--- title: "The All Apps grid and its shortcut" url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-all-apps-grid category: "Apps" tags: ["apps", "keyboard shortcuts", "launcher"] summary: "The All Apps grid shows every app as a large icon you can search and open from the keyboard. A global shortcut, Control-Space by default, brings it up from any app, and you can change or turn off that shortcut." updated: 2026-10-01T05:31:32.000Z --- # The All Apps grid and its shortcut The All Apps grid shows every app as a large icon you can search and open from the keyboard. A global shortcut, Control-Space by default, brings it up from any app, and you can change or turn off that shortcut. The **All Apps** grid is a launcher for every app on your Mac, including the ones you've moved to your external drive. Type a few letters and press **Return** to open an app, or browse the icons with the arrow keys. A global keyboard shortcut, **⌃ Space** unless you change it, brings the grid up from any app. ## What's in the grid The grid shows every app in your Applications folders, including your personal Applications folder and the Utilities folder. Each tile shows where the app lives: | Tile | Meaning | | --- | --- | | Normal icon | The app is on your Mac | | Small external-drive badge | The app was moved to your external drive and opens normally | | Faded icon with a tray badge | The app is offloaded and can't open until you restore it | Hover over a tile and right-click to see its **App size** and its **Data & caches** on your Mac. The footer adds it all up: **On this Mac** (apps still on your Mac plus their data and caches) and **Fast drive** (moved and offloaded apps). While Storage Studio is still adding up caches, it says **(summing caches…)**. ## Using it from the keyboard ```mermaid %% caption: Finding and opening an app from the keyboard flowchart LR A[Press the shortcut] --> B[Type part of the name] B --> C{Is the top match the one you want?} C -->|Yes| D[Press Return to open it] C -->|No| E[Press Tab, then use the arrow keys] E --> F[Press Return to open the highlighted app] ``` *Flowchart — Finding and opening an app from the keyboard. Outline:* - Press the shortcut - leads to Type part of the name - Type part of the name - leads to Is the top match the one you want? - Is the top match the one you want? - Yes: leads to Press Return to open it - No: leads to Press Tab, then use the arrow keys - Press Tab, then use the arrow keys - leads to Press Return to open the highlighted app - **Type** in **Search apps**. The best match comes first: an exact name, then names that start with what you typed, then names with a word that starts with it, then anything containing it. - **Return** in the search box opens the top match. A floating **Opening …** panel appears, the search is cleared, and the window tucks into the Dock so the app comes to the front. - **Tab** moves from the search box to the grid (on macOS 14 and later). The **arrow keys** then move the highlight, and **Return** opens the highlighted app. - **Esc** closes the window. With the mouse, one click selects a tile and a double-click opens it. Offloaded apps don't open; right-click them to restore. ## The right-click menu Every action in the [Apps window](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-apps-window) is also on the tile's right-click menu, and each one runs the same safe steps as the buttons on the other tabs: - For an app on your Mac: **Open**, **Reveal in Finder**, **Move to Fast Drive**, **Offload to Fast Drive**, **Uninstall…** - For a moved app: **Open**, **Reveal in Finder**, **Move Back to This Mac**, **Uninstall…** - For an offloaded app: **Restore to This Mac**, **Remove from Fast Drive…** While an app is being moved, offloaded or uninstalled, its tile shows a spinner and can't be clicked. ## Sorting and filtering The menu next to the search box sorts by **Name**, **Last used**, **Size** or **Safety**, and filters by category or by location: **All locations**, **Internal**, **Moved** or **Offloaded**. Unlike the **Internal** tab, the grid ignores the age and running-app filters, so it always shows every app you can open. ## The global shortcut The shortcut works from any app, even when Storage Studio is in the background, and doesn't need any extra macOS permission. - **In the Advanced view**, it opens the Apps window on the **All Apps** grid. - **In the Intelligence view**, it opens the main window on its **Apps** tab. Pressing it again while that window is in front switches between **Home** and **Apps**. **To change it or turn it off**, open Settings and choose **Shortcuts**. Under **Apps**, the **Open the Apps grid** switch turns it on or off, and the menu next to it picks one of: **⌃ Space**, **⌥ Space**, **⌘⌥ Space**, **⌃⌥ A** or **⌘⌥ A**. The same choice is in **Advanced** under **Keyboard Shortcut**. A combination already used by a Junk Yard shortcut isn't offered, so two actions never share one. If the shortcut does nothing, macOS may already use that combination. ⌃ Space, for example, is often the macOS shortcut for switching input sources. Pick another one. See also: [Changing keyboard shortcuts](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/shortcuts-pane) · [Keyboard shortcuts](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/keyboard-shortcuts) · [Show in Dock](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/show-apps-in-dock) - **How do I move apps to an external drive on a Mac and still launch them?** Dragging an app to another drive can break it, because macOS expects it in /Applications. Storage Studio relocates the app to your external drive and leaves a shortcut in place, so it still launches normally from Launchpad, Spotlight, and the Dock — and you can move it back in one click. (https://storagestudio.us/faq) - **How do I use an external SSD as extra storage on a MacBook?** Plug in a USB-C or Thunderbolt SSD and let Storage Studio pair it with your internal drive as one workspace. It moves big folders, libraries, and apps to the SSD with a shortcut left behind, so your MacBook behaves like it has a much bigger disk — fast enough to work directly off the external drive. (https://storagestudio.us/faq) - **Can I move my Photos or Final Cut library to an external drive?** Yes — large Photos, Final Cut, and iMovie libraries are common space hogs. Storage Studio relocates them to an external drive while keeping them usable, leaving a shortcut so your apps still find them. Moving a folder to your fast drive keeps its files' modified and created dates, permissions,… (https://storagestudio.us/faq) - **Will moving files to another drive break my apps or Spotlight?** Not the way Storage Studio does it. It leaves a shortcut (symlink) at the original location, so apps, Finder, and Spotlight resolve everything as if it never moved — and the move is fully reversible. (https://storagestudio.us/faq) ## What links here - [Changing keyboard shortcuts](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/shortcuts-pane) - [Junk Yard shortcuts](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/junk-yard-shortcuts) - [Keyboard shortcuts](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/keyboard-shortcuts) - [Show in Dock](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/show-apps-in-dock) - [The Apps window](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-apps-window)