Thaw README

The project's README from github.com/thaw-app/Thaw. As one markdown file: README.md.

Thaw Thaw

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The open source menu bar manager.

Download · Install · Features · Integrations · Contributing

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Thaw overview

Features

Full feature list: 40+ more, including groups, spacers, profiles, triggers, and hotkeys

Menu bar item management

  • Hide menu bar items
  • "Always-hidden" menu bar section
  • Show hidden menu bar items when hovering over the menu bar
  • Show hidden menu bar items when an empty area in the menu bar is clicked
  • Show hidden menu bar items by scrolling or swiping in the menu bar
  • Automatically rehide menu bar items
  • Hide application menus when they overlap with shown menu bar items
  • Drag and drop interface to arrange individual menu bar items
  • Groups that keep related items together, so they move and hide as one unit even across sections
  • Spacer items of your own, with adjustable width and colour
  • Activate an item straight from the layout editor
  • Surface a hidden item when its icon starts blinking for attention
  • Display hidden menu bar items in a separate bar (e.g. for MacBooks with the notch)
  • Search menu bar items
  • Menu bar item spacing
  • Draw items as their owning app's icon instead of a live capture

Menu bar appearance

  • Menu bar tint (solid and gradient)
  • Adaptive tint sampled from the wallpaper, either as one average colour or as a gradient built from its two most dominant colours
  • Wallpaper changes re-tint the bar right away
  • Menu bar shadow
  • Menu bar border
  • Custom menu bar shapes (rounded, split, and notch-aware)
  • Remove background behind menu bar (macOS setting)
  • Different settings for light/dark mode
  • Per-Space appearance overrides
  • A separate shape, tint, and border for the Thaw Bar, instead of inheriting the menu bar's

Profiles

  • Save the whole configuration as a profile and switch between profiles instantly
  • Bind a profile to a display, to a Space, or to a Focus filter
  • Import and export profiles for backup or sharing
  • Pre and post apply script hooks, globally or per profile

Triggers

Reveal an item when a condition is met, or hide it instead. Battery and power conditions are always available. Every other condition ships switched off and is enabled one at a time from Developer settings, and some are still marked Experimental.

  • Frontmost app, app running
  • Network connectivity, VPN, Wi-Fi network, Bluetooth device, audio output device
  • External display, time schedule, location
  • Focus / Do Not Disturb, Energy Mode, thermal pressure
  • Camera or microphone in use, script result
  • A watched icon changing, or blinking for attention
  • Conditions combined with AND / OR, plus an option to invert the action

Hotkeys

  • Toggle individual menu bar sections
  • Show the search panel
  • Enable/disable the Thaw Bar
  • Show/hide section divider icons
  • Toggle application menus
  • Toggle automatic rehiding
  • Toggle zen mode
  • Open a specific menu bar item's menu
  • Switch between profiles

Settings and maintenance

  • Simple Mode, which replaces the sidebar with one curated page and keeps every other pane's configuration intact
  • One per-display section driven by a picker, rather than a repeated block per display
  • A Tools pane for diagnostic logging, onboarding replay, per-app language override, cache clearing, and resets for settings, Control Center, the layout, and permissions
Screenshots
Item layout
Item layout 		Show hidden menu bar items below the menu bar
Show hidden items below the menu bar
Drag-and-drop interface to arrange menu bar items
Drag-and-drop arrangement 		Customize the menu bar's appearance
Customize the appearance
Menu bar item search
Menu bar item search

Transparency

Integrations

Works with Raycast Works with Droppy

Every core action is a thaw:// deep link, so Thaw plugs into the launcher you already use.

open "thaw://toggle-hidden"
open "thaw://search"
open "thaw://open-settings"

Full reference, including reading and writing settings: docs/URI_SCHEMES.md.

Install

brew install thaw        # stable
brew install thaw@beta   # beta, or stable if it is newer

Or grab the .dmg from the latest release and drag Thaw to Applications.

Needs macOS 26+. Thaw asks for Accessibility on first launch to move menu bar items; Screen Recording is optional. Stuck? See Frequent issues.

Languages

Thaw is available in 20 languages, thanks to translators around the world.

🇮🇩 Bahasa Indonesia 🇨🇿 Čeština 🇩🇪 🇦🇹 Deutsch 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 English
🇪🇸 🇲🇽 Español 🇫🇷 Français 🇮🇹 Italiano 🇭🇺 Magyar
🇳🇱 🇧🇪 Nederlands 🇵🇱 Polski 🇧🇷 Português (Brasil) 🇹🇷 Türkçe
🇷🇺 Русский 🇺🇦 Українська* 🇹🇭 ภาษาไทย 🇻🇳 Tiếng Việt*
🇯🇵 日本語 🇰🇷 한국어 🇨🇳 简体中文 🇹🇼 正體中文

Missing yours, or spotted something off? Translate Thaw on Crowdin. You can request new languages there too. Everyone who has translated Thaw is named in Credits.

* Currently only in the development branch.

Contributors

This project exists thanks to the people who contribute code and documentation. Translations happen on Crowdin rather than in git, so translators are credited separately in Credits.

Want to contribute? Start with Ways to contribute. Pull requests are welcome against the development branch (see the shared Thaw/Floe contribution policy).

Open to partnerships, integrations, and sponsorships. Get in touch.

contributors

Project documentation

License

Thaw is available under the GPL-3.0 license.

Thaw (thaw-app/Thaw)

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12.1K ·GitHub
Thaw
What is this?Thaw is an open source menu bar manager for macOS that lets you hide, organize, and restyle your menu bar icons, with hover/click/scroll reveal gestures, hotkeys, and conditional triggers.
What permissions does Thaw need to work?It asks for Accessibility permission on first launch to move menu bar items. Screen Recording is optional and only needed for live item previews and wallpaper-based tinting.
What happens to items Thaw can't capture for a live preview?Any item Thaw cannot capture without Screen Recording access is drawn using the owning app's icon instead, so hiding and rearranging still work without granting that permission.
Does Thaw track usage or require an account?No. Thaw collects no analytics or telemetry and doesn't require sign-up or an account.
What is Zen mode?A one-action mode that conceals every menu bar section and locks the reveal gestures, then restores everything afterward; it can also engage automatically while you present or share your screen.
Can I control Thaw from other launchers like Raycast or Alfred?Yes, every core action is exposed as a thaw:// deep link, and Thaw ships an official Raycast extension, plus support for Alfred, Shortcuts, Keyboard Maestro, and BetterTouchTool.
How many languages does Thaw support?20 languages, including English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, and both Simplified and Traditional Chinese, with community translations managed on Crowdin.
Can I switch menu bar layouts automatically?Yes, profiles can be bound to a specific display, macOS Space, or Focus filter, so Thaw switches the whole configuration automatically based on context.
What are similar projects?dimble, Ice, OpenYoink, mactap-app, FineTune, Sapphire, DockDoor, BetterDisplay
Which topics is it in?alfred, raycast, menubar-app, menu-bar, swiftui, dark-mode, foss, privacy-first, accessibility, macos-app, app, multilingual
Creator
thaw-app
Size
45 MB
Stars
12.1K
Updated
CommitOct 18Release2.1.0Oct 14
Age
8mo
Commits · 90 Days