One of the first things I did after setting up my new Mac was install Itsycal, a small but powerful calendar application that's pinned to the menu bar. I use it to replace the more restrictive default calendar on my Mac, and it serves as a quick and easy-to-access calendar whenever I need to plan something, confirm a deadline, or find the day's events.
Itsycal is small, free, and open source. While there are other options for Mac calendar apps and menu bar utilities (Dato is a popular one), they are either paid or quite complex. If you want something simple and enjoyable, set up Itsycal.
CustomizeItsycal
Itsycal's default settings will display the date, an overview of the current month, and the current day's calendar appointments in a menu bar icon. But there are some tweaks that can make the app even better.
First, let's customize the menu bar icon. Open the Itsycal app (it's just a menu bar utility, so you won't see the 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 your system clock, you can disable it from the system settings so you don't see it twice. Go to Control Center > Clock Options and select Never for the Show date option and disable the Show days of the week feature. Now the system clock will only show the time.
When you edit the appearance of Itsycal, I also recommend that you increase the calendar size and use the Saturday and Sunday highlighting feature to differentiate between weekends.
From the "General" section you can select the first day of the week and switch it to Monday if you wish. Here you can also connect to your calendar application and choose which calendar events are displayed in Itsycal.
You can also record Itsycal's keyboard shortcuts here so you can open your calendar without even touching your mouse.
Sync with calendar app
The default Itsycal setting only shows 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 another month.
Itsycal works well with the native calendar application on the Mac, so events created in the calendar application will appear immediately in Itsycal. You can click the plus button in Itsycal to create a new event using native calendar application input (including video call link and calendar selection). Clicking the Calendar button at the bottom can even open the macOS Calendar app.
I'll give you one last tip: If you press the Pin icon in the bottom bar, Itsycal will now float at the top of the screen and stay there no matter what you do. I find this to be essential when planning a trip or trying to coordinate with someone at a party or event. You can use it to refer to your calendar or upcoming appointments without having to press the menu bar icon every time.
