Open apps and documents on Mac
There are several ways to open apps and documents.
Open an app
On your Mac, do any of the following:
Use Siri: Ask Siri to open apps for you. Say something like “Open Contacts.”
Use the Dock: Click the app icon in the Dock.
Use Launchpad: Click the Launchpad icon
in the Dock (or use the Control Strip), then click the app icon.Use Spotlight: Open Spotlight
, enter the app’s name in the search field, then press Return.Use the Finder: Click the Finder icon
in the Dock, click Applications in the Finder sidebar, then double-click the app icon.Use the Recent Items list: Choose Apple menu
Open a document
On your Mac, do any of the following:
Use Siri: Ask Siri to open documents for you. Say something like “Open my file kitchen remodel.”
In an app: For some apps, an Open dialog appears when you open the app. If you don’t see an Open dialog, choose File > Open. Locate the document (you may need to show the sidebar to see additional folders), select it, then click Open.
In some apps, you can open recent documents by choosing File > Open Recent, then the document.
On the desktop: If there’s an icon for the document on the desktop, double-click the document’s icon.
Use Spotlight: Open Spotlight
, enter the document’s name in the search field, then double-click the document.Use the Finder: Click the Finder icon
in the Dock. In the Finder sidebar, click Recents, iCloud Drive, Documents, or the folder where the document is located, then double-click the document’s icon or name.Note: To open documents in iCloud Drive, the iCloud Drive feature must be turned on. See Use iCloud Drive to store documents.
Use the Recent Items list: Choose Apple menu