How to Add the Input Menu to the Mac Menu Bar

The Input menu is the small flag-or-glyph item in the menu bar that shows which keyboard layout you're typing in — and switches between them. If you type in more than one language, it's essential; even if you don't, it's the front door to two underrated tools, the Keyboard Viewer and the emoji palette. Here's how to turn it on and what it can do.

Turn on the Input menu

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard.
2. Under Text Input, next to Input Sources, click Edit….
3. Turn on Show Input menu in menu bar.

The menu appears immediately, showing an icon for your current layout. The path is the same on macOS 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, and 15 Sequoia. Turning the same toggle off removes it — that's the undo. One shortcut worth knowing: the moment you add a second input source with the + button in that Edit sheet, macOS switches the menu on for you automatically, since a hidden layout switcher helps nobody.

What lives in the menu

• Your input sources — click any layout or input method to switch instantly. The menu bar icon changes to match, which is the fastest way to catch "why is my typing coming out wrong" before you've typed a full sentence in the wrong alphabet.
• Show Emoji & Symbols — opens the full character palette, deeper than the Ctrl+Cmd+Space popup, with search across every Unicode block.
• Show Keyboard Viewer — a live on-screen keyboard that highlights keys as you press them. Hold Option or Option+Shift with it open and it reveals where every special character hides on your current layout.
• Open Keyboard Settings… — straight back to the pane above when you want to add or remove layouts.

Switch layouts without the mouse

Once you have two or more sources, the keyboard shortcuts matter more than the menu: Ctrl+Space flips to your previous input source, and Ctrl+Option+Space cycles through all of them in order. Both are listed — and reassignable — under System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Input Sources. If you switch dozens of times a day between two languages, Ctrl+Space becomes as automatic as Cmd+Tab; the menu bar item then serves mostly as the visual confirmation of where you landed.

Two checkboxes worth flipping while you're there

The same Edit sheet that shows the Input menu toggle holds two settings that decide how sane a multilingual Mac feels. Automatically switch to a document's input source makes macOS remember which layout you used in each document or field and restore it when you return — the difference between fluid bilingual work and constantly typing three words in the wrong script. If your layouts include a non-Latin one, you may also see Use the Caps Lock key to switch to and from ABC, which turns the least useful key on the board into a dedicated language flip; many people find it faster than Ctrl+Space because it needs no chord.

And a note of reassurance for anyone who arrived here because the Input menu appeared uninvited: adding any second input source — sometimes done accidentally through a dialog — switches the menu on. Remove the extra source in the same Edit sheet, and if you want the menu gone too, the toggle is right there. With one input source and the toggle off, the icon stays away for good.

See your keyboard's hidden characters

The Keyboard Viewer you just found in the Input menu deserves five minutes of play — the Keyboard Viewer guide shows how to use it to learn every Option-key character your layout has been hiding from you.