Google Chrome Search Box: Add & Customize | Tips & Tricks

Restoring a Search Box to Google Chrome with the Search Box Extension

Do you find yourself wishing for a dedicated search box within Google Chrome? If so, the Search Box Extension offers a solution. This extension allows you to reinstate a search functionality that may be missed from previous browser iterations.

Installation and Accessing Options

Upon successful installation, a “Magnifying Glass Toolbar Button” will appear. You’ll also receive a notification regarding extension management. There are multiple methods to access the extension’s options.

• Right-clicking on the “Toolbar Button” provides direct access.
• The “Chrome Extensions Page” offers another route to the settings.
• The drop-down window provides the most straightforward access.

Within the options, you’ll encounter a default configuration for the Search Box.

Customizing Search Engines

The options menu presents a pre-populated list of search engines. Initially, a couple of these engines may be disabled, but they can be easily activated with a single click.

Furthermore, the extension allows for editing existing search engines and adding entirely new ones, enabling a highly personalized search experience.

Here’s an example of a customized search engine list and the corresponding drop-down window.

Search Box in Operation

We began testing the extension by performing a search for “Windows 7” using Bing Singapore. It’s worth noting that Google was displayed as the default search engine each time the drop-down window was reopened, but any configured engine could be selected and utilized.

Clicking the “Search Button” automatically opened a new tab displaying the search results.

For our subsequent test, we searched for “Windows 7” using the YouTube Search Engine.

As expected, a new tab opened, presenting a comprehensive set of results for our search query. The functionality proved to be very effective.

Observed Behavior

During testing with YouTube, a minor anomaly was observed. While the YouTube “search page” and any linked pages were in focus, the drop-down window displayed the search URL in a slightly different manner.

However, the drop-down search box functioned normally when any non-YouTube page was brought to the forefront.

Conclusion

Despite a few minor quirks, the Search Box extension performed admirably. If you’ve grown accustomed to having a readily available search box in other browsers, this extension is certainly worth exploring.

Links

Download the Search Box extension (Google Chrome Extensions)