Is there a way to identify launchpad apps linked to icons not in the applications directory or even a .app type?

Have found the problem app and rectified Launchpad removing the icon.

I found a question on stack exchange about removing icons for Google apps when they had been deleted but remained in Launchpad. It suggested going to ~/Applications/Chrome Apps/ to find the remnant apps to be deleted.

Sure enough the weird long named App "Default coobgpohoikkiipiblmjeljniedjpjpf" was in that directory. I moved it to trash and emptied the trash and it no longer appears in launchpad. Hope this helps someone else if they experience similar.

And thank you VikingOSX for responding so quickly to give me options to investigate.

Hi,

Thank you for the suggestion. I installed Malwarebytes and ran the scan. Nothing was turned up or detected so system clean from Malwarebytes perspective. I have uninstalled after as recommended.

Any advice how to access Launchpad at a low level and examine the entry for the icon to determine what it is pointing at and then how to remove that icon from Launchpad appreciated. Once I know what it is pointing at I should be able to remove it.

I suspect you are right and that it might be adware - when I clicked on it once it started Chrome in the background - but when I opened Chrome it went to the google home page - I am also wondering if it might be a result of a google app installation gone wrong. If not the use of the trusted Google "G" icon to get you to click on it inadvertently as I did originally before I noticed the weird name is pretty smart. I do as you say on the vendor software only from their site and checking reviews as well beforehand - very risk averse when it comes to installing software.

I had similar thoughts on Chrome extensions/plugins so I checked them. Only 2 and I use them both, deleted and reinstalled, no change. Don't have much choice on using Chrome occasionally - Safari not well supported by some key government services in Australia. If a page misbehaves or has problems in Safari, its a pretty safe bet it works ok on Chrome.

I made a copy of what I think is the launchpad database .../Dock/desktopicture.db and opened the copy with sqlite3 browser. Yes... very obfuscated all app reference links appeared to be UUIDs and no idea how to resolve what they were pointing at. Unable to find any understandable text browsing round. Hoping someone can shed some light on that and whether there is just a simple way too delete this icon and what it is pointing to. Suspect it will ultimately require editing this db to resolve.