Where did Launchpad go, and can the old grid be brought back?

On recent macOS releases the browsing grid lives inside Spotlight. Apple's documentation points to the apps icon in the Dock, or Spotlight from the menu bar followed by Command-1, and the view control there switches between Grid and List. Third-party launchers that advertise a Launchpad-style grid are reproducing that layout in their own window rather than restoring a system feature.

Why does a launcher fail to find a file that clearly exists?

Most launchers query the same Spotlight metadata store, so they inherit its gaps. Check whether indexing is on for that volume with `mdutil -s`, and check whether the search is matching names only. Raycast, for example, matches on file name by default and needs Content Search turned on before it looks inside files.

Is a paid launcher worth it if the built-in search is free?

It depends on whether the searches end in apps or in files. The paid options add content search keywords, keyboard folder navigation, custom filters by type and location, and actions applied to the file that was found. None of that helps someone whose searches are almost always an app name.

Do these launchers need Full Disk Access?

Raycast's documentation states that Full Disk Access is required to search external drives. In general, any tool reaching beyond the indexed home folder will ask for privacy permissions, and denying them shows up later as results that are quietly missing rather than as an error.

Can one launcher replace the Finder entirely?

Not on its own, because a launcher window is built to disappear after one action. Tools that keep a persistent window, browse folders, and run commands in place are a different category, and they are usually worth evaluating separately from the keystroke that opens them.

Application launchers for a Mac, judged on finding files

Most comparisons of application launchers on a Mac argue about the wrong thing. Opening an app is the easy case. Three keystrokes get there in every one of them, and any launcher that failed at it would not have users. The part that separates them is what happens when the thing being looked for is not an app: a contract from four months ago, a log file in a build directory, the one screenshot with the error message in it.

That is also the part where a launcher stops being a keyboard shortcut and starts being a file tool. It is worth deciding on that basis, because on a recent macOS release the app list is no longer a reason to install anything.

The app grid is now part of Spotlight

Apple's own documentation states the position plainly: Spotlight is the central location where apps can be searched, browsed, and opened. The apps window is reached by clicking the apps icon in the Dock, or by opening Spotlight from the menu bar and pressing Command-1. Arrow keys move between apps, a row of categories across the top filters them, and a view control switches between Grid and List, with an option to show iPhone apps alongside Mac ones.

Apps downloaded from the App Store appear there without being told to. An app from anywhere else appears once it has been dragged into the Applications folder in the Finder. Apps dimmed with an hourglass icon are not broken, they are inside a Screen Time downtime or time limit.

Spotlight itself opens with Command-Space and does considerably more than name matching. Pressing Space bar on a result gives a Quick Look preview. Pressing Tab on a result reveals Quick Actions, which change depending on what is selected. Holding Command with a result selected locates the file in the Finder. Typing a math expression or a unit conversion answers it in the search field, and clipboard history is searchable from the same place.

The practical consequence is that "it launches apps faster" is no longer a reason to add a launcher. The reason, if there is one, is file work: matching on content and not just names, walking into folders without a mouse, and doing something to the result once it is found.

Everything here sits on the same index

Before comparing products, it helps to know that most of them query one shared index. The metadata store that Spotlight builds is exposed on the command line, and reading that interface explains most of the cases where a launcher "cannot find" a file that plainly exists.

man mdfind describes the tool as consulting the central metadata store and returning files matching a query. It takes -onlyin to restrict the search to one directory, -name to match on filename only, and -count to return a number instead of paths. The -interpret flag shows what the Spotlight menu actually does with typed text: the string search becomes the query (* = search* cdw || kMDItemTextContent = search* cdw). Two things are visible in that expansion. Matching is prefix-based, with a trailing wildcard. And content is a distinct attribute from the rest of the metadata.

man mdutil covers the other half. mdutil -s on a volume reports whether indexing is on, -i on or -i off sets it, and -E erases the local store so it rebuilds. A file on an external disk that no launcher can see is usually a volume with indexing turned off rather than a bug in the launcher.

This matters for the comparison because a launcher's file search is either a front end to that index, a front end with its own filters layered on top, or a separate scan. The first kind inherits every exclusion the index has. Knowing which kind is in use tells you where to look when a result is missing.

What the five options actually offer for files

Pricing below is the published figure at the vendor's own store. Currencies differ because the vendors differ.

Tool	Price	File name search	File content search	Keyboard folder navigation
Spotlight	Included with macOS	Yes	Yes	No, results are a flat list
Alfred	App free, Powerpack £34 single user	Yes, `open` keyword or Space bar	Yes, `in` keyword	Yes, `/` and `~` then type or arrow
LaunchBar	Free download, licence 35 EUR single	Yes	Yes	Yes, with metadata browsing
Raycast	Free for individuals, Pro from $10 per month	Yes, in Root Search	Optional, Content Search setting	Type a path to jump to it
Quicksilver	Free and open source	Yes, via catalog	Via plugins	Yes, right arrow to descend

Alfred's file handling is documented in detail. Default results cover applications, system settings, contacts, and any file types added deliberately. Beyond that, three keywords widen the search: open to open a file, with Space bar as a shortcut for it, find to reveal the file in the Finder, and in to search inside file contents. Navigation starts by typing / for the root of the disk or ~ for the home folder, then typing the first characters of the next folder. A leading * turns the term into a wildcard. Custom File Filters, which restrict a search to given types or locations, are a Powerpack feature rather than part of the free app.

LaunchBar approaches the same ground through indexing rules. The published list includes Finder Tags, Emoji, Shortcuts, Reminders, Safari Reading List and Top Sites, iCloud Tabs, Text Snippets and Themes, alongside applications and bookmarks. It browses the file system, queries file metadata such as image dimensions and colour profiles, and copies, moves or renames files. Script-based actions can be written in AppleScript, JavaScript, Ruby, Python or PHP.

Raycast's manual states that File Search matches on file name alone by default, and that matching on contents requires turning on Content Search. Root Search shows file matches inline with apps and commands. The separate Search Files command gives a wider list plus a details panel of file metadata, and shows recently used files when the field is empty. Typing a path in Root Search offers to open that location in the Finder. Searching external drives requires Full Disk Access.

Quicksilver is free and open source, installable through Homebrew, and works on a catalog of items with actions applied to them. Its extension model is plugins, and its distinguishing feature is triggers: a keyboard shortcut or mouse gesture bound to a specific action rather than to the search window.

Price shapes are not comparable, so compare commitments

The numbers in the table are not the same kind of number, and reading them as one column is how people end up surprised later.

Alfred sells a licence. The Powerpack is £34 for a single user, or £59 for the Mega Supporter tier that includes free lifetime upgrades, and the current purchase is an Alfred 5 licence with a free upgrade to Alfred 6. LaunchBar sells a licence too, 35 EUR for a single user across multiple computers or multiple users on one computer, and 59 EUR for a household licence covering up to five computers for non-commercial use. Hazel, which is not a launcher but often sits next to one, sells the same way at $42.

Raycast is free for individual use, including in a company, and its paid tiers are subscriptions that exist to carry AI: $10 per month or $96 per year for Pro, $20 for Pro+, $50 for Max, with team pricing at $15 per user per month and up. Its own answer to whether a paid plan without AI is available is no, though AI can be switched off in settings. The free team plan is not a trial, but caps shared snippets and quicklinks at 30 each and commands at five.

Spotlight and Quicksilver cost nothing, for different reasons. One ships with the system, the other is maintained by a community.

Finding the file is half of the job

The half that gets skipped in comparisons is what happens after the match appears. A launcher that finds the file and then hands control back to the Finder has moved the work rather than finished it.

This is where the products separate most clearly. Alfred keeps a file buffer, so several found files can be collected and acted on together. Raycast puts an action panel behind Command-K on the selected result, with copy name, copy path, copy the file, reveal in Finder and delete. LaunchBar treats the found file as an object it can rename, move, copy or inspect, and its info browsing walks into application bundles and property list files. Spotlight's Quick Actions cover a smaller, curated set.

The pattern to notice is that the more a launcher can do to a file, the more it is behaving like a file manager that happens to open with a keystroke. At that point the question is no longer which launcher to pick but whether the file work belongs in a window that stays open. A comparison of file managers is a different comparison from this one, and for anyone whose searches mostly end in a shell command rather than in opening a document, it is the more relevant one.

The three questions that settle it

Rather than trying every option for a week each, answer three questions about actual usage.

How often is the target a file rather than an app?

Count the last twenty times Command-Space was pressed. If eighteen of them ended in an app opening, the built-in Spotlight is already the answer and the remaining friction is elsewhere. If eight of them were hunts for a document, the extra file features start paying for themselves.

What happens immediately after the file is found?

If the next step is reading it, Quick Look plus Spotlight is enough. If the next step is renaming, moving, or feeding it to a command, the launchers with real actions and a buffer save the round trip. If the next step is almost always a terminal command in that file's directory, no launcher solves it, because the launcher closes and the shell is still somewhere else. That gap is what a window holding folders, a terminal and an assistant together is for.

Does the result need to survive the search?

A launcher window is transient by design. It appears, resolves one intent, and disappears. Anything that needs to stay visible, such as a working set of eight files being compared, is being asked of the wrong kind of tool.

What to change first

Spend one week not installing anything. Learn Command-1 for the apps window, Space bar for Quick Look and Tab for Quick Actions inside Spotlight, and check mdutil -s on any volume whose files never appear. Whatever friction is still there after that week is a real requirement, and it will point at either a launcher licence or at a window like Atriens where the file and the command line stay in the same place.