Every Mac User Needs This Little Menu Bar Calendar App

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

One of the first things I do after I set up a new Mac is install Itsycal, a small yet mighty calendar app that stays docked in the menu bar. I use it to replace the Mac's more limited default calendar, and it serves as a quick and accessible calendar whenever I need to plan something, confirm a date for a deadline, or look up the day's events.

Itsycal is tiny, free, and open-source. While there are other options out there when it comes to Mac calendar apps and menu bar utilities (Dato being a popular option), they are either paid or quite complex. If you want something simple and delightful, set up Itsycal.

Customizing Itsycal

Itsycal's default setup will show you the date in the menu bar icon, an overview of the current month, and the current day's calendar appointments. But there are a few tweaks that will make the app even better.

First, let's customize the menu bar icon. Open the Itsycal app (it's only a menu bar utility, so you won't see a full-screen app), click the Settings icon, and switch to the Appearance menu.

Here, enable Show month in icon and Show day of week in icon. Much better. If you have the date or day of the week enabled in the system clock, you can disable it from System Settings so you don't see it twice. Go to Control Center > Clock Options and choose Never for the Show date option, then disable the Show the day of the week feature. Now the system clock will only display the time.

While you're editing Itsycal's Appearance, I would also suggest you make the Calendar size bigger and use the Highlight feature for Saturday and Sunday, to differentiate the weekend.

From the General section, you can choose the First day of the week, and switch it to Monday if you'd like. Here, you can also connect to the Calendar app and choose which calendar events show in Itsycal.

You can also record a keyboard shortcut for Itsycal here, so that you can open the calendar without even touching your mouse.

In sync with the Calendar app

The default Itsycal settings only show the current month, but I like to look ahead. You can grab the little Separator icon below the calendar and drag it down to reveal one more month.

Itsycal works quite well with the native Calendar app on Mac, so events created in the Calendar app will show up instantly in Itsycal. And you can click the Plus button in Itsycal to create a new event using the native Calendar app input (complete with video call links, and calendar selection). Clicking the Calendar button at the bottom will even open the macOS Calendar app.

I'll leave you with one last tip: If you press the Pin icon in the bottom bar, Itsycal will now float on top of the screen, and will stay there no matter what you do. I find this indispensable when planning a trip or trying to coordinate with someone on a meetup or an event. You can use it to refer to your calendar or upcoming appointments without pressing the menu bar icon each time.