Definition
App Launcher is the waffle-shaped icon menu in Salesforce Lightning Experience that provides users with access to all the apps, custom apps, and items available to them based on their profile and permissions. Users click the App Launcher to switch between different Salesforce apps, search for specific apps, and access individual objects or items directly.
Real-World Example
a platform engineer at NovaScale uses App Launcher to enhance the organization's Salesforce footprint with additional functionality. By leveraging App Launcher, the team avoids building a custom solution from scratch, saving months of development time while gaining enterprise-grade features out of the box.
Why App Launcher Matters
The App Launcher is the primary navigation entry point in Lightning Experience, represented by a waffle icon (nine dots arranged in a square) in the top-left corner of the header. Clicking it opens a panel that shows every app the current user has access to, along with a searchable list of individual items like objects, custom tabs, and installed packages. Users can reorder apps in their personal view and pin favorites for quick access.
What a user sees in the App Launcher depends on their profile, permission sets, and the org's App Menu settings. Admins control which apps are available org-wide through the App Menu, then permission-level restrictions narrow that list further per user. The search box at the top of the App Launcher is particularly useful in large orgs where scrolling through dozens of apps would be slow; users can type the first few letters of an app or object name and jump there directly.
How Organizations Use App Launcher
- •NovaScale — Trained new users to use the App Launcher search box rather than memorizing where specific objects live. This cut new-user onboarding confusion significantly because reps stopped getting lost in navigation.
- •Skyline Consulting — Configured the App Launcher to hide apps that end users don't need, so their sales reps only see the apps relevant to their role. Admins still have access to every app through Setup.
- •Vertex Global — Uses the App Launcher's item search to let users jump straight to individual objects when their current app doesn't include that object's tab. This keeps each app focused while still giving users full platform access when they need it.