MaxLaunchpad — Keyboard-Driven App Launcher for Windows, macOS & Linux

Launch any app with a single keystroke — muscle memory, not mental effort.

MaxLaunchpad is a free, open-source keyboard launcher that maps your programs onto a virtual keyboard. Summon it anywhere with a global hotkey, then press one key to launch. No typing, no searching, no fuzzy-match roulette.

Download · Documentation · Features · FAQ · Contributing

What is MaxLaunchpad?
Why a keyboard launcher instead of a search launcher?
Features
Install MaxLaunchpad on Windows, macOS and Linux
Quick start in 60 seconds
Virtual keyboard layout: 310 shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts reference
YAML configuration example
Use cases
MaxLaunchpad vs. Spotlight, Alfred, Raycast, Flow Launcher & Rofi
FAQ
Documentation
Development guide (for contributors)
Credits

What is MaxLaunchpad?

MaxLaunchpad is a cross-platform application launcher for Windows, macOS and Ubuntu/Linux that launches programs from a single keypress. Instead of typing an app name and hoping the search ranking picks the right result, you assign each program to a physical key — Q for your terminal, C for Chrome, V for VS Code — and that binding never changes.

Think of it as Vim for your desktop workflow: deterministic, spatial, and fast enough that your fingers stop asking your brain for permission.

🎯 Deterministic — the same key always launches the same app, forever.
⚡ One keystroke — Alt + ` to summon, one key to launch. Two presses total.
🧩 310 shortcuts — 10 tabs × 30 keys + 10 global function keys.
🗂 Portable YAML — human-readable profiles you can version with Git, sync, or share.
🖥 Truly cross-platform — one workflow across Windows, macOS and Ubuntu.
🆓 Free & open source — Electron + React + TypeScript, no account, no cloud, no telemetry hooks.

Why a keyboard launcher instead of a search launcher?

Search-based launchers (Spotlight, Alfred, Raycast, Flow Launcher, Launchy, Wox, Rofi, Keypirinha) ask you to recall a name, type it, read the results, and confirm. That is four cognitive steps every single time, and the result list can change under you as indexes and rankings update.

MaxLaunchpad replaces recall with muscle memory:

	Search launcher	MaxLaunchpad
Steps to launch	hotkey → type → scan → Enter	hotkey → one key
Result stability	ranking may change	fixed binding, always
Works with hands on home row	partially	yes
Arguments / working dir / admin	limited	per-shortcut
Config portability	app-specific DB	plain YAML files

They are complementary, not mutually exclusive: keep your search launcher for one-off apps and files, use MaxLaunchpad for the 20–50 programs you open every day.

Features

Launching

Single-keystroke launch — press any letter/symbol key to launch instantly; no typing, no fuzzy search.
310 configurable shortcuts — 10 tabs (1–0) × 30 keys, plus 10 global function keys (F1–F10) shared across all tabs.
Global hotkey — summon from any app with Alt + ` (Windows/Linux) or Option ⌥ + ` (macOS); modifiers and main key are fully configurable.
Arguments, working directory, run-as-admin — per shortcut, so one key can launch a fully-parameterised command.
Launch anything
- Windows: .exe, .lnk, .bat, .cmd, .ps1, Microsoft Store / UWP apps, shell: targets
- macOS: .app bundles, Unix executables, .sh, .command
- Ubuntu/Linux: ELF binaries, .desktop entries, .sh, .py, .rb
- All platforms: http/https URLs open in your default browser
Auto-hide after launch — window disappears the moment the app starts.

Configuration

Drag & drop setup — drag an executable, shortcut or .app from your file manager onto a key. Windows .lnk files are parsed for target, arguments and working directory automatically.
Quick Select — search installed applications inside the edit dialog to auto-fill label, path and description (with ↑/↓/Enter keyboard navigation).
Multiple profiles — keyboard.yaml, work.yaml, gaming.yaml… switch via File > New / Open / Save As.
Human-readable YAML — version it with Git, sync it with Dropbox/Syncthing, share it with your team.
Auto-save with timestamped backups — every change is saved and the previous version is backed up.
Built-in search — Ctrl+F / Cmd+F filters all keys by label, file path, arguments, working directory, description or key ID.

Interface

System tray — close button minimises to tray; optional Start in Tray and Launch on Startup.
Always on top, auto-hide on blur, lock-to-center — behaves like an overlay, not another window to manage.
Multi-monitor & macOS Spaces aware — appears on the display under your cursor and on the current Space.
Light / dark / system themes plus custom CSS styles dropped into ~/.config/MaxLaunchpad/styles/.
Compact mode — hide the menu bar, button icons, button text, empty buttons or entire keyboard rows.
Real icons — extracts and caches icons for Windows UWP/Store apps and macOS .app bundles, supports custom icon paths/URLs, and falls back to generated DiceBear avatars.

Install MaxLaunchpad on Windows, macOS and Linux

Package managers

# Windows (winget)
winget install AwesomeDog.MaxLaunchpad

# macOS (Homebrew Cask)
brew install --cask AwesomeDog/tap/maxlaunchpad

Direct download

Grab the installer for your OS from the Releases page.

Platform	Requirement	Notes
Windows	Windows 10 or later	Works out of the box.
macOS	macOS 11 Big Sur or later (Apple Silicon)	Run `xattr -cr /Applications/MaxLaunchpad.app` to clear the quarantine flag. Add the app to Login Items for auto-start.
Linux	Ubuntu 24.04 or equivalent (Wayland)	Under Wayland the global hotkey may need manual setup in GNOME keyboard settings.

Quick start in 60 seconds

Launch MaxLaunchpad. The virtual keyboard appears; it also lives in your system tray.
Enable View > Drag & Drop Mode so the window stays visible while you configure it.
Drag apps onto keys from Explorer / Finder / Files — or right-click a key → Edit and use Quick Select to search installed apps.
Name your tabs (right-click a number key 1–0 → Edit): e.g. Dev, Work, Media, Games.
Turn off Drag & Drop Mode, press Alt + ` from anywhere, then press your key. Done.

Tip: everything is stored in ~/.config/MaxLaunchpad/. Put that folder in a Git repo and your launcher setup follows you to every machine.

Virtual keyboard layout: 310 shortcuts

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ F1  F2  F3  F4  F5  F6  F7  F8  F9  F10 │  Function keys — global, shared across all tabs
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0  │  Tab selectors — click or press to switch
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Q   W   E   R   T   Y   U   I   O   P  │
│  A   S   D   F   G   H   J   K   L   ;  │  Letter/symbol keys — 30 per tab
│  Z   X   C   V   B   N   M   ,   .   /  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

10 global function keys + (10 tabs × 30 keys) = 310 shortcuts

Tabs work like tmux sessions for your applications: one tab per context — Dev, Design, Ops, Games — each with its own full set of 30 bindings.

Keyboard shortcuts reference

Shortcut	Action
`Alt` + ` (`⌥` + ` on macOS)	Show / hide MaxLaunchpad (configurable)
`F1` – `F10`	Launch a global shortcut (works on every tab)
`Q`–`P`, `A`–`;`, `Z`–`/`	Launch the shortcut on the active tab
`1` – `0`	Switch to tab 1–10
`←` / `→`	Previous / next tab
Mouse scroll over the keyboard	Previous / next tab
`Ctrl+F` / `Cmd+F`	Search all shortcuts
`Esc`	Close dialog, or hide the window
Left-click a key	Launch program
Right-click a key	Context menu (Edit / Copy / Cut / Paste / Delete / Open file location)
Drop a file on a key	Configure that key
`Alt` (tap)	Reveal the menu bar when it is hidden

YAML configuration example

All user data lives in ~/.config/MaxLaunchpad/ on every platform (honouring XDG_CONFIG_HOME):

~/.config/MaxLaunchpad/
├── settings.yaml     # App settings & global hotkey (one per machine)
├── keyboard.yaml     # Default keyboard profile
├── work.yaml         # Additional profiles you create
├── caches/           # Icon cache
├── logs/             # Application logs
├── styles/           # Custom CSS themes
└── backups/          # Timestamped auto-backups

keyboard.yaml — key bindings and tab labels:

tabs:
  - id: '1'
    label: 'Dev'
  - id: '2'
    label: 'Work'

keys:
  - tabId: 'F'            # 'F' = global function-key row
    id: F1
    label: Help
    filePath: 'C:\Windows\HelpPane.exe'

  - tabId: '1'
    id: Q
    label: Calculator
    filePath: 'C:\Windows\system32\calc.exe'
    description: Launch Calculator

  - tabId: '1'
    id: O
    label: OutlookStoreApp   # Microsoft Store / UWP app
    filePath: explorer.exe
    arguments: shell:appsFolder\Microsoft.OutlookForWindows_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App

settings.yaml — hotkey, theme, window and UI preferences:

hotkey:
  modifiers: [Alt]
  key: '`'
activeTabOnShow: lastUsed
lockWindowCenter: true
launchOnStartup: true
startInTray: true
theme: system          # light | dark | system
customStyle: default   # CSS file name in styles/, without ".css"
windowSize: { width: 1000, height: 600 }
hideElements:
  menu: false
  buttonIcons: false
  buttonText: false
  emptyButtons: false
  rowF: false
  row1: false
  row2: false
  row3: false

Full schema, validation rules and every option: Product Specification.

Use cases

Developers — one tab per stack: IDE, terminal, DB client, API client, log viewer, local docs.
Sysadmins / DevOps — RDP/SSH sessions, admin consoles and PowerShell scripts with pre-baked arguments and Run as Admin.
Gamers — a Games tab of launchers, mod managers, overlays and voice chat.
Creators — Photoshop, DaVinci, OBS, stream deck-style shortcuts without buying a stream deck.
Keyboard purists — never touch the mouse, the Dock, the Start menu or the taskbar again.
Multi-machine users — commit your YAML profile to Git and reproduce your exact workflow on a new laptop in seconds.

MaxLaunchpad vs. Spotlight, Alfred, Raycast, Flow Launcher & Rofi

	MaxLaunchpad	Spotlight / Alfred / Raycast	Flow Launcher / Wox / Keypirinha / Launchy	Rofi / dmenu
Interaction model	Fixed key → app	Type & search	Type & search	Type & search
Keystrokes to launch	1 (after hotkey)	3–8	3–8	3–8
Windows	✅	Alfred/Raycast ❌	✅	❌
macOS	✅	✅	❌	❌
Linux	✅ (Ubuntu/Wayland)	❌	❌	✅
Visual, spatial layout	✅ virtual keyboard	❌	❌	❌
Plain-text portable config	✅ YAML	❌	partial	✅
Open source	✅	❌ (mostly)	✅	✅

If you loved the discontinued Windows-only MaxLauncher, MaxLaunchpad is the modern, cross-platform continuation of that idea.

FAQ

Is MaxLaunchpad free and open source?

Yes. It is an open-source Electron/React/TypeScript desktop app, free for personal and commercial use.

Does it work on Windows 11?

Yes — Windows 10 and Windows 11 are supported.

Does it run on Apple Silicon Macs?

Yes, macOS 11 Big Sur or later on Apple Silicon. After installing, run xattr -cr /Applications/MaxLaunchpad.app to remove the quarantine attribute.

Does the global hotkey work on Linux / Wayland?

MaxLaunchpad targets Ubuntu 24.04 (Wayland). Because Wayland restricts global shortcut registration, you may need to bind the hotkey through GNOME's own keyboard-shortcut settings.

Can I sync my launcher configuration between computers?

Yes. Everything lives in plain YAML under ~/.config/MaxLaunchpad/. Commit it to Git, sync it with Dropbox/OneDrive/Syncthing, or copy a single profile file to another machine.

How many shortcuts can I create?

310: ten function keys shared globally, plus ten tabs of thirty letter/symbol keys each.

Can it launch Microsoft Store (UWP) apps, `.lnk` shortcuts or shell scripts?

Yes — .exe, .lnk, .bat, .cmd, .ps1, shell: targets and Store/UWP apps on Windows; .app bundles and shell scripts on macOS; ELF binaries, .desktop files, .sh, .py and .rb on Linux. URLs open in your default browser.

Can a shortcut pass command-line arguments or run as administrator?

Yes. Every shortcut supports arguments, a working directory, a custom icon, a tooltip description, and Run as Admin on Windows.

Is it a replacement for MaxLauncher?

It is a spiritual successor to the discontinued MaxLauncher, rebuilt from scratch with modern tooling and extended from Windows to macOS and Ubuntu. Profiles use MaxLaunchpad's own YAML format.

Where are logs and backups stored?

~/.config/MaxLaunchpad/logs/ and ~/.config/MaxLaunchpad/backups/. A backup is written before each save whenever the profile content has changed.

Documentation

Full manual — installation, usage, every setting, troubleshooting and FAQ:

📖 Online manual: https://awesomedog.github.io/maxlaunchpad/
📁 In-repo entry point: ./docs/index.md
📐 Product Specification — feature specs, YAML schema, UI/UX behaviour
🏗 Technical Architecture — implementation details, state management, code patterns

If you only want to use MaxLaunchpad, you can stop here. Everything below is for developers and contributors.

Development guide (for contributors)

Prerequisites

Node.js 22+
npm 10+

Setup

git clone https://github.com/AwesomeDog/maxlaunchpad.git
cd maxlaunchpad
npm install

Scripts

# Development
npm start                                        # Dev mode with hot reload

# Build
npm run make:mac                                 # macOS .app bundle
npm run make:win                                 # Windows installer
npm run make:linux                               # Linux package

# Quality
npm run lint:fix                                 # Auto-fix ESLint issues
npm test                                         # Jest test suite

# Release
npm version patch && git push && git push --tags # Bump version & trigger CI

Tech stack

Technology	Usage
Electron	Application framework
React	UI (functional components + hooks)
TypeScript	Language
Context + useReducer	State management
js-yaml	Config parsing
zod	Runtime validation
Electron Forge + Webpack	Build & packaging

Project structure

src/
├── main/           # Electron main process
│   ├── main.ts         # Entry point, lifecycle
│   ├── window.ts       # BrowserWindow management
│   ├── hotkey.ts       # Global hotkey registration
│   ├── configStore.ts  # YAML config read/write
│   ├── launcher.ts     # Program launching
│   ├── iconService.ts  # Icon extraction & caching
│   └── ...
├── preload/        # Bridge API (contextBridge)
├── renderer/       # React UI
│   ├── state/          # Context + useReducer store
│   ├── hooks/          # Custom hooks
│   ├── components/     # UI components
│   └── styles/         # CSS
└── shared/         # Shared types & constants

Architecture — three-layer Electron design

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 Main Process (Node.js)                      │
│  • App lifecycle & window management                        │
│  • Global hotkey registration (OS-level)                    │
│  • YAML config I/O & validation                             │
│  • Program launching & icon extraction                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              ↕ IPC (type-safe)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 Preload (Security Bridge)                   │
│  • Exposes window.electronAPI via contextBridge             │
│  • Acts as typed contract between layers                    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              ↕
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 Renderer (React SPA)                        │
│  • Virtual keyboard UI & modal dialogs                      │
│  • Unified state via Context + useReducer                   │
│  • Zero direct Node.js access (sandboxed)                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Contributing

Issues, feature requests and pull requests are welcome. Bug reports that include your OS version, MaxLaunchpad version and the relevant lines from ~/.config/MaxLaunchpad/logs/maxlaunchpad.log are the most useful.

If MaxLaunchpad saves you keystrokes, please ⭐ star the repo — it is the main way other keyboard-driven people find it.

Credits

MaxLaunchpad is a spiritual successor to the beloved but now-discontinued MaxLauncher, expanding its legacy from Windows to macOS and Ubuntu.

_{Keywords: keyboard launcher · application launcher · app launcher for Windows / macOS / Linux ·
quick launch tool · global hotkey launcher · keyboard shortcuts manager · program launcher ·
virtual keyboard launcher · MaxLauncher alternative · Launchy / Alfred / Raycast / Flow Launcher alternative ·
Electron desktop app · productivity tool}

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
config		config
docs		docs
resources		resources
scripts		scripts
src		src
.eslintrc.json		.eslintrc.json
.gitignore		.gitignore
.prettierrc		.prettierrc
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
forge.config.ts		forge.config.ts
jest.config.js		jest.config.js
jest.setup.ts		jest.setup.ts
package.json		package.json
tsconfig.json		tsconfig.json

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