Getting started

• Install and open it the first time
• Opening LaunchUS
• Importing your old Launchpad
• Organizing apps
• Search
• Trying another layout
• Changing icons
• Widgets
• Asking AI
• Backups
• Updating and uninstalling
• Still stuck?

Install and open it the first time

1. On a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later), download the default version; on an Intel Mac, the Intel version. Not sure? Apple menu › About This Mac.
2. Open LaunchUS.dmg and drag the icon into Applications.
3. If macOS says it can't verify the developer the first time, click Done, then go to System Settings › Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway near the bottom. You only do this once.

macOS stops it because we haven't paid Apple's $99-a-year developer fee, not because anything is wrong with the app. All the code is open on GitHub.

Opening LaunchUS

• Press ⌥Space (Option + Space) by default.
• Settings › Open can also turn on the F4 key, a trackpad pinch, a hot corner, or a mouse button you record and click quickly.
• Right-click an empty spot or press ⌘, for Settings.

Importing your old Launchpad

The first time it opens, LaunchUS reads your old Launchpad's order and folders by itself. To import again later, go to Settings › Organize and click Import from Launchpad. It only reads; the system's data is never changed.

Organizing apps

• Drag icons to move them; drag to the edge of the screen to change pages.
• Drop one icon on another to make a folder.
• Right-click an icon to rename it, Hide App, or Edit… for more. Hidden apps come back from Settings › Hide.
• Settings › Organize can also start fresh with everything sorted by name, and shows the apps you haven't opened in a long time.
• Tidy Suggestions in Settings › Organize shows you a preview first, then moves your most used apps to page one, gathers apps you haven't opened in months into a folder, and backs up your layout.
• Where newly installed apps go (the end of the last page, a New Apps folder, or a folder of similar apps) is also set in Settings › Organize.

Search

Just start typing once it's open; there's no need to click the search field. Press Return to open the first result.

When no app matches, ⇥ searches the web, ↩ asks AI and ⌘↩ searches in Finder. You can change these keys in Settings › Behavior › Search, and clashes are flagged. Under Custom Searches you can add your own, for example a key that sends what you typed to a translator; use {text} in the address for your words.

Trying another layout

Settings › Display switches between Full Screen and Window; Ring, Infinite Canvas and Tiles are under Experimental, and you can switch back any time. Want one setup for work and one for play? Add one in Settings › Layouts; each keeps its own order and settings.

Each layout can have its own icon, and layouts can switch by themselves by display, time of day or Focus, in Settings › Layouts.

Changing icons

Settings › Appearance › Icon Theme can import a set of pictures, and Browse Theme Gallery installs a theme from the website's gallery in one click.

Widgets

Right-click empty space and choose Add Widget…: clock, calendar, notes, to-dos, weather, parcels and more, all movable and resizable. Want something else? Install a plugin someone wrote.

Asking AI

In Settings › AI, fill in your own gateway or, on an activated Mac, turn on Public Allowance and skip the gateway. Then, when a search finds nothing, press ↩ to chat with AI in the search field.

Backups

LaunchUS backs up your layout after every change. If you've made a mess, Settings › Layout › Restore Automatic Backup takes you back. You can also export your layout to a file there and import it on another Mac.

Updating and uninstalling

LaunchUS tells you about new versions and updates itself; you can also choose Check for Updates… from its menu. To remove it, quit LaunchUS and delete it from Applications. To remove your layouts too, delete ~/Library/Application Support/LaunchUS. Your system Launchpad data was never changed, so there's nothing to restore.

Still stuck?

Have a look at the FAQ. If the answer isn't there, tell the developer in Settings › Feedback in the app (replies show up there too), or post on the forum.

In Settings › Feedback the AI Assistant answers right away; tap Resolved when that did it, or Ask the Developer if you want the developer to reply in person.