# Organize your Mac app grid by icon color

CubbyPad can sort the grid by icon color. It is a useful visual arrangement when color helps you find apps, but it changes the positions you may already remember.

By [Rudra Satani](https://cubbypad.com/about/), maker of CubbyPad · 26 October 2026

## A visual order can make browsing easier

People recognize applications in different ways. If you often remember a red icon before remembering its name, a color sort may make a crowded grid easier to browse. It also gives the pages a consistent visual rhythm.

Color is not the same as purpose. Two similarly colored icons may belong to completely different kinds of software. If you usually think in tasks, named folders or a work layout may be a more useful starting point.

## Try the sort before committing to it

1. Back up an arrangement you want to keep.

1. Right-click empty space in CubbyPad.

1. Choose sorting by icon color.

1. Find a few apps you use every day.

1. Press Command–Z if the new order is less useful.

## Consider your memory of positions

A fresh sort moves icons away from positions you may already know. Judge the result by how reliably you can find things, not just how the first page looks. Name, date added, last opened and most used are other available sorting choices.

## Color sorting and icon packs solve different problems

Sorting changes the order of the grid. An icon pack changes its appearance. CubbyPad’s Dot and Smoked packs give apps a shared style, which may make original icon colors less useful as a visual cue. Choose a presentation and arrangement that remain readable together.

Published by CubbyPad’s maker. See [about CubbyPad](https://cubbypad.com/about/) for the author and product details. For corrections, [get in touch](https://cubbypad.com/contact/).

## Put it into practice.

[Guide

### Organize apps into folders automatically

Preview the folders before anything moves, then keep the result or put the old grid back with Undo.

Read guide ↗](https://cubbypad.com/guides/organize/)[Guide

### Change the look of CubbyPad

Start with a preset, choose a background, and adjust icon size, spacing, labels, icon packs and the way the grid opens.

Read guide ↗](https://cubbypad.com/guides/customize/)[Guide

### Move apps and make folders

Drag apps into place, move a group together, rename a folder and hide an app without removing it from your Mac.

Read guide ↗](https://cubbypad.com/guides/folders/)

## More on app organization.

[### Smart folders or manual folders for your Mac apps?

Manual folders keep the apps you put in them. CubbyPad’s smart folders update for categories such as Recently Installed, Not Opened Lately and Games.

Read article ↗](https://cubbypad.com/blog/smart-folders-vs-manual-app-folders/)[### Move several apps between grid pages at once

Command-click selects several apps in CubbyPad so you can move the group together. Use it when a new folder or page needs more than one icon.

Read article ↗](https://cubbypad.com/blog/move-multiple-apps-between-pages-mac/)[### Undo app grid changes before starting over

Command–Z reverses CubbyPad arrangement changes. Use a saved layout backup when you need a recovery point that survives a larger reorganization or a move to another Mac.

Read article ↗](https://cubbypad.com/blog/undo-mac-app-grid-changes/)

## Make room for your apps.

Every feature. One-time purchase. Made for macOS 26.

[Find your plan](https://cubbypad.com/pricing/)

Source: https://cubbypad.com/blog/organize-mac-apps-by-icon-color/