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