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Collapse Mode#

Collapse Mode keeps your bar out of the way when you don't need it. Open ExtraBar → Settings (⚙) → Collapse Mode to find two options:

  • Collapse Bar folds the floating bar into a single icon and brings it back on demand.
  • Collapse into a Menu replaces all your bar items with one icon that opens them as a menu.

Collapse Bar#

Collapse Bar folds the floating bar into a small square icon. Click the icon, press your shortcut, or right-click the bar and choose Expand Bar to bring the bar back. The collapsed state is remembered across relaunches.

Collapse Bar only applies to the Floating Bar. It pauses while ExtraBar is in the menu bar, the notch, or Launcher, and while the active preset uses Collapse into a Menu or the app menu is merged into the bar. The settings page explains why it is paused.

Settings at the top of the Collapse Mode page include a live preview you can click:

  • Collapse Bar — Turn the feature on or off. It is off by default.
  • Show collapse button — Adds a collapse button to the bar (on by default). Turn it off to keep the bar clean and collapse with the shortcut or the bar's right-click menu instead; ExtraBar warns if the button is hidden and no shortcut is set.
  • Button position — Auto follows the bar's alignment, or choose Start, Center, or End. When the button is hidden, this becomes Collapse to and sets where the collapsed icon sits.
  • Icon — Show an Arrow (default), an SF Symbol, short Text (up to 3 characters), or the App Icon on the button and on the collapsed bar. Arrow, Symbol, and Text can take a color: automatic (matches light or dark mode), one of the preset chips, or a custom color.
  • Keyboard shortcut — Record a global Collapse / Expand Bar shortcut. It has no default and also appears under Settings → Hotkeys.

Collapse into a Menu#

Collapse into a Menu groups all your bar items behind a single icon. Click it to open a dropdown with all your apps and actions organized in a menu.

It is configured per preset — each preset remembers whether it's collapsed and what its menu icon looks like. Turning it on for the active preset pauses Collapse Bar.

  1. Open ExtraBar → Settings (⚙) → Collapse Mode
  2. Under Presets, toggle the preset you want

You can also toggle it for the active preset from the ExtraBar app menu (Enable Collapse Mode / Disable Collapse Mode) or with the Toggle Collapse Mode hotkey, ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ + M by default (see Keyboard Navigation).

Icon customization#

Choose what the collapsed menu icon looks like for each preset. Click the Menu Icon preview next to an enabled preset to open Customize Icon. Four icon types are available:

  • App Icon — Use the app icon selected under General → Dock Icon
  • Symbol — Pick any SF Symbol from the built-in picker
  • Emoji — Use any emoji as the icon
  • Letter — Use a single letter, number, or character

For Symbol and Letter icons, you can also set a color from the presets or the color picker.

Navigation#

Choose how you navigate the collapsed menu under Settings (⚙) → Collapse Mode → Menu Navigation → Navigation Style:

  • Quick Select — Press 1–9 or A–Z to jump to items directly
  • Arrow Keys — Navigate with the arrow keys

Merging the app menu#

Under Settings (⚙) → General → App Menu → Display, you can choose how ExtraBar's own menu icon behaves:

  • Show separately — The ExtraBar app menu stays as its own icon (default)
  • Hide — Hides the app menu icon; Settings stay reachable by right-clicking the bar or any icon
  • Merge into bar — Combines the app menu and your bar items into one icon. When merged, Collapse into a Menu is locked on for the active preset (the preset shows Locked by Single Menu) and Collapse Bar pauses.

The ExtraBar app menu also offers Enable Merge Single Menu / Disable Single Menu to switch merging on or off quickly.