Launchpad is an easy way to find and open apps on your Mac. You can even arrange and organize your apps into folders.
Open an app
Launchpad’s major drawback is how little you can customise it – in particular, you can’t manually remove any app icons from your Launchpad. All of the system apps are permanent Launchpad fixtures, even if you never launch them, and any app that finds its way into your Mac’s ‘Applications’ folder gets added to Launchpad automatically.
- Click the Launchpad icon in the Dock, or pinch closed with your thumb and three fingers on your trackpad. Then click an app to open it.
- You can also type an app's name to find the app in Launchpad, then press the Return key to open it.
- To close Launchpad without opening an app, click the background, or pinch open your thumb and three fingers.
Organize apps
![Mac how to add app to launchpad classlink Mac how to add app to launchpad classlink](/uploads/1/3/4/2/134250156/485186637.png)
How to add app to launchpad whatfix. Unsubscribe from whatfix? Mac OS X - How to Add and Remove Icons / Apps From Toolbar - Duration: 2:14. Anson Alexander 219,033 views. Add the app to Launchpad: Open finder, navigate to your app and drag it onto the Launchpad icon in your dock. This will add the app to the Launchpad onto the first free spot in the Launchpad, so either check all pages to find it or simply use the search at the top of the Launchpad page. Make sure the app is compatible with your Mac OS X.
- Arrange apps: Drag an app to a new location.
- Create a folder: Drag an app onto another app.
- Close a folder: Click outside the folder.
- Rename a folder: Open a folder and click its name. Then enter a new name.
- Installing apps on your Mac is simple. Here’s how: Open the app’s window Launch App Store from the Dock, click your preferred window from the top (Top Charts for this example), and click your preferred app’s icon either from the Top Paid or Top Free section (MKPlayer – Media Player from Top Free for this example). This opens the app’s.
- Apps that you download from the App Store automatically appear in Launchpad. Add an app that you didn’t download from the App Store: Drag the app to the Applications folder in the Finder on your Mac. The app is then shown in Launchpad.
Add or remove an app
- Apps that you download from the App Store or that are included with macOS automatically appear in Launchpad. If you download an app from another source, you can add it to Launchpad by moving the app to your Applications folder.
- Learn how to delete an app from your Mac, which also removes the app from Launchpad.
Some of you are probably wondering, like I did, why some of your applications aren't available in Launchpad. You launch Launchpad and wonder, 'Why isn't Microsoft Word showing up in Launchpad?' or 'Why isn't Quicken in Launchpad?' or 'Why isn't my favorite app that I keep on my Desktop not in Launchpad?' There are a variety of reasons that an app may not appear in Launchpad.
Apps Outside the Applications Directory
Launchpad automatically grabs all applications in your root /Applications directory and in your /User/username/Applications directory. If you keep some of your apps in other locations, they won't appear in Launchpad automatically. To add them to Launchpad, simply drag the app onto the Launchpad icon in the Dock. (Thanks to Eric S for the tip.) Or move the application to your main Applications directory or to your user Applications directory. Or make an alias of it and put the alias inside your Applications directory.
PowerPC Apps
Install apps from mac to ipad. In Lion, PPC apps have a white 'NO' symbol across the icon
In some cases, it's because the application in question is a PowerPC-only app and won't run on your computer under Lion, which did away with Rosetta. Only apps that are Intel or Universal Binary can run under Lion, and Launchpad only shows applications that can actually run on your computer.
You can tell if this is the case by going into your Applications directory, and looking at the applications icon. PPC-only apps will have a white 'NO' symbol superimposed atop the icon. In the screenshot at right, you can see that my Retrospect 6.1 has the white 'NO' symbol — telling me that I'll have to upgrade Retrospect or find a different backup program, because Retrospect 6.1 won't run under Lion.
The solution? Unfortunately, the best solution is to bite the bullet and update your PPC apps to newer versions. You could keep a boot drive handy with Snow Leopard on it, and boot from that to run a PPC app. Or you could hack Snow Leopard to make it run under Parallels, but let's not even go there. https://mvvemo.weebly.com/blog/cant-update-or-delete-app-mac.
Once you update your PPC apps to a newer, Intel or Universal Binary version, they'll appear in Launchpad just like any other application.
Yeah, I know, when it's big-ticket applications such as Microsoft Word, having to spend the money for a newer version bites, especially if you were happy with the old version. But if you're bleeding-edge enough that you've already updated to Lion, you should be bleeding-edge enough to keep your applications more current. I've found that it's generally a bad idea to get more than one version behind with any of my important applications. I might skip a version, but then when another version comes out, I go ahead and upgrade. Then when I get a new computer or a new big-cat operating system, the upgrade isn't quite so painful.
Windows Apps
Mac Launchpad Settings
In other cases, it's because the app in question is a Windows app that you use under Parallels or VMWare. I couldn't wait to stop Launchpad from showing me the gazillion Windows apps in my 3 Windows installations under Parallels, but you might want the opposite.
The solution is to go into your virtual machine configuration, Options -> Applications, and check the box to 'Share Windows applications with Mac.' How to change default pdf app on mac.
To make Windows applications appear in Launchpad, check the box to 'Share Windows applications with Mac'
Drill-Down Apps
You might find that your application is located in a subdirectory inside a subdirectory inside a subdirectory in your Applications directory. How to add google apps on mac launchpad. If that's the case, it's probably in some random application 'group' that Launchpad helpfully created for you. If the app is in an application group in Launchpad, you don't have to physically move it around in your Applications directory; you can simply go into Launchpad and drag it out of the group.
Update: Or you can simply drag the app onto the Launchpad icon in the Dock, and it will appear in Launchpad. (Thanks to Eric S. for that tip in the comments below.)
Or you can make an alias of the app and put that in the top level of the Applications directory. Then the alias will appear in Launchpad just like any other application.
Did I Miss Any?
How To Add An App To Mac Launchpad
Are you aware of any other instances when an application doesn't show up in Launchpad? If you are, let us know by using the comment box below their website.
Mac How To Add App To Launchpad
Related: