Launch any app with a trackpad gesture

macOS gives you a few ways to open an app: click it in the Dock, find it in Launchpad, or type it into Spotlight. What it can't do on its own is open an app when you make a trackpad gesture — say a three-finger swipe up for your notes app. That's the gap this guide fills. With GestureCraft you map a trackpad gesture to a Launch App action, and from then on the gesture opens the app — in every app, or just one. (Full disclosure: I make GestureCraft. BetterTouchTool can do this too; GestureCraft is the simpler, native, one-time-$7.99 way to get just this.)

Step by step

1. Open GestureCraft and click Add Rule

   In GestureCraft, click Add Rule. Each rule reads as one sentence: When I do a gesture, run an action, in an app.

2. Record the trackpad gesture

   Under When I, do your gesture on the pad that says "Do your gesture here" — for example a three-finger swipe up or a two-finger tap. GestureCraft captures the finger count and motion from the live trackpad, so there's no menu of gesture names to pick from.

3. Pick "Launch App" from the run actions

   In the run area, open the "Or a command…" action list and choose Launch App. It sits under the Open category.

4. Choose which app to launch

   An app row appears with a Choose App… button. Click it. A standard macOS open panel opens in your Applications folder, filtered to apps. Select the app you want and click Choose. GestureCraft records that app by its bundle identifier, so the rule keeps working even if the app is later moved or renamed.

5. Choose where the rule applies

   Leave the rule set to every app, or under in pick a single app so the gesture only launches there. The same gesture can open something while you're in your browser and be free everywhere else.

6. Save the rule, and try it

   Click Save Rule, then do the gesture on your trackpad — the chosen app opens. In the rules list the action reads "Open <app name>". That's the whole thing.

Ideas worth mapping

A gesture is fastest for the apps you open all day.

• Three-finger swipe up → your notes app — jot something down without hunting the Dock.
• Two-finger tap → your terminal — always one gesture away.
• Three-finger swipe down → your music player — start the day's soundtrack.
• Four-finger swipe → your calendar or mail, scoped to only fire while you're in your browser.
• Back Click (mouse button 4) → any app — for a Magic Mouse or multi-button mouse instead of the trackpad.

Any app in your Applications folder works. Because the trigger and the app are separate, you can rebind the gesture later without touching the app, and the rule keeps pointing at the right app even if you move it.

Why a gesture and not the Dock?

The Dock and Launchpad both make you look, then aim. A trackpad gesture is a spare "button" your hands already know, and it works the same in every app without moving your pointer to a target. GestureCraft is also event-driven, so it sits at near-zero idle CPU — it only does anything the instant you make a gesture, and never runs a background polling loop that drains battery while it waits.

Want the same thing from a mouse button, an external trackpad, or an Apple Shortcut instead? GestureCraft does those too. See the best Mac trackpad gesture app guide, the full roundup of Mac gesture and input apps, or how to map mouse buttons to actions and run an Apple Shortcut from a gesture.