Remove icons from apps launcher

The Apps app (replacement for Launchpad) shows the contents of your Applications folder. If you use Adobe Creative Cloud apps (e.g., Photoshop, etc.), then you need to leave Creative Cloud installed. If you don't, you can uninstall it – go to the Applications folder in Finder, and run the Adobe CC uninstaller.

Note that if you previously just deleted the Creative Cloud folder from your Applications folder, you didn't delete the app. The 'apps' in the Applications folder are aliases to the actual apps that are buried in the hidden Library folder. That's why Adobe provides the uninstaller.

rudolffischer wrote:

I have a new MacBook Pro 16 2024. I migrated the apps over from my MacMini 2018 (Intel).

Now I have a number of orphaned icons in the app launcher on the MacBook Pro that I cannot delete. The app launcher looks as follows:

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/73ac8629-0f85-4dbd-ae7e-328dc4963e67

When I try to open one of the adobe Creative Cloud icons, I get an error message "the file cannot be found". If I right click on the icon and chose "open in finder", finder does not open.

So I would like to get rid of the adobe Creative Cloud icons (and some others that have no files associated with them).

How can I do this?

Delete the Applications from the Applications folder— use an uninstaller if the application provides one.

For your third party app—if in doubt search the developers website or contact their: Support/Help/FAQ/Uninstaller

The Spotlight cache will get rebuilt over time to clear old apps. no user interaction required.

You can manually rebuild spotlight if it important to you—Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support