You log on to the SAP Fiori Launchpad by opening, in a web browser, the Launchpad URL, whose path is /sap/bc/ui2/flp (page FioriLaunchpad.html) preceded by your system host and port, or, from SAP GUI, by entering the transaction code /n/UI2/FLP, which opens the Launchpad in a web browser. The host, the port and the client (sap-client) are specific to your installation: they are provided to you by your Basis team. There is therefore no universal URL you could simply guess. That is the direct answer, whether you are coming from a career change or you are already a key user on an SAP role.
What remains is understanding what this Launchpad actually is, because the word often intimidates beginners. The Launchpad is quite simply the single home page you see once you have signed in: a set of tiles, each one launching a Fiori application, both on a desktop computer and on mobile. It is the Launchpad that handles all authentication, either by displaying a classic login screen (user and password), or by letting you in without typing anything when SSO is configured. This article (updated 2026) covers the three access paths (URL in the browser, transaction /n/UI2/FLP from SAP GUI, mobile browser), explains why your screen may be empty or show only a few tiles, and gives you the leads to unblock the most frequent logon errors.
- The canonical URL is
/sap/bc/ui2/flpopened in a browser; the host, the port and the client are given to you by Basis. - From SAP GUI, the transaction code
/n/UI2/FLPopens the Launchpad in a web browser, without retyping a URL. - The Launchpad handles the login itself: a user-and-password screen, or no input at all if SSO is in place.
- The tiles you see depend on your PFCG role, not on the Launchpad itself: two users see different screens.
- A blank page after login almost always signals a missing role or catalog, an inactive
SICFservice, or a failing OData service.
What the Fiori Launchpad is, and how it differs from SAP GUI
Let us start with the definition, because four terms overlap and often confuse beginners: Fiori, Launchpad, SAP GUI and SAP Logon. The Launchpad is the single entry point to Fiori applications, that is, the home page you see once you are signed in. Technically, it is a “shell”: a casing that hosts the applications and provides the services around them, navigation, personalization, built-in support and configuration.
Concretely, this home page presents tiles. Each tile represents a business application you can launch in one click. Some tiles display a live indicator: a number, a KPI color, even a small chart, to give you information before you even open the application. The Launchpad is therefore not an application in itself, it is the frame that brings them all together.
The common confusion comes from the fact that many people first know the classic interface. Here is how the two worlds differ.
SAP Fiori Launchpad
- Opens in a web browser (desktop or mobile).
- Displays tiles, each one launching a Fiori application.
- Single entry point, responsive, accessible remotely.
- Handles login, SSO and logout itself.
- Customizable by the user (pinning, themes).
SAP GUI / SAP Logon
- Thick client installed on the Windows workstation.
- SAP Logon lists the systems and opens a session.
- Access to transactions via their code (command field).
- Classic SAP screens, oriented toward dense data entry.
- Can also launch the Launchpad via
/n/UI2/FLP.
One question comes up often: “Are Fiori and Fiori Launchpad the same thing?” No. Fiori refers to the design language and the set of applications; the Launchpad is the page that hosts them and gives you access to them. The Launchpad is also part of the central interface of the ABAP application server from recent releases onward, but the exact version available depends on your landscape: it is your Basis team that can confirm it for your system.
Logging on to the Fiori Launchpad: the 3 access paths, step by step
Here is the practical core. Three paths lead to the same Launchpad. The first goes through the browser, the second through SAP GUI, the third through mobile (detailed further down). The procedure below applies to the first two and describes what happens next, once you are signed in.
- 1Open the URL in a browser
Enter the URL made of your system host and port, followed by the path
/sap/bc/ui2/flp(pageFioriLaunchpad.html). The host, the port and the clientsap-clientare provided by your Basis or IT team; they are specific to your system. - 2Or launch the Launchpad from SAP GUI
If you are already in SAP GUI, type
/n/UI2/FLPin the command field. The Launchpad then opens in a web browser (the workstation’s default browser in most configurations, although some systems open an embedded browser), without having to retype any URL. This transaction is mostly used to test or launch the Launchpad; end users generally go through the direct URL. - 3Authenticate (login screen or SSO)
The Launchpad handles the connection itself. Without SSO, a screen asks for your user and your password. With SSO configured (SAML2, Kerberos/SPNego, X.509 certificate or logon ticket), you arrive directly, without entering any password.
- 4Land on the home page and its tiles
You land on the Launchpad home page, the entry point to your Fiori applications. It displays the tiles your role authorizes, organized into groups (classic model) or onto pages within spaces (more recent model).
- 5Find and launch an application
Click or tap a tile to open its application. For an application not on the home page, use the search field or the App Finder (tile catalog); you can then pin the frequent tiles to the home page.
On some older systems, you will come across a longer, more explicit URL form: https://<host>:<port>/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/ui2/ushell/shells/abap/FioriLaunchpad.html?sap-client=<client>&sap-language=EN. This is the older form that names the shell directly; it remains documented by SAP, but /sap/bc/ui2/flp is today the recommended entry point. The host, the port, the client and the language remain, in all cases, values specific to your environment. Be careful not to confuse this user URL with that of the Launchpad Designer, which is an administration tool and not a logon page.
Accessing the Fiori Launchpad on mobile and practicing without a corporate system
Two questions come up with learners: how to open the Launchpad on a phone, and how to practice when you do not yet have access to a corporate system.
For mobile, the answer is reassuring: since the Launchpad is designed to be responsive, the same URL opens in your phone’s browser exactly as it does on a workstation. The Launchpad remains the main entry point to Fiori applications on mobile as well as on desktop. There have also historically existed dedicated mobile clients on the SAP side; their availability depends on the versions and the landscape, and here again your IT team remains the reliable source for knowing what is deployed at your site.
Two careful routes. The first: ask your Basis team for an account on an internal demo or training system, which gives you a real Launchpad with real tiles. The second: explore the demo and trial environments that SAP makes available to the public, whose terms change regularly. Always check the current offer directly with SAP rather than relying on a specific demo URL that might no longer be valid.
Where your tiles come from: catalogs, groups or spaces, and the PFCG role
Why does your screen not have the same tiles as your colleague’s? Because the Launchpad does not decide what you see, your role decides it. And the mechanism is more subtle than it appears: a tile does not point directly to an application. It carries an “intent”, that is, a semantic object associated with an action, which then resolves into a target mapping (the actual target to launch). This is intent-based navigation: the same intent can resolve differently depending on the user’s role.
Two models coexist today, and both ultimately deliver the tiles to the user via a PFCG role.
The first is the classic catalog-plus-group model. The catalog carries the tiles and their target mappings: it governs what you are authorized to launch. The group, for its part, governs the layout of the tiles on the home page. Both are inserted into the PFCG role via the Menu tab (Insert Node button, then “SAP Fiori Tile Catalog” or “SAP Fiori Tile Group”). A key point to remember: without the catalog in your role, the tiles of a group do not display, even if the group is properly there.
The second is the more recent spaces-plus-pages model. Introduced with S/4HANA 1909 (it requires, on-premise, the SAP Fiori Front-End Server 2020) and now the standard in S/4HANA Cloud, it is progressively replacing the classic model. A space represents a work domain (typically one or more business roles), and contains one or more pages. You maintain it with the dedicated Fiori applications “Manage Launchpad Spaces” and “Manage Launchpad Pages”, and not with the old Launchpad Designer. Here too, the assignment is carried by the PFCG role. For the exact timeline according to your release, the SAP Help documentation for S/4HANA remains the reference.
| Model | Layout object | Maintenance tool | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalog + group (classic) | Group | Launchpad Designer, insertion into the PFCG role | Historical model, widely used |
| Spaces + pages (recent) | Page (within a space) | “Manage Launchpad Spaces” and “Manage Launchpad Pages” apps | From S/4HANA 1909 (FES 2020 on-premise), standard in S/4HANA Cloud |
Worth noting: SAP also delivers Fiori Foundation base roles, which contain the basic authorizations to simply use the Launchpad. Being authorized to use the Launchpad does not, however, mean being able to launch any application: you also need the authorizations specific to each application. Fine-grained authorization management is a topic in its own right, which we detail in our guide on SAP roles and authorizations (PFCG).
Cannot log on: frequent errors, causes and solutions
When the Launchpad refuses to open or displays a blank page, the diagnosis almost always follows the same leads. The table below summarizes the most frequently reported symptoms and the direction to take.
| Symptom | Probable cause | Resolution lead |
|---|---|---|
| Blank page after login, few or no tiles | Missing role or catalog, inactive SICF service, or failing OData service | Check the business role (PFCG/SU01), activate the SICF nodes, then open F12 (Network and Console) to spot the 403/404 calls |
| HTTP 403 Forbidden error | Authorization issue, or inactive SICF service (sometimes the Logon Procedure was switched to “SSL certificate required”) | Activate the service in SICF, check the role and the OData service, review the Logon Data tab (Standard unless a certificate is intended) |
| ICF service not active | The nodes were never activated on the front-end server | In SICF, activate e.g. /sap/bc/ui2/flp, /sap/bc/ui2/start_up, /sap/bc/ui5_ui5/ui2/ushell, /sap/public/bc/ui2 (non-exhaustive list depending on the release) |
| Tiles gone for a user who had them | Broken target mappings, or group present without its catalog in the role | Run /UI2/FLC (Fiori Launchpad Checks) and /UI2/FLIA (Intent Analysis); verify that the catalog is indeed in the role |
| Loop back to the login screen despite the IdP | SSO/SAML2 misconfigured on the front-end server side | Configure the ushell service to “Use All Logon Procedures” and activate the SSO services in SICF (to be confirmed according to your release) |
| Outdated interface, old tiles after an update | Browser cache (cache buster) serving stale resources | Clear the cache and hard-reload; on the server side, the cache buster is managed via a dedicated service (steps to verify for your version) |
Several of these cases are frequently reported on SAP Community rather than set in formal SAP documentation: treat them as solid leads, not as an official procedure. The most effective reflex remains to open the browser’s developer tools (F12 key), Network and Console tabs, to identify precisely which service is failing (a 403 or a 404 shows you the target). For the exact list of SICF services to activate according to your release, refer to the SAP Help page “Activate SICF Services for SAP Fiori Launchpad”. On the administration side, the transactions /UI2/FLP_CUS_CONF and /UI2/CUST serve respectively for central configuration and maintenance.
Frequently asked questions about logging on to SAP Fiori
What is the exact URL to open SAP Fiori Launchpad?
The pattern is your system host and port followed by the path /sap/bc/ui2/flp (page FioriLaunchpad.html). The host, the port and the client are not universal: they are specific to your system and are communicated to you by your Basis team. There is therefore no single URL valid everywhere.
How do I open the Launchpad from SAP GUI with /n/UI2/FLP?
In an SAP GUI session, enter /n/UI2/FLP in the command field then confirm. The Launchpad then opens in a web browser (the workstation’s default browser in most configurations, sometimes an embedded browser). It is handy when you are already connected to the system via SAP Logon and you do not want to retype the full URL; this transaction is mostly used for testing and launching.
What credentials do I use to log on to Fiori?
You use your SAP account on the ABAP server: a username and a password, the same ones as for your other access to this system. If SSO is configured (SAML2, Kerberos, certificate or logon ticket), you have no password to enter, the identification is automatic.
Why does the Launchpad keep sending me back to the login screen?
It is often the sign of a misconfigured SSO/SAML2 on the front-end server side: authentication succeeds at the identity provider, but the SAP system falls back to its login screen. The classic lead is to verify that the ushell service does use all logon procedures and that the SSO services are active in SICF. To be confirmed by your technical team according to your configuration.
How do I log on to the Launchpad on a phone?
Since the Launchpad is responsive, you open the same URL /sap/bc/ui2/flp in your phone’s browser. The entry point to Fiori applications is identical on mobile and on a workstation; only the layout adapts to the screen size.
How do I find MY Launchpad URL?
You cannot guess it: the host and the port that complete the pattern /sap/bc/ui2/flp are specific to your installation. Ask your Basis or IT team, who can also tell you the right client. For the detail of the URL pattern, see the SAP Help documentation on the Fiori Launchpad logon URL.
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