Hide macOS Tahoe's Menu Icons

Recorded: March 21, 2026, 10 p.m.

Original

Summarized

Hide macOS Tahoe's Menu Icons With This One Simple Trick - 512 Pixels

About
Now
Projects

6K macOS Wallpapers
macOS Screenshot Library
Dogcow History
The iMac G3
Performa Month
My Gear
Podcast →
iOS Apps →

Merch
Follow

Hide macOS Tahoe’s Menu Icons With This One Simple Trick ⇢

March 21, 2026 ⌘ Permalink Stephen Hackett

I really dislike Apple’s choice to clutter macOS Tahoe’s menus with icons. It makes menus hard to scan, and a bunch of the icons Apple has chosen make no sense and are inconsistent between system applications.
Steve Troughton-Smith is my hero for finding a Terminal command to disable them:

Here’s one for the icons-in-menus haters on macOS Tahoe:
defaults write -g NSMenuEnableActionImages -bool NO
It even preserves the couple of instances you do want icons, like for window zoom/resize.

Your apps will respect this change after relaunching. I ran this a few minutes ago and already appreciate the change. I really think Apple should roll this change back in macOS 27, or offer a proper setting to disable these icons for those of us who find them distracting.

Post navigation
← Previous Post

About:
512 Pixels is a blog about things that light up and make noise, written by Stephen Hackett.

Merch:
Snag a nerdy shirt (or six!) from the 512 Merch Store.

The article, penned by Stephen Hackett and published on his blog, 512 Pixels, addresses a persistent user frustration regarding the inclusion of icons within macOS Tahoe’s menu bars. Hackett expresses a personal dislike for Apple’s design choice, arguing that the icons contribute to menu clutter, impede efficient scanning of menu options, and demonstrate a lack of consistency across Apple’s various system applications. He specifically highlights the perceived illogical nature of several of the icons implemented. The core of the piece centers around a Terminal command—`defaults write -g NSMenuEnableActionImages -bool NO`—suggested and championed by Steve Troughton-Smith, a well-regarded macOS designer and developer, as a straightforward solution to eliminate these icons.

This command effectively disables the display of action images within macOS Tahoe’s menus. Importantly, the solution retains the functionality of the icons for specific, acknowledged use-cases, such as those related to window zoom and resizing. Following execution of the command, applications will respond to the change and cease displaying the extraneous icons. Hackett reports that he implemented the change shortly before writing the article and immediately perceived a positive impact, confirming his belief that Apple should seriously consider reverting this design choice in future macOS versions, potentially by offering a dedicated user setting to control icon visibility.

The article includes a brief biography of Stephen Hackett and his blog, 512 Pixels, positioning it as a platform dedicated to exploring “things that light up and make noise.” It also directs readers towards a merchandise store offering branded apparel. The content concludes with copyright information, attributing the writing to Hackett Technical Media, LLC, and specifying that the blog was created and maintained in Memphis, Tennessee.