Cannot Type in Launchpad

Question

Cannot Type in Launchpad

If I activate Launchpad on my MacBook Pro, I can type in the first few letters of an application's name to find its icon. On my iMac, it doesn't take the keyboard input at all.

It is too hard to find the application by inspection, because Launchpad produces a visual jungle of icons spread over many pages, all applications have the same importance (uninstall is just as important to Launchpad as my word processor is), organizing them is manual and tedious, and "folders" of icons can only go one level deep. So I want to use Launchpad's command-line feature to find applications.

How can I fix Launchpad to enable the typing feature?

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), Mid-2007

Posted on Nov 17, 2012 11:40 AM

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Answer 1

Munas

Level 4

1,270 points

Nov 17, 2012 11:42 AM in response to Kenneth Collins1

I do not know how to solve Launchpad typing problem, but until the problem is solved, why you not to try to type app names to Spotlight field?

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,033 points

Nov 17, 2012 11:59 AM in response to Kenneth Collins1

Have you tried running Disk Utility/Repair Permissions? Information only - I can type in the Launchpad search box on my 2008 iMac.

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Answer 3

Munas

Level 4

1,270 points

Nov 17, 2012 12:01 PM in response to Eric Root

Another possibility is, that you have light background and since letters are white you could not see it. Try type something "blindly" - does it affect Launchpad results?

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Answer 4

Nov 17, 2012 12:08 PM in response to Munas

Spotlight produces too many results. LaunchPad is really a redundant feature for viewing the icons in the Applications folder. It's apparently designed for OS X rookies who are familiar with iOS.

There are three mainly superficial differences:

Launchpad: Press F4 in any context to display the icons in a graphical overlay

Application Folder: Press Shift+Cmd+A in Finder to display the icons in a Finder folder

Launchpad: Type letters to reduce the number of icons, then double-click to launch

Application Folder: Type letters to find the icon, then use double-click to launch

Launchpad: All icons appear on the top level and are in random order scattered over several screens.

Application Folder: Only top-level icons show, lower-level icons can be revealed

The main difference is that it is easier to activate Launchpad, but easier to find things in the Applications folder.

I know the workarounds, I don't see the wisdom of putting Launchpad in OS X, but since the feature exists, I'd like it to work properly. My question again: how do I enable Launchpad's typing feature?

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Answer 5

Munas

Level 4

1,270 points

Nov 17, 2012 12:12 PM in response to Kenneth Collins1

simply try to type, without paying attention that you could not see anything... does it work?

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Answer 6

Nov 17, 2012 3:41 PM in response to Munas

Launchpad just ignores any typing. It doesn't display what I typed and the icons aren't narrowed down.

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Answer 7

markwmsn

Level 6

14,987 points

Nov 17, 2012 8:48 PM in response to Kenneth Collins1

Just to be clear, are both computers running Mountain Lion?

Also, I sometimes find I have to tab into the search box. (I haven't figured out when or why.)

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Answer 8

Nov 17, 2012 9:12 PM in response to markwmsn

Both computers are running Mountain Lion 10.8.2. I tried the tab key; it does nothing. On the iMac, Launchpad ignores keystrokes. On the MacBook Pro, it works as advertised.

Is there something that needs to be trashed or restarted? Repairing permissions didn't do anything, I tried it again to verify it. I've also emptied caches, rebuild the dyld and launch databases, all to no avail.

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Answer 9

markwmsn

Level 6

14,987 points

Nov 17, 2012 9:15 PM in response to Kenneth Collins1

Sorry. You just reached the edge of my limited experiences with Launchpad.

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Answer 10

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 17, 2012 9:31 PM in response to Kenneth Collins1

Which OS version are you running on the Mac where the search feature is not working? It was introduced with Mountain Lion.

Personally, I see no reason to use Launchpad; I do not need a 27" iPhone or iPad screen. I have 68 neatly organized icons in my dock which give me one click access to most things I need.

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Answer 11

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 17, 2012 9:59 PM in response to babowa

Addendum:

I just realized that you did earlier say that both machines are on Mountain Lion - missed that; sorry about that.

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Answer 12

Nov 18, 2012 5:39 AM in response to babowa

I've got you beat. I have even more icons in the dock, arranged to take up as little space as possible:

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Answer 13

Nov 18, 2012 8:03 AM in response to Kenneth Collins1

Thought I'd share how I launch Applications:

From Finder type Command + Space Bar (keyboard shortcut to spotlight).

Start to type the name of the Application.

One you see the Application highlighted in the top of the spotlight search results, type the return key.

Note that in Spotlight, the hierarchy of the results place Applications first.

Just throwing it out there as an alternative to Launchpad or the dock.

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Answer 14

Munas

Level 4

1,270 points

Nov 18, 2012 8:08 AM in response to the0pticnerve

The most often used applications reside on my doc, it is not crowded 31 icon + spaces that visually separate app groups. If I need to launch an app that is not on my dock - I use spotlight in most of situations.

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Answer 15

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 18, 2012 8:29 AM in response to the0pticnerve

Yes, I've used that and it's great; personally, I don't like it if I have to use more than one click for often used apps or files. I'm still grumbling about the fact that I need to hit Command while opening a folder in the dock in order to get column view (which is the only thing I use) - one simple click used to open such a folder before they came up with stacks, etc. Here is a screenshot of my dock:

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