macOS 27 the list is called Device Control and Data Access, in
    System Settings → Privacy & Security.

  • Settings (right-click the arrow): showing on hover, how soon to tuck
    away again, hiding app menus, the shortcuts, icon spacing, the colour
    or black-and-white arrow, and Launch at Login.


GOOD TO KNOW

  • Apple's own icons (Wi-Fi, battery, Control Center, the clock) always
    stay, and an app with several icons tucks them all.

  • Quit Tuck and every icon comes straight back.

  • Lost the arrow? Open Tuck again from Applications to get the list of
    apps, or press ⌃⌥B.

  • Tuck uses a private part of macOS, so a future macOS update could stop
    it hiding icons. If that happens, its arrow turns grey and says so.

  • To update: unzip a newer copy and run its installer. It replaces the
    old one and keeps your settings.

  • To uninstall: right-click the arrow, choose Quit Tuck, and drag Tuck
    from Applications to the Trash.

  • Tuck is free and open source. It isn't from the App Store and isn't
    notarized by Apple, which is why macOS asks you to confirm it the
    first time.