# The menu bar

Source: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/the-menu-bar
Skill: hig-components-menus
Snapshot: 2025-02-02

---
<!-- hig-doctor:attribution -->
> **Source**: Apple Inc. Canonical content at https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/the-menu-bar.
> This file is a structured index of that content, snapshot 2025-02-02.
> Apple HIG text and imagery are © Apple Inc.; this repository provides organization and cross-referencing for AI agent consumption only.

# The menu bar

## Anatomy

  * _YourAppName_ (you supply a short version of your app’s name for this menu’s title)

  * File

  * Edit

  * Format

  * View

  * App-specific menus, if any

  * Window

  * Help

## Best practices

**Support the default system-defined menus and their ordering.**

**Always show the same set of menu items.**

**Represent menu item actions with familiar icons.**

**Support the keyboard shortcuts defined for the standard menu items you include.**

**Prefer short, one-word menu titles.**

## App menu

**Display the About menu item first.**

## Edit menu

**Determine whether Find menu items belong in the Edit menu.**

## View menu

**Provide a View menu even if your app supports only a subset of the standard view functions.**

**Ensure that each show/hide item title reflects the current state of the corresponding view.**

## App-specific menus

**Provide app-specific menus for custom commands.**

**As much as possible, reflect your app’s hierarchy in app-specific menus.**

**Aim to list app-specific menus in order from most to least general or commonly used.**

## Window menu

**Provide a Window menu even if your app has only one window.**

**Consider including menu items for showing and hiding panels.**

## Dynamic menu items

**Avoid making a dynamic menu item the only way to accomplish a task.**

**Use dynamic menu items primarily in menu bar menus.**

**Require only a single modifier key to reveal a dynamic menu item.**

## Platform considerations

### iPadOS

**Because the menu bar is often hidden when running an app full screen, ensure that people can access all of your app’s functions through its UI.**

**Reserve the YourAppName > Settings menu item for opening your app’s page in iPadOS Settings.**

**For apps with tab-style navigation, consider adding each tab as a menu item in the View menu.**

**Consider grouping menu items into submenus to conserve vertical space.**

### macOS

#### Menu bar extras

**Consider using a symbol to represent your menu bar extra.**

**Display a menu — not a popover — when people click your menu bar extra.**

**Let people — not your app — decide whether to put your menu bar extra in the menu bar.**

**Avoid relying on the presence of menu bar extras.**

**Consider exposing app-specific functionality in other ways, too.**

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For the complete guidance, including worked examples and illustrations, see the canonical page: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/the-menu-bar