The Emoji and Symbol Shortcut
In macOS, the “Character Viewer” is a hidden floating window that allows you to easily insert emojis, mathematical symbols, arrows, and special foreign characters into any text field. While you can always summon this viewer using the keyboard shortcut Control + Command + Space, macOS also allows you to place a dedicated “Character Viewer” icon directly in your top menu bar for easy mouse access. This is incredibly useful for users who constantly rely on special characters but cannot remember the keyboard shortcut.
However, if you have already memorized the Control + Command + Space shortcut, or if you simply rarely use emojis and special symbols while working on your Mac, this menu bar icon is entirely redundant. As menu bar space is limited (especially on MacBooks with a camera notch), keeping shortcuts for features you don’t frequently click is a waste of screen real estate. To keep your menu bar clean and focused on essential system statuses, you should remove the Character Viewer icon.
How to Hide the Character Viewer Icon
You can remove the Character Viewer from the menu bar via the Keyboard settings.
- Click the Apple Logo in the top-left corner of your screen and select System Settings… (or System Preferences).
- Scroll down the left-hand sidebar and click on Keyboard.
- In the right-hand pane, look under the Text Input section.
- Locate the entry for Input Sources and click the Edit… button next to it.
- A new window will slide down. Look for the toggle switch labelled Show Input menu in menu bar (which governs the Character Viewer visibility).
- Click the toggle switch to turn it Off.
- Click Done.
The small icon will immediately disappear from your menu bar. (Note: You can still summon the Character Viewer at any time by pressing Control + Command + Space on your keyboard).