App Store app icon is duplicated in Launchpad

Question

Somehow, Apple's App Store app icons are duplicated in the Launchpad on my MacBook Pro running macOS 11.5 (Big Sur).

Since this is a system-level application, I cannot delete one of these redundant icons. I tried the strategies that I found on the Internet, i.e.,

1. Remove ~/Library/Application Support/Dock/*.db
2. Run defaults write com.apple.dock ResetLaunchPad -bool true
3. Run killall Dock
4. Restart the system

But these duplicated icons are still in Launchpad after reboot.

I am wondering how to remove one of them?

Answer 1

You can try with the procedure described in this link : https://1upnote.me/post/2018/06/remove-icon-from-launchpad/

Here is a trick to remove it.

1. Open Terminal, run the following command

   sudo find /var/folders -name com.apple.dock.launchpad

It will show you where the Launchpad folder locates. In My Mac, it shows: /var/folders/xw/88q1ph5s1pz4737f6cy1gn6h0000gn/0/com.apple.dock.launchpad

2. Open that folder

   open /var/folders/xw/88q1ph5s1pz4737f6cy1gn6h0000gn/0/com.apple.dock.launchpad

3. Open the db folder inside In the db folder, there are 3 files: db, db-shm, db-wal.

4. Open the db file This db file is a SQLite DB file. You can open it easily using DB Browser for SQLite, or using sqlite3 command line (up to you).

5. Check apps table Here it is! There is a table named apps containing all the information of app icon in Launchpad. If you are using DB Browser for SQLite, you can see its data easily. Just click Browse Data tab, choose apps from Table. Choose the line of the Icon you want to remove and click Delete Record. Remember to save your changes before close.

6. Log out and log in back Check if it works!

It's work for me using DB Browser for SQLite.