Last month, Apple announced MacOS 26 Tahoe, the next big update to the Mac operating system. While it comes with a lot of new features, including Liquid Glass -Interface, Live activities and a powerful new spotlight, the update also killed a feature that has lived on Mac for over a decade.
With MacOS 26, Apple Launchpad replaced with a new app -Launcher integrated with spotlight. But if you are like me and Miss Launchpad, there is a way to bring it back.
For those who are unknown, Launchpad on Mac is essentially a “Home screen” that shows all the apps you have installed, just like on the iPhone and iPad. It was introduced with OS X Lion in 2010 at a time when Apple would bring more of the iPad experience to Mac.
While some users never got used to having launchpad on their Mac, I always liked to have a way to organize my apps that I would. For example, launchpad lets me create multiple pages and place apps in folders, so I don’t have to remember the name of an app I rarely use; I just have to remember where it is in Launchpad.
But MacOS 26 has changed it as the list of apps is now integrated into Spotlight, so you have to search for everything. While the new interface is definitely more minimalist, it does not let users organize apps as they want.
The new limelight is so powerful that it replaces Launchpad on your Mac.
Apple
How to bring launchpad back in macOS 26
Fortunately, there is a way to turn this, at least for now. If you run MacOS 26 beta on your Mac and want a launch plate back, just follow these steps. A warning word: mess with commands in terminal, especially sudo (Superuser does) Command, is not a casual users to do as it can cause problems for your machine and require a reinstallation of us. And we recommend backing up your files before installing a beta for the same reason.
- Open the terminal app inside Applications> Tools.
- Write the following command and hit return: sudo mkdir -p/library/preferences/function flags/domain
- Enter your MAC’s password and tap Return (you must be logged into an admin account)
- Write the following command and hit return: sudo standards Write /library/preferences/featureflags/domain/spotlightui.plist spotlightplus -dict enabled -kol false
- Reboot your Mac
Once you’ve done that, you can use Launchpad again in MacOS 26 beta. However, this command also brings back the old spotlight experience without the improvements introduced with MacOS 26, such as clipboard history and integration with the shortcut app.
If you want to return to the new spotlight (and consequently disable launchpad), repeat all the same steps above, but enter the following command instead:
sudo standards Write /library/preferences/featureflags/domain/spotlightui.plist spotlightplus -dict enabled -køl sand
Remember that while this trick works on MacOS 26 Beta 3, Apple may break it in future versions of macOS. MacOS 26 will be released to the public in the fall. A public beta is expected to be available in the next few days.