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Change Launchpad Icon Size in Mac OS X Lion from Large to Small


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<div class="KonaBody"><p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/change-launchpad-icon-size1.jpg" alt="Change Launchpad Icon Size" title="change-launchpad-icon-size" width="620" height="305" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22691" /></p>

<p>Of all the <a href="http://osxdaily.com/tag/launchpad/">Launchpad tips</a> and <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2011/08/03/change-launchpad-folder-background-image-mac-os-x-lion/">customizations</a>, one that has been greatly desired is the ability to manually adjust the icon size of apps. A tip sent in by Rohan Agashe moves us in that direction, allowing you to change the Launchpad icon size down from the large icons in OS X 10.7.2 to the smaller Launchpad icons that were present in Mac OS X Lion 10.7.1.</p>

<p>This trick is limited to those who have an existing backup of Mac OS X 10.7.1 through Time Machine or otherwise. We are not going to provide old copies of Dock.app or the executable since it is part of OS X Lion and that would be against the EULA.</p>

<h2 style="font-size:1.2em;">Shrink Launchpads Huge Icons Back to Small</h2>

<p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dock-executable.jpg" alt="Dock executable" title="dock-executable" width="88" height="99" class="alignright size-full wp-image-22684" />As stated before, you will need a copy of Dock.app from OS X Lion 10.7.1. This will be stored in the Time Machine backup, or is accessible on Macs that haven’t been updated to 10.7.2 yet. After you have that:</p>

<ul>

<li>Right-click on Dock.app from OS X 10.7.1 and choose “Show Package Contents”</li>

<li>Open “Contents” and then open “MacOS”</li>

<li>Copy the executable file “Dock” to your Mac OS X desktop</li>

</ul>

<p>Now you’re going to replace the OS X 10.7.2 Dock executable with the older copy:</p>

<ul>

<li>Hit Command+Shift+G and enter the following path:</li>

<p><code>/System/Library/CoreServices/</code></p>

<li>Locate and right-click on Dock.app and choose “Show Package Contents”</li>

<p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/shrink-launchpad-icon-size.jpg" alt="Shrink Launchpads Large Icon Size" title="shrink-launchpad-icon-size" width="561" height="294" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22680" /></p>

<li>Open “Contents” and then open “MacOS”</li>

<li>Make a copy of “Dock” and name it “Dock-backup” and place this somewhere you can easily find it</li>

<li>Move the 10.7.1 copy of “Dock” executable to this folder, authenticate the change to overwrite the new version with the old</li>

<li>Launch the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal)</li>

<li>Type the following command:</li>

<p><code>killall Dock</code></p>

<li>Re-open Launchpad and enjoy the smaller icons</li>

</ul>

<p>The original Dock file is backed up so you can return to the large Launchpad icon sizes if you want. You’ll need to continue to keep a copy of the 10.7.1 Dock.app for future OS X updates, unless of course Apple gives us manual controls over Launchpad icon size. In my view, the large icons look best with the <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2011/10/10/enable-motion-blur-for-launchpad-mac-os-x/">motion blur</a>, so if you like maximum fanciness stick with the huge icons.</p>

<p><em>Thanks to Rohan for the tip</em> </p>

<p>Don’t forget to check out our <a href="http://osxdaily.com/tag/mac-os-x-10-7/">OS X Lion tips</a> archive for more.</p>

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