When you browse the web using Safari on a Mac, you will notice that whenever your mouse cursor hovers over a clickable link, a small grey bar appears at the very bottom-left corner of the browser window. This status bar displays the full destination URL of the link you are hovering over. From a security standpoint, this is an incredibly valuable feature, as it allows you to verify that a link is actually taking you to the legitimate website it claims to represent before you click on it.
However, if you are working on a smaller screen, reading a dense article, or recording a screencast tutorial, that constantly flashing grey bar appearing and disappearing at the bottom of your screen can become a significant visual distraction. If you prefer a completely clean, minimalist browsing experience, you can disable this link preview feature.
Disabling the Status Bar in Safari
Apple refers to this specific feature as the “Status Bar.” Turning it off is a simple matter of clicking a single toggle in the main menu.
- Open the Safari web browser on your Mac.
- Ensure you have a Safari window currently active and selected.
- Look at the very top menu bar on your screen (next to the Apple logo) and click on View.
- Look down the dropdown menu until you find the option labelled Hide Status Bar.
- Click on it.
The change is immediate. You can test it by moving your mouse cursor over any hyperlink on the current webpage. The small grey URL preview box at the bottom of the window will no longer appear.
Re-enabling the Status Bar for Security
If you later receive a suspicious email in your webmail client and need to verify where a button or link actually leads, you should temporarily turn the feature back on to protect yourself from phishing attempts.
- Click on View in the top menu bar.
- Click on Show Status Bar (which has now replaced the “Hide” option).
The feature will instantly activate again, allowing you to safely inspect links before interacting with them.