Everything about the menu bar readout is configured in Settings → General → Menu Bar. The icon set it uses comes from Settings → Theme & Visual Style → Menu Bar Icons.
Menu bar display is available to any subscriber — but note the app requires a subscription to show weather at all. See Plans & Subscriptions. On the Mac, tiers are named Pro (Gold elsewhere) and Plus (Silver).
Note: The Menu Bar section is hidden from Settings while Dock Mode is on, since there's no menu bar item to configure.
Display styles
Each menu bar item has a Style picker with seven options:
| Style | Shows |
|---|---|
| Icon Only | Just the weather icon |
| Value Only | 72 |
| Value + ° | 72° |
| Value + Unit | 72°F |
| Icon + Value | Icon and 72 |
| Icon + Value + ° | Icon and 72° — the default |
| Icon + Value + Unit | Icon and 72°F |
The unit letter (F or C) follows your Units setting in Settings → Data & Layout → Localization. If a value isn't available yet, the item shows --.
Multiple menu bar items
You can run 1 to 5 menu bar items at once. In Settings → General → Menu Bar, the header reads "Menu Bar Items — N of 5":
- Click + to add an item (disabled at 5).
- Click – next to an item to remove it (you always keep at least one).
- Each item's row shows a live preview plus its own Style and Data pickers.
New items default to these data points, in order: Temperature, Humidity, Wind Speed, Precip Chance, UV Index.
Combine into Single Icon
When you have more than one item, a Combine into Single Icon switch appears. On (the default), all of your configured readouts render together inside one menu bar item, separated by spaces — one thing to position, one thing to click. Off, each readout is its own independent menu bar item you can position separately.
Repositioning items
Menu bar items move the standard macOS way: hold ⌘ and drag the item left or right along the menu bar. Forecast Bar remembers where you put each one.
Data points
Each item's Data picker offers these values:
| Data point | Data point |
|---|---|
| Temperature | UV Index |
| Feels Like | Visibility |
| Cloud Cover | Wind Speed |
| Dew Point | Wind Gusts |
| Humidity | Heat Index |
| Precip Chance | Wind Chill |
| Accumulation | Pressure |
Tip: The Temperature data point honors the Use Feels Like switch in Settings → Data & Layout → Localization — turn it on and your menu bar temperature becomes the feels-like temperature. The dedicated Feels Like, Dew Point, Heat Index, and Wind Chill data points always show their own value.
Size and color
Also in Settings → General → Menu Bar:
| Setting | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Font Size | 10–18 pt | 13 |
| Icon Size | 10–24 pt | 16 |
| Text Color | Custom switch + color picker | Off (system color) |
| Icon Color | Custom switch + color picker | Off (follows text color at first) |
Turn on a Custom switch to override the automatic menu bar color with your own via the color picker.
Menu Bar Icons
The icon set used by the menu bar is chosen separately from the in-app weather icons, in Settings → Theme & Visual Style → Menu Bar Icons:
| Set | Look |
|---|---|
| Color | Full-color icons — the default |
| Climacons | Minimal line icons; tint to match the menu bar |
| Anusha | Hand-drawn style; tint to match the menu bar |
| Flat Color | Flat, colorful icons |
Climacons and Anusha render as silhouettes that follow your menu bar's light or dark tint (or your custom icon color); Color and Flat Color always keep their own colors.
How often the reading changes
The number in your menu bar does not sit still between refreshes. Forecast Bar keeps a fifteen-minute forecast timeline anchored to the most recent observation, and steps the reading along it, so what you see stays in step with the time of day rather than holding one value until the next fetch.
How often it goes and gets new weather is set by Update Frequency and by the Smart Updates switch beneath it, both in Settings → General. Smart Updates is on by default and lines requests up with the moment new weather is actually published, fetching every cycle in changeable conditions and easing off in calm ones. It also pauses entirely while your displays are asleep or the Mac is locked, and catches up as soon as you look at the screen. See Settings → Smart Updates for the full description.
Reset to Defaults
The Reset to Defaults button at the bottom of the Menu Bar section restores everything: one item (Icon + Value + °, Temperature), font size 13, icon size 16, Combine on, and both custom colors off.
When your menu bar item is hidden
From 11.6, Forecast Bar checks whether its item is actually being drawn, and the Menu Bar section says so when it isn't. A notice titled Your Menu Bar Item Is Hidden (or "2 of Your 3 Menu Bar Items Are Hidden") explains why:
- Hidden by macOS — items that don't fit to the right of the camera housing, or a menu bar with no room left, are hidden by the system. Using fewer or more compact menu bar items, or removing other apps' items, makes room; a Menu Bar Settings button opens the macOS controls.
- Hidden by a menu bar manager — the notice names the utility (Ice, Bartender, and others) and its Open … button opens it, so you can move Forecast Bar to its always-visible section.
- Off screen — when the cause can't be pinned down, it says so and points you at any menu bar manager you use.
The notice updates live while the section is open, so a change in Ice or Bartender, or a change to the item count, is reflected immediately. Relaunching Forecast Bar while its item is hidden opens the weather panel with the same explanation and fix, and first-run onboarding no longer points at a menu bar slot macOS isn't drawing.
Below it, the "Forecast Bar Missing from Your Menu Bar?" row keeps its Open Settings button, which jumps straight to the macOS Control Center settings where menu bar visibility is managed. Press ⇧⌘W to open the panel at any time, hidden item or not.
When you're not subscribed
Without an active subscription, the menu bar item shows only the circular Forecast Bar app icon — no weather. Clicking it opens the subscription window instead of the weather panel. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers, and the full live readout returns the moment a subscription is active.
