Apps not showing in Launchpad
Launchpad is a nice way to start apps in Mac OS X, especially if you are already an iOS user. However, sometimes you may not be able find your just installed app in the Launchpad. Over the course of the past year it happened to me 2 or 3 times and I remember how confused I was the first time around. Here are some tips how to resolve the issue.
Make sure the app really isn’t there: Sounds stupid, but often these kinds of mistakes just really are. At the top of each Launchpad page you’ll find a search field. Type the first letters of the app’s name in there and see if the app shows up. As Launchpad put the app’s icon into the first free spot in the Launchpad it isn’t all that hard to miss an app when you have a lot of them.
Make sure the app is actually in the Applications folder: All apps in the Application folder should be added to the Launchpad automatically. However, an app does not need to be in the Application folder in order to show up in Launchpad. You can add an app from a different location manually, see ‘Add the app to Launchpad’ below.
Make sure the app’s extension is .app rather than .App: On one occasion I downloaded some little app that did now show up in the Launchpad until I manually changed the app’s extension from capital letters to .app.
Add the app to Launchpad: Open finder, navigate to your app and drag it onto the Launchpad icon in your dock. This will add the app to the Launchpad onto the first free spot in the Launchpad, so either check all pages to find it or simply use the search at the top of the Launchpad page.
Make sure the app is compatible with your Mac OS X: Sometimes you’ll download an app that will just not work on your version of Mac OS X, often because it was designed for an earlier version of the operating system. If adding the app to the Launchpad manually doesn’t help, launch the app directly from Finder to see it even runs. Launchpad refuses to add apps that are not compatible with your version of Mac OS X.
Rebuild the Launchpad database: If nothing else helps, copy and paste this command in terminal to force a rebuild of your Launchpad database where all your Launchpad settings are stored:
rm ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db; killall Dock
Warning! Rebuilding the Launchpad database will basically restore Launchpad to default settings and add the apps in the Application folder. This means that all your settings, everything you cleaned up, moved to different pages and all subfolders that you made will be lost!
