Launchy
Application launch utility for Windows
title: "Launchy" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["free-software-programmed-in-c++", "application-launchers", "software-that-uses-qt", "portable-software", "2007-software", "desktop-search-engines"] description: "Application launch utility for Windows" topic_path: "general/free-software-programmed-in-c" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launchy" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Application launch utility for Windows ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Launchy |
| discontinued | yes |
| screenshot | Screenshot of launchy2.png |
| screenshot size | 250px |
| author | Josh Karlin |
| released | |
| latest release version | 2.5 |
| latest release date | |
| programming language | C++ (Qt) |
| platform | Windows, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, and Linux |
| genre | |
| license | GNU General Public License |
| website | |
| :: |
| name = Launchy | logo = | discontinued = yes | screenshot = Screenshot of launchy2.png | screenshot size = 250px | caption = | collapsible = | author = Josh Karlin | developer = | released = | latest release version = 2.5 | latest release date = | latest preview version = | latest preview date = | frequently updated = | programming language = C++ (Qt) | operating system = | platform = Windows, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, and Linux | size = | language = | genre = | license = GNU General Public License | website =
Launchy is a free and open-source application launcher for Windows, Mac OS X, FreeBSD and Linux. It indexes shortcuts in the start menu, and files in specific folders, to allow quicker access to programs without opening the start menu or browsing to folders.
Program usage
Launchy automatically loads on boot and waits for the user to call it by pressing Alt + Space or a custom hotkey. The user then starts typing the name of the program or file they wish to launch. Launchy automatically searches its list of programs for the closest match as the user types. When it finds the desired program, the user hits Enter and it is automatically launched.
Launchy can add folders and file formats to its catalog for indexing, so it can launch almost anything on a computer, including programs, URLs (also from bookmarks) and documents; as well as run Google, Wikipedia, MSN and Yahoo searches, bringing the results up in the default browser.
Launchy can be extended with plug-ins.
Platform
Launchy was originally written in C# (ver. 0.5), and in C++ since version 0.6. The latest version, 2.0, has been completely rewritten using Qt. This has resulted in incompatibility with older skins and plugins.
Included plugins
The following plugins are included with the 2.0 release:
Controly
- Adds control panel items to the catalog
Weby
- Allows web search
- Can launch URLs, also from bookmarks
Calcy
- A simple calculator
Community plugins
- Ampy controls Winamp, iTunes and foobar2000.
- gCal Plugin posts events to Google Calendar.
- iTuny controls iTunes.
- Killy terminates tasks by name.
- Launchy# allows loading of plugins written in a .NET language.
- MathyResurrected adds additional mathematical capabilities.
- PuTTY Launchy Plugin launches saved PuTTY sessions.
- PyLaunchy allows loading of plugins written in the Python programming language.
Plugin development
Launchy 2 has a C++ API for developing extension plugins that add new types of objects to the catalog.
Community-developed bindings for other programming languages are provided as plugins:
- PyLaunchy allows developing Python programming language plugins.
- Launchy# allows developing plugins in .NET languages.
Awards
2007
- SourceForge.Net Community Choice Awards, Honorable Mention: Best New Project
- PC World 15 Best Downloads of the Year: Powertools
- CNet Download.Com Top Ten Downloads of the Year
References
References
- Rosenblatt, Seth. (December 22, 2007). "The 10 best downloads of 2007". CNet.
- Dolcourt, Jessica. (December 20, 2007). "Launchy 2.0 quick-starts apps with class". CNet.
- Spector, Lincoln. (October 21, 2007). "Fifteen Great Time Saving Utilities". PC World.
- Gralla, Preston. (December 24, 2007). "The 15 Best Downloads of the Year". PC World.
- [https://sourceforge.net/projects/Launchy/ Project Details - Programming Language]
- "Launchy 2.0".
- [https://www.launchy.net/api2.0/ Launchy 2 Plugin API]
- [https://pylaunchy.sourceforge.net/ PyLaunchy: Python plugins for Launchy]
- [https://launchysharp.sourceforge.net/ Launchy#: .NET plugins for Launchy]
- (2007). "SourceForge.Net Community Choice Awards".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::