Google Desktop Features

Features

Google Desktop is a desktop search application that gives you easy access to information on your Mac and from the web. Desktop makes searching your own email, files, music, photos, and more as easy as searching the web with Google.

Quick Search Box

The Quick Search Box is your fastest way to do web and desktop searches and launch applications. You can call it up by pressing the ⌘ key twice, and hide it by pressing ⌘ twice again. Type a few letters or words into the search box and your top results pop up instantly, including applications. For example, you can launch iTunes simply by typing "itu" into the Quick Search Box and pressing Return when iTunes appears as the first result.

Search Your Gmail and Web History

Not everything you're looking for lives on your Mac. Whether you're searching your computer or the web, Desktop helps you find it by searching your Gmail and web history along with your hard drive. Also because your index is stored locally on your own computer, you can even access your Gmail and web history while you're offline.

New! Google Gadgets

Google Gadgets are interactive mini-applications you can add to your Dashboard to show you new email, weather, photos, and personalized news. Other gadgets include the clock, calendar, scratch pad, to do list and many more.

Use the Google Gadgets application to choose from the enormous collection of gadgets created by Google and users all over the world.

Many File Types

Google Desktop automatically indexes and allows you to search the full text of virtually all your files, including the following types:

• Gmail
• text files (.txt)
• PDF
• HTML
• email from Apple Mail and Microsoft Entourage
• iChat transcripts
• Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• music and video files, including artist and song names
• Address Book contacts
• system preference panes
• file and folder names

Google Desktop also searches file types that have a Spotlight importer.

Familiar Results

When you do a Desktop search, you'll see a list of search results. Each result, just like Google web search results, includes the file name and a brief snippet with your search terms highlighted. You can also filter for a particular type of item -- only emails, for instance -- by using the links at the top of your Desktop search results page.

Smart Indexing

After you install Google Desktop, it starts indexing the files that are already on your Mac. This one-time indexing is designed to peacefully coexist with your normal work, so you can continue working while indexing takes place. Depending on how many files and other items you have on your computer, this process can take up to several hours. Once it's done, Desktop makes sure your index stays up to date by adding new email as you receive it, files as you update them, and web pages as you view them.

Google Integration

What if you already have the information you're looking for but don't realize it? When there are useful results on your Mac related to your Google web search, Google Desktop will include these files with your search results. There's also a simple command center for searching your computer, which you can access by clicking "Desktop" above the search box on Google.com.

File Versioning

Google Desktop creates cached copies (snapshots) of your files and other items each time you view them, and stores these copies on your Mac's hard drive. As a result, you can often use Desktop to find previous versions of your files or ones you've accidentally deleted.