How to Search Google Using the Google Toolbar

The Google Toolbar adds a wide variety of features and options to your Web browser. One of the most useful of these is the ability to search Google using the custom search field on the toolbar. This search field works in a fashion similar to the Google search engine Web page, and it also has some features that make searching the Web easier and faster than ever.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Google Toolbar
• Internet connection
• Latest version of Internet Explorer or Firefox
• Operating System: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows ME or Windows 98

1. Locate the Google Toolbar search field—you’ll find this at the top left of your web browser window, underneath the address bar.

2. Type in your search terms and press enter to begin your search. Searching with the Google Toolbar is as easy as that! See the "Tips & Warnings" section of this article for some ways to make your searches more efficient.

Tips & Warnings

• As you type your search terms, a small window will open with a list of suggested searches based on the terms you have typed. Click on one of these to refine your search.
• The black arrow at the right of the search field allows you to view your recent search history. Click on the arrow to bring up a list of your recent searches. You can clear this window at any time by clicking the “Clear History” button.
• The search field has a handy feature called “Search by Name”. With this function enabled, you can type names instead of Web addresses into the address bar. For example, with this feature enabled, you can reach the Harvard University Web site simply by typing “harvard” into the address bar, rather than the entire address. Enable this feature in the “Options” menu.
• Understanding how Google handles search queries is the best way of making your searches efficient. When you enter more than one search term, the Google search engine returns only the results which contain all of your search terms. For example, if your search terms are “dogs cats” your results will include only Web pages which contain both of these words.
• Use the OR operator to combine searches. For example, the search term “dogs OR cats” will return results with Web pages containing either of these words or both of them.
• Use the "-" operator (the minus sign) to refine your searches. For example, the search term “dogs -cats” will return results with Web pages that contain the word “dogs,” but not the word “cats."
• Search for exact phrases by typing quotation marks around the phrase.
• Use the "date:" operator to control the age of your search results. For example, with the search term “dogs date:6” all of the search results will be 6 months old or less.