Reset Launchie via Terminal

Sometimes you may want to reset certain parts of Launchie without losing all your settings, or perform a complete factory reset. This guide shows you how to use Terminal commands to achieve both.

Important: Always quit Launchie before running these commands. Changes take effect the next time you launch the app.

How it works

Launchie stores its settings in macOS’s preferences system (UserDefaults). You can use the defaults delete command in Terminal to remove specific settings or all settings at once.

Reset specific areas

Open Terminal (found in Applications → Utilities) and run any of these commands:

Reset app positions (layout)

Removes your custom app arrangement, returning to alphabetical order:

defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieAppPositions

Reset folders

Removes all folders you’ve created:

defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieFolders

Reset Spaces

Removes all Spaces and their app assignments:

defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieSpaces

Reset hidden apps

Makes all hidden apps visible again:

defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieHiddenApps

Reset custom app names

Removes any custom names you’ve given to apps:

defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieCustomAppNames

Reset app usage statistics

Clears the data used for “Recently Used” and “Most Used” in Quick Access:

defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieAppUsageTracking
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieAppUsageCounts

Reset hotkey settings

Removes your custom hotkey configuration:

defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie hotkeyModifiers
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie hotkeyKeyCode
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie hotkeyEnabled

Reset hot corner settings

Removes hot corner activation settings:

defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie hotCornerSelections

Reset appearance settings

Returns visual settings to defaults (window style, icon size, grid layout, etc.):

defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie launchieStyleSize
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie launchieStyle
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie launchieWindowSize
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie gridColumnCount
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie gridRowCount
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie iconSize
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie viewMode
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie appearanceMode
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie backgroundTransparency
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie backgroundTintIntensity
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie windowTintOption
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie windowTintCustomColor

Reset Applications folder permission

If you’re having issues with the user Applications folder access:

defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieUserAppsFolderBookmark
defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieCustomDirectoryBookmarks

After running this, you’ll need to grant folder access again in Settings → App Directories.

Complete factory reset

To remove all Launchie settings and start fresh, run this single command:

defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie

This is equivalent to a fresh install and will reset:

• All app positions and layout
• All folders and Spaces
• Hidden apps list
• Custom app names
• Hotkey and hot corner settings
• All appearance preferences
• App usage statistics
• Folder permissions (you’ll need to grant access again)

Verify the reset

After running any reset command, you can verify it worked by checking if the setting still exists:

defaults read de.nick-friedrich.Launchie

This shows all remaining Launchie settings. If you did a complete reset, this command will show an error saying the domain doesn’t exist—that’s expected and means the reset was successful.

Restart Launchie

After running reset commands, launch Launchie again. The app will recreate default settings for any values you deleted.

Quick reference

What to reset	Command
App positions	defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieAppPositions
Folders	defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieFolders
Spaces	defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieSpaces
Hidden apps	defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieHiddenApps
Custom app names	defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieCustomAppNames
Usage stats	defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieAppUsageTracking && defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie LaunchieAppUsageCounts
Everything	defaults delete de.nick-friedrich.Launchie