# How to Show Reminders in the Menu Bar on Mac

Updated: November 12, 2026

Dato: Price: $18, one-time purchase. Platforms: macOS. Get it from: [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1470584107), [Setapp](https://go.setapp.com/stp181?refAppID=571&utm_medium=vendor_program&utm_content=button). Free trial: [download](https://sindresorhus.com/dato#trial). Requires macOS 26 or later. Free older versions for macOS 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10.15, and 10.14: [download](https://sindresorhus.com/dato#older-versions).

URL: https://sindresorhus.com/guides/show-reminders-menu-bar-mac

The Reminders app has no menu bar item. In the “Events” settings of [Dato](https://sindresorhus.com/dato), turn on “Reminders”. Then a click on Dato in the menu bar shows your reminders with a due date, between your calendar events. Without an app, add a Reminders widget to the desktop or to Notification Center.

## With Dato

1. Open the settings of [Dato](https://sindresorhus.com/dato), and click “Events”.
1. Turn on “Reminders”. If Dato shows “Not authorized”, click “Authorize…” to give it access to your reminders.
1. Optional: click “Choose Lists…” to show only some of your reminder lists.
1. Click Dato in the menu bar. The reminders show in the event list, on the day that they are due.

Dato shows the reminders that have a due date. A reminder without a date is not in the list. In the “Event list” section of the same settings, “Show reminders for” sets how many days of reminders the list shows.

- Right-click a reminder in the list, and choose “Mark as Completed”.
- To make a reminder from any app, set a keyboard shortcut for “New reminder” in the “Shortcuts” settings.
- Press Shift+Command+R in the Dato window to show or hide the reminders.
- Turn on “Upcoming event & reminder in menu bar” in the “Events” settings to see the next event or reminder directly in the menu bar. [How to show calendar events in the menu bar.](https://sindresorhus.com/guides/show-calendar-events-menu-bar-mac)

## Without an app

macOS cannot put reminders in the menu bar, but it has Reminders widgets:

1. Control-click the desktop, and choose “Edit Widgets”. For Notification Center, click the date and time in the menu bar, and click “Edit Widgets” at the bottom.
1. Search for Reminders in the widget gallery, click the widget to add it, and click “Done”.
1. To show another list, Control-click the widget, choose the Edit command, and click the highlighted list.

You can check off a reminder in the widget, and a click on the widget opens the list in the Reminders app. Apple’s instructions for [the Reminders widgets](https://support.apple.com/guide/reminders/remn83e1a96e/mac) and for [adding widgets](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchl52be5da5/mac). A widget on the desktop is behind your windows, and Notification Center is one click away, so this is enough for many people. Dato is for when you want the reminders and the calendar events of the day in one list.