Image: June Wan/ZDNET.
Launchpad is a handy tool for quickly finding and launching the apps you use most. But when the number of these applications multiplies, it becomes easy to get lost.
Fortunately, macOS makes it easy to group your apps in Launchpad. This feature, similar to what GNOME developers did with the Activity Overview, allows you to create folders to group related applications.
Take the example of the LibreOffice suite, which has many applications – Writer, Calc, Base, Draw, Impress, Math and LibreOffice itself. You can group them in a single “Office” folder – or simply “LibreOffice” – so that the entire suite occupies a single space instead of seven. You can also group your games, your financial applications in the same folder , your utilities, etc.
To use this feature, you must have a Mac with an up-to-date version of macOS. Below you will find the steps to follow to group your applications in the Launchpad.
1. Open the launchpad
First, log in to macOS. Once logged in, click on Launchpad. It is located on the dock and appears as a mosaic of squares of all colors:
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET.
Once you open Launchpad, you will see the icons for all your applications.
2. Group apps
To group apps, drag one icon over the other. A folder is then created.
Be careful, if you move too many applications to the same folder and exceed the allowed limit, your application icon will simply be moved, and not in the folder.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET.
3. Rename the folder
When a folder is created, it opens to reveal the applications it contains. A folder name is automatically generated by macOS. For example, if I group the apps iMovie and GarageBand, there’s a good chance macOS will name the folder “Video.”
If this name doesn’t suit me – for example, because I want to add applications to the folder that have another use – I can click on it to enter a new folder name.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET.
4. Add other apps
Once the name is personalized, click outside the folder to return to the inside of the Launchpad. You can then drag the icons of other applications that you want to include in the folder.
Create as many folders as you want, until your Launchpad is organized enough that you can find your favorite apps in the blink of an eye. This reorganization should take you a few minutes.
Then, all you have to do is take advantage of the time you will save daily when launching your applications.
Source: ZDNet.com