The BetterTouchTool Launcher

The Launcher is a Spotlight-style command window built into BetterTouchTool. Access apps, files, your BTT triggers, your clipboard, your calendar, and much more.

Requires macOS 13 or newer and BetterTouchTool 6.440 or newer.

Highlights

• Reuse Your Configured BTT Triggers - You can put any BetterTouchTool trigger into the Launcher, simply by enabling "Show in Launcher" in its configuration. Every BTT trigger can become a searchable, named command - a true command palette for your automations. The prompt is saved to variables BTTLauncherPrompt (full prompt), BTTLauncherPromptKeyword (first word) and BTTLauncherPromptInputWithoutKeyword (remaining text) and can be accessed from your automations.
• Search everything - apps, windows, files, BTT actions, your own triggers, and calendar events from one field.
• Clipboard Manager - full history with previews, inline editing, text transformers, and image markup.
• Calendar & Reminders - browse your macOS calendars and create events or reminders without leaving the keyboard.
• Speech Dictation - voice-to-text with review, edit, paste, or copy.
• File Search & Browser - fast name search with configurable scopes, plus a Finder-like browser.
• Apple TV Remote - full on-screen remote as a built-in widget.
• Plugins - third-party extensions can contribute their own rows, commands, and rich surfaces.
• AI Chat - jump straight back into recent h@llo.AI conversations, run AI queries or use it to configure BTT.
• AI Launcher Plugin Generation - use BetterTouchTool's AI Configuration Assistants (Ask AI) to generate completely custom native launcher plugins
• Multiple Instances - run several launchers in parallel, each with its own pinned items, window position, aliases, and query memory.

Opening the Launcher

The Launcher is controlled through three predefined BetterTouchTool actions. Assign any of them to a trigger (hotkey, trackpad gesture, menu bar item, Stream Deck button, …):

Action	Description
Show Launcher	Shows the Launcher, optionally with prefilled text.
Hide Launcher	Hides the currently active Launcher.
Toggle Launcher	Shows the Launcher if hidden, otherwise hides it.

A typical setup is a keyboard shortcut like ⌥ Space bound to Toggle Launcher.

All three actions accept an optional launcher ID and positioning parameters so you can run several independent Launcher instances side by side and place them exactly where you want.

Customizing Results

Every row in the Launcher can be tailored - no code required:

• Aliases / keywords - make a row match extra search terms.
• Pinning - keep a quick pill above the results for one-click access.
• Priority - boost or lower a row's ranking in filtered searches.
• Hide - remove a row from results without deleting the underlying trigger.
• Groups (folders) - collect related sections into browsable folders with their own SF Symbol icons and keyboard shortcuts.

All of this is reachable from the per-item actions popover (⌘P by default) or the Launcher settings sheet, opened from the menu button in the top-left corner of the Launcher window.

Keyboard-First

The Launcher is designed to be driven from the keyboard. The most important keys:

Key	Action
↑ / ↓	Move selection.
↩	Activate the selected item.
Tab / →	Enter child items (e.g. an app's windows).
←	Go back one level.
Esc	Exit the current surface, or close the Launcher.
Space	Quick Look preview on file rows.
⌘P	Per-item actions popover.

Learn More

See Items & Widgets for the full catalogue of what can appear in the Launcher and what each item can do.