How to Edit Share Menu on Mac

How to Edit Share Menu on Mac

A share menu plays an essential role in any operating system. If it is broken or inconsistent (Hey Android, look at you), it takes away the experience of using the device. After all, the Share menu is one of your most used interfaces on mobile and desktop. As for macOS, Apple offers a standard Share menu for sending items. It also allows you to customize the share menu according to your preferences and needs.


Ediit share menu on Mac

Some may wonder why someone would need to change the Share menu on Mac? Well, by using a custom share menu on the operating system, you can make sure you have a consistent sharing experience. And unlike iOS, Apple is flexible to let you change these details on Mac.

In this article, we will explain how to change share menu on Mac, how it works on different apps, and how to add third party apps to share menu on Mac. Let’s start.

Change the share menu on Mac

The standard share menu on Mac comes with integration of proprietary apps like Reminders, Apple Notes, Mail, and Airdrop. But if you are like me and use Mail, Reminders, Apple Notes alternatives on Mac, the default options won’t work for you.

In such cases, you should lower the default options of the share menu and put your preferred options on top. Follow the steps below to make changes.

Step 1: Tap the Apple logo in the top left corner.


System Preferences

2nd step: Access System Preferences.

Step 3: Go to extensions.


Extensions

Step 4: Scroll down to the Share menu and you will see all the relevant options on the right side.

Step 5: Deactivate the ones you no longer need. You can also use drag and drop to move your favorite sharing extensions to the top.


Share menu

From now on, whenever you try to share a file on Mac, you will see your custom share menu.

Any changes made to this menu are applied immediately and to all files. Normally, the share menu will only show you the relevant options that apply to a file. For example, the Add to Playlist option won’t appear when you right-click on an image, so you don’t have to worry about the clutter of the share menu.

The options that appear in the Extensions preference are for apps that support the share menu on macOS. If an app doesn’t support the share menu, you can’t force it to appear in this list. You’ll need to ask the developer to consider adding support for the macOS share menu in the future update.

When it comes to stock apps and their sharing options, there’s no way to force them either. These are mostly apps that you can’t uninstall from macOS, like the Messages app, so they’ll show up in the share menu whether you like it or not.

Quickly access the share menu

If you don’t want to go through a long process to change the share menu on Mac, you can always take a shortcut and quickly access the menu.


Quick sharing

Open Finder and select any file. Right click on it and select Share. Scroll down to More, and it will directly open the Share expansion menu in system preferences.

I don’t see a third-party app in the Share menu

You cannot access social media apps from the share menu on Mac. However, you can easily place note-taking apps in the share menu. If you don’t see them in the Share extension screen, follow the tip below to add OneNote and Evernote likes to the share list.

Step 1: Tap the Apple logo in the top left corner.

2nd step: Access System Preferences.

Step 3: Go to Extensions> Added Extensions.


System Preferences


Step 4:
Enable the Share menu extension for third-party apps.


Add a sharing extension

You will now see them in the Share extension menu and easily access the preferred app from the Share menu.

Limitations of the current share menu

The macOS share menu was previously a flexible solution and a central hub for all social media sharing needs such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. However, starting with macOS Mojave, Apple has slowed down social integration in the share menu.

The company is spelling out security reasons behind the decision to restrict social apps from the macOS share menu. Starting with macOS Mojave and the newer operating system, Apple has completely removed the integration of Facebook and Twitter. Even if you install Tweetbot or Tweetdeck (from the App Store), you still won’t find entries for these official apps. So how do you easily share with your social networks?

You will need to follow the usual route for sharing items from Mac file manager to social media. Open the app and go to the compose option. Add media from the following menu.

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Share files wherever you are

By using the trick above, you can easily customize the Share menu on Mac to suit your preferences. However, keep in mind that this will not work with Facebook or Twitter or other third party social media apps. We hope Apple will revise the decision soon. What apps do you use frequently in the Share menu? Share your usage in the comments section below.

Then:

The Mac Dock is more than a standard menu bar at the bottom of macOS. Read the article to learn how to customize Dock on Mac.

Last updated Sep 30, 2020

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