Just like on an iPhone or iPad, your Mac also has a Control Center that you can use to control Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirDrop, and more. What's more, you can customize this Control Center as you would on other devices, though it's a bit limited.
Here's how to customize your Mac's Control Center, and even your menu bar, to just the way you like it.
Where's Control Center on a Mac?
On most iPhone or iPad models, you can access Control Center by swiping down from the top-right corner. And while you can't swipe on a Mac, Control Center is still in the top-right corner of your screen.
All you need to do is click on the Control Center icon. It's a small image of two switches that's located in the menu bar at the top. From there, you can click any item to toggle it, see more options available, or drag a slider.
For example, you can drag the Display slider to adjust your brightness or you can click it to see other options like Dark Mode, Night Shift, or True Tone.
How to Customize the Control Center on a Mac
Accessing Control Center's settings on your Mac is just as easy as on an iPhone or iPad. All you need to do is follow these steps:
- Open the Apple menu in the top-left corner.
- Select System Preferences.
- Click Dock & Menu Bar.
This is where Control Center on a Mac is different from an iPhone or iPad. As you can see in the sidebar of the Dock & Menu Bar preferences, you can choose which items to show on your Control Center and in the menu bar.
The items under the Control Center section are always in the Control Center, and you can't remove them. You can, however, choose if you want to also show them in your menu bar, which you do by clicking an item and marking Show in Menu Bar.
The items under the Other Modules section can be in both the menu bar and Control Center. You can show or hide these items from both places by clicking them and selecting Show in Menu Bar or Show in Control Center.
Last but not least, there's a section titled Menu Bar Only, which is pretty self-explanatory. As you can guess, you can't add these items to the Control Center—you can only show them in the menu bar.
Time to Take Control
As we've mentioned, the Control Center on Mac can be a little limited, but it's good to know that you can still customize to get it closer to how you want. The good news is that there are other ways to customize your Mac as well, starting with your desktop.
