How to eliminate duplicate icons in Applications folder

how do I eliminate duplicate icons in applications folder?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 26.6

Posted on Aug 11, 2026 8:19 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 11, 2026 8:43 AM

Your screenshot is not of the Applications folder, but rather of the Apps app (the macOS Tahoe replacement for Launchpad, also accessible via Spotlight).


Since that view is driven by Spotlight, you need to rebuild your Spotlight index:


Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support

 

If that doesn’t work, Copy/Paste this into Terminal. sudo will ask for your password. Just type the password and hit return. It won't show anything on screen. Those two commands essentially nuke all the Spotlight records then force a reindex. You may need to restart or log out/in after running the commands.

sudo mdutil -X /; sudo mdutil -i on /
4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 11, 2026 8:43 AM in response to joefromeverett

Your screenshot is not of the Applications folder, but rather of the Apps app (the macOS Tahoe replacement for Launchpad, also accessible via Spotlight).


Since that view is driven by Spotlight, you need to rebuild your Spotlight index:


Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support

 

If that doesn’t work, Copy/Paste this into Terminal. sudo will ask for your password. Just type the password and hit return. It won't show anything on screen. Those two commands essentially nuke all the Spotlight records then force a reindex. You may need to restart or log out/in after running the commands.

sudo mdutil -X /; sudo mdutil -i on /

How to eliminate duplicate icons in Applications folder

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