How to add Gmail as a search engine in Chrome-based browsers
Jack Wallen shows you how to create a handy search engine to search your Gmail inbox from the Chrome address bar.
I rely heavily on Gmail and often have to go through my inbox for various letters. Luckily, Gmail has a very powerful search tool that makes it easy to search through even an amazingly large inbox.
SEE: iCloud vs. OneDrive: Which is Best for Mac, iPad, and iPhone Users? (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
However, sometimes I don’t want to have to open Gmail to search for something. When I need a little more efficiency in my workflow, I can rely on Chrome’s ability to add custom search engines. After adding a search engine to Chrome, all you have to do is type a keyword in the address bar and press the Tab key on your keyboard to then search the target.
What you need to add a Gmail search engine to Chrome
This feature works in Chrome. I tested it on some Chrome based browsers only to find that it doesn’t work as expected. I’ll demonstrate it with Chrome on Pop!_OS Linux, but this feature works regardless of the operating system.
How to add Gmail as a search engine
Open your browser and then open the settings window. From there, locate the “Search Engine” section and click “Manage Search Engines and Site Searches” (Figure A).
Figure A
In the resulting window (Figure B), you will see all default search engines listed.
Figure B
Below that, you’ll see the Site Search section, which lists all the custom search engines you’ve added. Click Add. In the next window (Figure C) you need to paste the following into the settings.
After configuring the new search engine, click Save to close the window. Your new Gmail search engine has been added.
How to use the new Gmail search engine
Open a new tab and type “gmail” followed by a space in the address bar. Type the search query you want to run in Gmail and press Enter on your keyboard. This will open the tab in Gmail with the results of your search.
One thing to know is that you don’t have to use Google’s default search engine for this to work. I tested the feature using DuckDuckGo, which is listed as my default search engine, and everything worked exactly as expected.
And that, my wonderful friends, is all you have to do to set up Chrome with a more efficient way to search your Gmail account.
Subscribe to TechRepublic’s How To Make Tech Work on YouTube for the latest tech advice for business professionals from Jack Wallen.