Nine Tasks You Can Do Right From Chrome’s Address Bar
Google Chrome’s address bar (or omnibox as Google calls it) may seem simple, but it can actually help you do a lot more than just search for your favorite website. It turns out that Chrome URL also has a number of convenience features built-in. It can perform unit conversions, communicate with Google Gemini , and even turn a browser tab into a blank notepad.
Drag and drop words to search
One of the most useful ways to get the most out of the address bar actually has to do with how you search. Instead of copying and pasting a word into the address bar, just highlight it and drag it there.
This is a great feature when your hands are full, like if you have one hand on the mouse while the other gives your pet a well-deserved scratch. Simply highlight a word, release the mouse button, and click and hold the highlighted word to drag it.
Talk to Gemini directly from Chrome’s address bar.
While some of these features have been around for years, this one is new. Gemini has its own web page , but Google has made it possible to communicate with Gemini directly from the Chrome address bar. All you have to do is type @gemini before the request and the browser will open the Gemini page and respond to your request.
This feature is rolling out to Chrome users, so it may not be available to you yet. But once this happens, communicating with Google’s AI chatbot will become even easier.
Get a blank notepad right in your browser
This secret is extremely useful if you take a lot of notes. You can open a blank page in your browser at any time by pasting the following into the address bar:
data: text/html,
You can even bookmark this page to get to it even faster. Just know that everything you write will not be saved after you close the page.
Convert measurements and temperatures
Let’s say you’re working on a new cake recipe for your significant other. The recipe specifies one type of measurement, but you need to convert that unit of measurement to another. While you can Google the answer, you can also just go to Chrome and type the conversion you need directly into the omnibox, which will give you the answer before you even hit Enter.
Just open your Chrome browser and type something like ” forty ounces = cups ” without the quotes. Chrome will display the answer right below the address bar. This is useful if you need to convert multiple measurements at the same time. The same trick works with temperatures, distances, etc.
Search bookmarks directly
Another useful feature is the ability to search bookmarks directly from the address bar. Type @bookmarks , press Spacebar and enter the name of the bookmark you’re looking for. This is useful if you have a lot of bookmarks and need to find something quickly.
Look for something specific on websites
To find something specific on a website , you don’t have to rely on the site’s built-in search function. Instead, open a new tab in Google Chrome and search for site:sitename. For example, to find Lifehacker articles about Chrome, simply type ” site: lifehacker.com chrome ” and press Enter. Google will return a ton of results for the keyword, but only from the specified site.
Make it easier to search in Gmail and Google Drive
This feature allows you to set Gmail and Google Drive as search engines in the address bar. This will make it easier to find specific items in your Google Drive folders because you won’t have to navigate to them manually.
Right-click the address bar, then select Manage Search Engines and Websites . Now go to the Site Search section and click Add . For Google Drive, add http://drive.google.com/?hl=en&tab=bo#search/%s as the URL. Then type @drive for the shortcut (or something similar) and name it Google Drive. Click Add again to save the shortcut. Now type @drive in the search bar and enter a query to search for files.
To do this for Gmail, follow the same steps as above, but add https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/#apps/%s as the URL.
Convenient search through browser history and tabs
Google Chrome’s Omnibox can also find items in your history, as long as you don’t clear it too much for it to be useful. Just type @history before your query to find sites you’ve already visited.
Alternatively, if you have many tabs open and need to find something quickly, type @tabs followed by your query.
Quickly start a new letter
This is useful for regular email users: you can launch an email from your default email client by typing mailto: in the address bar. This will automatically open a new email in your installed client, so you can start composing an email without having to go there directly.