Google Straight From MacOS Spotlight With This Keyboard Shortcut
Sometimes you want something on Google (or Bing? At your discretion …), but opening another browser tab seems like too much of an effort. If you’re using macOS, try this handy keyboard command that makes Spotlight searches automatically open in your browser’s default search engine.
First, open Spotlight – the search bar built into macOS that you’ve probably used to find files and apps on your Mac – by pressing Command + Space.
Now, suppose you want to see ” what to do if my dog ate weed .” Instead of opening your browser, going to Google and entering that phrase, you can simply type it into Spotlight.
If you don’t like Siri’s suggestions, hold Command and press B on your keyboard. Spotlight will open your browser and place your search query in your browser’s default search engine. In my case google.
But Spotlight isn’t the only feature that can do this. In the interests of balance, we should also point out that Spotlight nemesis Alfred can do this too. When you open Alfred’s search bar and start typing searches, you are also presented with a large G option. Alfred also provides a customizable keyboard shortcut, so doing quick searches becomes extremely fast and easy.
The only difference is that you are not presented with real search results inside Alfred, as in Spotlight. But listen, is this really an obstacle to the deal?
PSA: How to Search the Web with Spotlight Search in macOS | Reddit