Tab to Search on Chrome

One of my favorite Chrome features is the ability to search websites directly from the omnibar with the 'tab to search' feature. 



Note: this feature only works if you have Google set as your default web browser. 


Chrome will automatically add this feature to any website it determines to have a search engine. To activate the feature, open a new tab and go to the website. Once you go, if Chrome recognizes it, the next time you go it will automatically add the 'tab to chrome' feature. 



Here is a list of some websites Chrome automatically detects and adds for you (remember you have to go to the website one time for the feature to be activated):
  • Facebook
  • Google Translate
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

I wish this would work for every website, but it currently does not. In some cases you are able to manually add a website to 'manage search engines' with a quick code. Please note, that this trick does not work for every site. 

Steps to manually add a website:

  1. In Chrome, go to Settings
  2. Click on 'manage search engines'
  3. Add information in all three fields
    • Box 1: Name of the website (ex: Google Drive)
    • Box 2: type in the keyword you use in the omnibar to activate the feature (ex: drive)
    • Box 3: In some cases, simple add ?s=%s after the websites search URL (ex: https://drive.google.com/drive/search?q=%s)
  4. Click done



Here are a couple codes that don't follow the basic rule above. Copy and paste the URL into box 3 of the 'manage search engines' section.
  • Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=%s 
  • Expedia: https://www.expedia.com/Search-Results?ref=addressbar&q=%s 



Google Photos Animation

With Google Photos you can take a series of photos, minimum of two and maximum of fifty, and put them together to create an animation. 

Photos put together to create animation

Quick video showing you steps to create animation:


While this is great for sports type videos, you can also use this feature in the classroom. For example, you can capture a series of photos to create an animation of:

  • a science experiment
  • solving a math problem
  • creating a piece of artwork

The important part is remembering to take a photo after each step. 


Not using Google Photos, check out the help section