Launchpad

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I recently upgraded from 10.6 to 10.8. I like the Launchpad feature, but it seems like it's a bit difficult to use. Most of the topics I've found about it are for 10.7, and it seems like quite a bit has changed since then.

How do I add things to the Launchpad? Hovering an icon over the Launchpad icon in the dock looks like it should work, but it never actually lets me put the app in it.

Removing non-App Store items seems to be impossible, too, but I'm much more concerned about adding apps to the Launchpad that are in my apps folder but don't appear in the Launchpad.

I can't re-name folders, either, but that's the least of my concerns.

I was going to try Launchpad-Control but it says there are serious problems with Mountain Lion.

Any help is appreciated. Maybe it's just me, but It seems like Launchpad has some potential, but without customization and ease-of-use, it's kind of pointless.

Thanks.
 
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Launch Pad is not really meant to manage your apps, it just puts them in one place for you without having to open your Applications folder.

Since it basically reflects what's in your Applications folder, you "add" things to Launch Pad by installing an application, which ends up in your Applications folder.

You can remove non-App Store applications by opening your Applications folder in Finder and dragging the app to the trash.

In short, all your app management happens in Finder, Launch Pad is just for opening your apps.
 
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I have done a blog post on that but haven't published it yet, so here's a sneak preview

Zap Launchpad

Launchpad stores it's list of icons in a database in a folder in MyHomeFolder > Library > Application Support > Dock. You can delete all the icons in that database by opening up Terminal (Applications > Utilities) and pasting in this command:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from apps; \DELETE from groups WHERE title<>''; DELETE from items WHERE rowid>2;" \&& killall Dock

termonal-command1.png


Now when you go into Launchpad you will have no icons, zero, nada.

A clean slate, now what?

Now you can just drag the icons you want to LaunchPad's doc icon. Once done you can organize your LaunchPad screens how you see fit, without having to manually delete the dozens of never used apps that had previously cluttered LaunchPad. Of course, new applications downloaded through the app store or downloaded manually will be added in future, but that's far easier the the mess that was LaunchPad you had to contend with before.

drag-to-dock.png
 
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SilverEagle5
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Launchpad stores it's list of icons in a database in a folder in MyHomeFolder > Library > Application Support > Dock. You can delete all the icons in that database by opening up Terminal (Applications > Utilities) and pasting in this command:
That command gave me an error and didn't clear my launchpad. I copied and pasted exactly what you posted. Am I missing something?

1] 764
sqlite3: Error: too many options: "DELETE from apps; \DELETE from groups WHERE title<>''; DELETE from items WHERE rowid>2;"
Use -help for a list of options.
[1]+ Exit 1 sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from apps; \DELETE from groups WHERE title<>''; DELETE from items WHERE rowid>2;" \&

Launch Pad is not really meant to manage your apps, it just puts them in one place for you without having to open your Applications folder.
There are things in my Applications folder that do not appear in the Launchpad, which is the main reason for me asking. Also, there are things inside folders in my Applications folder that I would like to have grouped in Launchpad to reduce clutter.
 

vansmith

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Looks like louishen accidentally copied over the slashes. Try this instead:
Code:
sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from apps; DELETE from groups WHERE title<>''; DELETE from items WHERE rowid>2;" && killall Dock

Before you do that though, to play it safe, copy the database to your Desktop for safe keeping in case anything goes wrong:
Code:
cp ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db ~/Desktop/
 
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Anything in your Applications folder should be in Launch Pad as well, however, things aren't added to Launch Pad alphabetically as they are in the Finder. So things may be out of order and there may even be an Launch Pad screen with very few or no icons on it followed by more pages. If you're running Mountain Lion, you could try using the search field at the top of the Launch Pad screen.
 

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