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10.7: Cleaning up the Launchpad
Authored by: ceej on Jul 29, '11 12:03:25AM

Apps which never appear in the /Applications folder path will never appear in Launchpad. (That path includes ~/Applications.) This suggests a number of possibilities for limiting the apps in Launchpad. With proper planning prior to upgrading to Lion, the user could, with fairly little trouble, relocate the apps they don't want in Launchpad and they will never show up there.

If you've already upgraded to Lion, the solution is actually pretty simple. As a variation on the suggestion above, just copy your entire Applications folder to a different location and then delete the copied items that you DO want in Launchpad. Then, go in to /Applications, select the apps you DO NOT want in Launchpad (or Select All and cmd-click the apps you DO want in Launchpad), drag them to the Trash and empty it. The deleted apps are removed from Launchpad and the only ones left are those in the /Applications (and ~/Applications) folder path. Put the other apps folder where you want it and put any new apps there.

Another note: While Apple apps in the /Applications/Utilities folder are already added to Launchpad, other items in the Utilities folder are not. I discovered this when I installed some apps directly into that folder and couldn't find them in Launchpad. I had to move them to Applications to make them show up in Launchpad, after which I just move them back and Launchpad continued to see them and launch them properly. (Because of permissions, I actually had to copy/delete, but same difference.) The owner of Utilities is "System" which is perhaps why it acts differently with Launchpad. So if you know how to make the owner of a folder "System," you can, if I'm right, create a folder in the /Applications path the contents of which Launchpad will never see. (You can not select "System" as a user via the Get Info UI and I don't know how to do it from the command line. I'm sure someone here does.)

And I completely agree with those who criticize Launchpad for it's poor configuration UI. I suspect that just as with the iPhone OS, Apple will eventually get around to providing better configuration interface. The tips here provide useful workarounds, but the real solution is an improved user interface.



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