[Solved] How to Remove App (Icons) from Launchpad Completely on Mac (2023)

Note: All the apps downloaded from App Store and apps you added into the Applications folder on Mac will appear in Launchpad with their icons. While you removing the app icons, the applications will also be therewith uninstalled from Mac.

Part 1. How to Remove App Icons from Launchpad Directly

To remove the app icons from Launchpad is as easy as you can imagine.

Click "Launchpad" in the Dock > Find the app icon that you want to remove > Press and hold the Alt (⌥) key, or click and hold the app icon until it jiggles > Click the cross next to the app that you want to remove and click "Delete" to remove the app and app icon immediately form your Mac.

To reinstall apps that were installed as part of macOS, reinstall macOS. This applies to apps such as Safari, iTunes, Books, Messages, Mail, Calendar, Photos, and FaceTime.

You can also redownload apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books that were installed from the App Store, iTunes Store, or Apple Books.

As you can see, some apps that do not show the cross. They are either the apps that do not come from App Store, or the pre-installed and required by Mac. If the apps are the latter, then you cannot remove them. If the apps are the former, then just move the next part to remove them easily.

Part 2. How to Delete an App Icons via Finder (That Launchpad Won't Delete)

As mentioned above, app icons appearing in Launchpad are part of apps in Applications. So, for deleting the apps those without the cross, you need to manually remove them via Finder.

Step 1 Find the app icon that you won't delete in Launchpad to run it.

Step 2 Right-click the app in the Dock and choose "Options" > "Show in Finder".

Step 3 Drag the app icon and move it into Trash to remove the icon from Launchpad.

Part 3. How to Delete App Icons That Do Not Appear in Launchpad via Terminal

When you install some apps that are t from outside the Mac App Store, it will pop up the option to move the apps into Applications folder. After you confirm that, your app icons will also display in Launchpad. However, once you reject the option, you will find the app icons are missing from Launchpad, but they exist on Mac.

For removing the app icons that are missing in Launchpad, you can use Terminal.

Step 1 Open Terminal

Go to "Finder" > "Applications" > "Utilities" > "Terminal".

Alternatively, just press the Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search and input terminal for searching and open it.

Step 2 Remove an app from Terminal

Type the following line into Terminal:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from apps WHERE title='APPNAME';" && killall Dock

APPNAME means the app name that you want to remove. You just replace APPNAME with the app name.

Then the app icon will remove from your Mac.

Just repeat the steps to uninstall the app icons from Mac one by one.

Feel troublesome to remove those app icons one by one? Just move the next easiest method.

Part 4. How to Delete Apps Icons and Related Data from Launchpad (Completely)

For removing the app icons appearing or missing in Launchpad in an easy way is using the third-party app uninstaller.

Aiseesoft Mac Cleaner is the easy app and app icon remover for Mac users. It can completely uninstall the apps and its cache, history and cookies from your Mac to free up more space. Moreover, it can scan the ghost apps (e.g. Mac Cleanup Pro) that you never use or installed without your sense and remove them conveniently.

Step 1 Run Mac Cleaner

Free download this app remover on your Mac. Install and run it immediately.

Mac Cleaner is compatible with iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, etc., running in macOS Monterey, macOS Big Sur and macOS Catalina, macOS 10.14, 10.13, 10.12 and 10.11. You can use it on Mac where there is Launchpad to remove app icons.

Step 2 Select Uninstall

In the main interface, you can see there are 3 functions, Status, Cleaner and Toolkit.

"Status" will detect your Mac information.

"Cleaner" can clean the data like System Junk, iPhoto Junk, Similar Photo, iTunes Junk, Large & Old Files, Duplicate Finder, etc.

"Toolkit" lets you uninstall apps, optimize Mac performance, protect privacy, write NTFS, manage files, hide files, compress/extract files from 7z and RAR, and check the Wi-Fi connection.

Here we select "Uninstall" after entering "Toolkit".

Step 3 Scan apps and remove apps

In the pop-up window, select "Scan" and this software will scan your Mac for the apps.

Wait seconds for the scanning process, and click "View" to check the apps.

Then scroll down form the left list to check the app, click the app that you want to remove, and all the related app data will show in the right window.

Tick the box before the data, and click "Clean" to remove the apps and related data from Mac.

There is no doubt that the last method comes to be easier.

Part 5. FAQs of Removing App Icons from Launchpad

Conclusion

Launchpad creates an easy way to open and delete the apps on Mac. However, not every app can be removed directly from Launchpad. When you can't remove deleted application icons from Launchpad, Finder and Terminal can help exactly. Meanwhile, we also recommend the easiest way to delete the app icons from Launchpad and other locations on Mac with Mac Cleaner. All the app icons can be removed easily in simple clicks.

Now it is your turn.

Which way is in favor of your consideration?

Let me know by leaving your comments.