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Chrome testing Google Drive search results and file suggestions in the Omnibox

When Chrome first launched 10 years ago, one of its key visual differentiators was a merged field for entering URLs and searching. Google is now testing Google Drive search right from the Chrome Omnibox for faster access and increased productivity.

Google wants to make the Drive search accessible right from the Chrome Omnibox, which added more inline results and image previews with the Material Theme revamp last year. Users will be able to search for both files and folders in Drive, with results appearing like links and query suggestions in the dropdown below.

The Omnibox will also support owner: and type: filters. With the latter, users can enter “type:spreadsheet” or any other file type (Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs) to see your last three matching documents. Searching by owner will also surface three or so results, including folders from that user.

When relevant, regular web results will also appear in the dropdown. Those from Google Drive will feature a matching favicon to quickly distinguish the items.

This feature is currently in beta for G Suite Business, G Suite Enterprise, G Suite for Education, G Suite Enterprise for Education, and G Suite for Nonprofits. It is not available to G Suite Basic accounts.

It works on Mac, Windows, and Linux, as well as Chrome OS, when users are signed into their Google Account and Chrome Sync. Google has to be set as the default search engine, with admins able to sign-up for the beta program today.

Chrome 69 and above is required, with a flag for this functionality also available:

chrome://flags/#omnibox-drive-suggestions

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com