The menu bar is a great place to keep apps within reach, but it can quickly get too crowded. There are ways to manage it, such as apps that hide selected icons, but another way is to just reduce the gap between them.

Menu Bar Spacing does just that. It essentially takes a command that is normally triggered via Terminal and makes it much more accessible, while also eliminating the need to sign out and back in. Should you need to, it allows you to increase icon spacing as well.

The app couldn’t be simpler. It consists of a small UI that includes just one slider, with the option to revert to the default setting at any time. All you have to do is move the slider left or right to reduce or increase spacing.

Once you’ve switched to a new setting, all apps that have menu bar icons will be relaunched automatically. This way, you won’t have to log out and back in, which is normally required when changing spacing via Terminal.

One somewhat annoying quirk is that the new setting is taken into account after keeping the slider in a certain position for a second or so, instead of when you let go. As a result, you may end up relaunching apps accidentally before deciding on a value.

The nice thing is that you don’t need to keep the app running at all times. Once you’ve changed the default spacing, the setting will be remembered in macOS.

Of course, there are other menu bar customizers that offer this feature, but this is a lightweight alternative for users who want to change icon spacing and nothing else. It’s free, doesn’t need to be kept running, and gets the job done with no fuss.