The Scrambled Apps
macOS includes “Launchpad,” an iOS-style grid interface that displays all the applications installed on your Mac. Many users spend considerable time manually organizing these icons, dragging their most-used apps to the first page and grouping utilities into specific folders. However, if you experience a system crash, reset your Dock preferences, or sometimes simply install a massive system update, macOS might suddenly decide to “fix” your layout. It will completely wipe out your custom folders and automatically reorganize every single application in Launchpad into strict alphabetical order, forcing you to hunt for the apps you use every day.
Freezing the App Grid
While you cannot prevent a major OS upgrade from occasionally resetting the database, you can use a terminal command to lock the current state and stop macOS from automatically organizing Launchpad by preventing any further database changes.
To freeze your current layout, you must lock the SQLite database file that Launchpad uses to remember icon positions. First, organize your Launchpad exactly how you want it. Then, open the Terminal application (found in Applications > Utilities). You need to find the specific database folder. Type exactly: cd $(getconf DARWIN_USER_DIR)com.apple.dock.launchpad/db and press Enter. Now, you will lock the database file by changing its permissions to read-only. Type: chmod -w db and press Enter. Next, type: chmod -w db-shm and press Enter. Finally, type: chmod -w db-wal and press Enter. Your Launchpad layout is now permanently frozen. macOS cannot reorder the icons alphabetically. (Note: Because it is locked, if you install a new app, it will not appear in Launchpad until you reverse this process by using chmod +w on those three files).