It started with a little app meant to clean up our cluttered macOS menu bars. A neat trick, right? That’s what we thought too—until our favorite utility, Bartender, dropped its latest version: Bartender 6. Instead of solving problems, it gave us a new one to deal with: a sluggish, jittery, sometimes downright broken menu bar.

TLDR: Bartender 6 was supposed to organize the macOS menu bar, but it ended up slowing it down dramatically. We faced unresponsive menus, lag, and frustration. A complete uninstall and reset saved the day. It’s a reminder that sometimes less really is more.

What Is Bartender?

If you haven’t heard of it, Bartender is a macOS utility designed to manage your top-right corner—your menu bar. It hides icons, shows them only when needed, and lets you customize the layout. Simple idea, and for years, it worked beautifully.

Bartender versions 3, 4, and 5 were smooth operators. They ran quietly in the background and helped keep everything neat. You could show battery, time, and Wi-Fi only when you cared. Magic.

Enter Bartender 6

Bartender 6 promised new features and even better control. A fancier interface. More options. But after installing it, things didn’t feel right.

  • The menu bar was slow.
  • Icons didn’t respond to clicks.
  • Sometimes the whole bar would disappear for seconds.
  • System menus like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth froze.
  • Spotlight stopped showing suggestions instantly.

At first, we thought it was macOS Sonoma acting up. But after watching our Activity Monitor and trying Safe Mode, one thing stood out — Bartender 6 was always running and using more and more memory, even while idle.

What Went Wrong?

It seems Bartender 6 is doing more under the hood than older versions. It might be monitoring system menus more aggressively or constantly redrawing the bar. Either way, it was clashing with macOS’s own processes and causing slowdowns.

There were also whispers on Reddit and Mac forums: “Bartender 6 is laggy,” “my menu bar’s gone weird,” and “how do I go back to Bartender 5?” We weren’t alone.

Trying to Fix It

We tried some basic troubleshooting first:

  • Restarting the Mac
  • Updating to the latest Bartender patch
  • Disabling some menu items
  • Turning off new Bartender features

No luck. Removing menubar widgets actually made things more unstable. It felt like Bartender was fighting with macOS over who got to display what, and when.

Time to Pull the Plug

We decided to uninstall Bartender 6 completely. But here’s the thing—just dragging the app to the trash doesn’t remove all of it. It leaves behind plist files, daemons, and hidden settings that can keep affecting macOS.

Here’s how we fully removed it:

  1. Quit Bartender from the menu bar.
  2. Move the Bartender app from Applications to Trash.
  3. Open Terminal and run these commands to remove leftover files:
    • rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.surteesstudios.Bartender.plist
    • rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Bartender
    • rm -rf ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.surteesstudios.Bartender.plist
  4. Reboot your Mac.

We also ran a maintenance sweep using a tool like CleanMyMac or AppCleaner just to be safe. After the restart… it was like a weight had been lifted.

The Difference Was Instant

Without Bartender 6, the menu bar was smooth again. Icons showed up the second we clicked them. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Spotlight responded instantly. No more flickering. No more ghost icons.

CPU usage dropped by a few percent. And our MacBook’s fan? Quiet as a whisper.

What About Bartender 5?

Bartender 5 still works on macOS Ventura and even Sonoma in many cases. It’s not fancy, but it’s stable. Many users are now choosing to reinstall version 5. It lacks the newer design elements but delivers what matters: it doesn’t slow anything down.

But if you’re not using a ton of menu bar icons, you might just skip Bartender entirely. Sonoma and Ventura already do some auto-hiding with Control Center—enough for most people.

Lessons Learned

If you’re considering tools like Bartender, here are some takeaways:

  • Don’t install major updates without checking recent reviews.
  • Keep an eye on CPU and memory usage with Activity Monitor.
  • Use trial versions first—Bartender offers them before purchase.
  • Uninstall completely if something goes wrong. Don’t leave fragments behind.

Alternatives to Bartender

If Bartender 6 isn’t working for you, check out these options:

  • Hidden Bar: A free, open-source alternative. Fewer features, but fast and lightweight.
  • Dozer: Also free. Similar to Bartender’s basics, though limited on newer macOS versions.
  • Control Center (built-in): Apple keeps improving it. Try using it more before diving into third-party tools.

Final Thoughts

Bartender 6 came in hot, but it hasn’t lived up to its promise—at least not yet. Until the bugs are sorted and performance improves, sticking with Bartender 5 or going back to basics might just save your sanity.

Sometimes, macOS works best when we let it do its thing. That tiny menu bar may look simple, but when over-engineered apps mess with it, everything falls apart.

Live simple, click happy, and keep your Mac zippy. ✨