Normally you can display the Mac Launchpad by pressing the "F4" function key on the keyboard or by creating a custom shortcut. Alternatively, you can open the Launchpad using the touchpad or one of the active corners of the screen.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Use the Function Key F4
Step 1. Press the button
F4.
This is the primary and default method for opening the Launchpad on most modern Macs.
If that doesn't work, try pressing the Fn + F4 key combination
Method 2 of 4: Using the Trackpad
Step 1. Place three fingers of your dominant hand (or the one you normally use to interact with the Mac trackpad) in the upper right corner of the trackpad
Step 2. Place the thumb of the same hand in the lower left corner of the trackpad
Step 3. Now bring your thumb and three fingers closer to the center of the trackpad
Make sure all four fingers are in contact with the trackpad surface.
Step 4. Enable the use of Multi-Touch gestures if you have disabled this feature
You can re-enable this Mac feature from the "System Preferences" menu:
- Click on the "Apple" menu icon and choose the "System Preferences" option;
- Click on the Trackpad icon;
- Click on the Other Actions tab;
- Select the Launchpad check button.
Method 3 of 4: Using a Key Combination
Step 1. Click on the "Apple" menu icon
You can create your own key combination to open the Mac Launchpad. The "Apple" menu icon is located in the upper left corner of the screen.
Step 2. Click on the System Preferences item
If the main menu of the "System Preferences" window does not appear, click on the "Show all" button. The latter is characterized by an icon consisting of a 12-point grid.
Step 3. Click the Keyboard icon
It is displayed in the second section of options.
Step 4. Click on the Abbreviations tab
Step 5. Click on Launchpad and Dock
Step 6. Click the Show Launchpad checkbox to select it
Step 7. Press the key or key combination you want to use to open the Launchpad
Step 8. Now press the key combination you just created to quickly access the Launchpad whenever you want
Method 4 of 4: Using Active Screen Corners
Step 1. Click on the "Apple" menu icon
You can activate the Mac's "Hot Corners" feature which allows you to open the Launchpad simply by moving the mouse cursor to one of the corners of the screen.
Step 2. Click on the System Preferences item
Step 3. Click on the Desktop and Screensaver icon
It is displayed in the first section of options.
Step 4. Click on the Screensaver tab
Step 5. Click the Active Corners button
It is located in the lower right corner of the window.
Step 6. Click on the drop-down menu for the corner of the screen you want to use to access the Launchpad
Each menu corresponds to the corner of the screen it refers to.
