I’m attempting to create a log-in window inside an NSMenu (attached to the an

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Editorial Team

Asked: May 25, 20262026-05-25T17:58:37+00:00 2026-05-25T17:58:37+00:00

I’m attempting to create a log-in window inside an NSMenu (attached to the an NSStatusItem in the menu bar).

I have blank NSMenuItems in the menu. I then set the views of the menu items to NSTextFields.

It ends up looking like this:

enter image description here

The textfields also interact strangely. Clicking on them only gives them focus (so you can enter text) about 30% of the time.

So, I’m wondering:

-How do do I make these look better? How do I control the padding, etc?

-What’s with the clicking behavior I described above? Typing only works 30% of the time.

-Are there any other apps that use such a statusbar item as a field? I’d like to take a look.

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Editorial Team · Answer 1 · 2026-05-25T17:58:37+00:00

To answer your actual question instead of discussing the UI design…

Alternative:
Consider using the MAAttachedWindow project from Matt Gemmel:
Download the use an MAAttachedWindow with an NSStatusItem example.

Link:
http://mattgemmell.com/source/index.html

Quickly created example:
Screenshot Login Window

Used controls:
– NSTextField (Focus:None DrawsBackground:No TextColor:White)
– NSButton (Bezel:Recessed)
– NSLabel (TextColor:White)

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