How to get Launchpad back on macOS 26 Tahoe
Apple removed Launchpad in macOS 26. Here's what replaced it, why there's no switch to turn it back on, and how to get the full-screen grid, your folders, F4 and the pinch back.
What happened to Launchpad
In macOS 26 Tahoe, Apple took Launchpad out of the Mac. Its place went to the Apps view in Spotlight, which lists your apps and groups them into categories Apple chooses.
What most people miss is what Launchpad let them do themselves:
- a full-screen grid of every app, in pages you swipe through, like an iPad;
- folders you make by dropping one app on another, and an order that stays the way you left it;
- opening it with the F4 (Launchpad) key, a hot corner or a pinch on the trackpad.
Can you turn the old Launchpad back on?
No. There's no setting in System Settings that brings it back, and Launchpad isn't something you can download from Apple. Older guides that suggest Terminal commands were written for earlier macOS versions. On macOS 26 you have two real choices: use the Apps view, or install an app that rebuilds the grid.
Your options
1. Use the Apps view and Spotlight (free, built in)
If you mostly open apps by typing their name, Spotlight (⌘ Space) and the Apps view do the job. They're the right choice if you never used Launchpad's folders or pages.
2. Install a Launchpad replacement
If you want your own grid and folders back, a few Mac apps rebuild Launchpad for macOS 26. LaunchOS is one of them and stays close to the original's look. CubbyPad, which we make, brings back the grid and adds a search bar that does more, and folders sorted for you by Apple Intelligence. Try whichever fits how you work.
Getting Launchpad back with CubbyPad
- Download CubbyPad, open the DMG and drag CubbyPad into Applications. It needs macOS 26 or later.
- Open it. The first time, macOS says it can't verify the app, because CubbyPad isn't distributed through Apple. Click Done, then go to System Settings › Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. You only do this once. The help page has the details.
- Buy a license and paste the key into Settings › License. It's a one-time purchase with Solo for 1 Mac or Duo for 2 Macs.
- The welcome lets you choose how to open it: ⇧ ⌘ Space (or ⌘ Space once you turn off Spotlight's shortcut), the F4 key, a hot corner, or a three-finger pinch.
Getting your old folders back
If your Mac still has the layout from the old Launchpad (from macOS 15, before you updated), CubbyPad brings your pages and folders over the first time it opens. You can also do it later from Settings.
Starting fresh? Drag one app onto another to make a folder, as you did in Launchpad, or let Settings › Layout › Organize sort every app into folders by what it's for. You see the folders before anything changes, and Undo puts your old layout back.
Getting F4 and the pinch back
In CubbyPad's Settings › Opening, turn on the F4 key (it's the Launchpad key on older keyboards and the Spotlight key on newer ones), Pinch to open (spread your fingers to close it again) and a Hot corner on any display. Use one or all of them.
What CubbyPad adds that Launchpad never had
- Search that does things: initials (
gcfinds Google Chrome), sums (24*18), System Settings pages (“dark mode”), your Shortcuts and an app's recent files. - Search by voice, or say what you want to do (“edit photos”) and Apple Intelligence suggests apps, on your Mac.
- A row of the apps you usually open at this time of day.
- Work and Personal layouts that switch with your Focus, and the same grid on your other Mac through iCloud Drive.
- Cleanup, which finds apps you haven't opened in months and the space they take.
Choose Solo for 1 Mac or Duo for 2 Macs. Both are one-time purchases with every feature and every 1.x update. See pricing.