Windows 7 has a search box you can place right on the taskbar. Called the address toolbar, it is easy to set up and allows you to start a search and open your browser in one step.
This has actually been available since Windows Vista, but most people don’t know about it.
If you do quite a few searches through the day, but don’t have your browser open all the time, this can come in pretty handy.
On the other hand, the taskbar search box takes up a far bit of space on your taskbar. If you have many programs running at the same time, you may find this a waste of space, especially if your computer monitor is quite small.
The search box can be used in three ways:
- Search the internet
- Directly open a website
- Open a program
When searching or opening a website, the browser you have set at your default browser opens, not necessarily Inernet Explorer.
Search the Internet From the Taskbar
Type in one or more words into the address toolbar and press enter. Your default browser opens and the Bing search engine returns results based on your search terms. This is handy if you like Bing and want to do a quite search.
Open a Website From the Taskbar
If you type the name of a website, for example Google.com, your default browser opens and loads the web address (URL) you specify.
Open a Program Using The Address Toolbar
if you type the name of a program, the program will open. For example, type ‘notepad’ into the address toolbar, and instead of searching for the term ‘notepad’ in Bing, the notepad text editor will open
Setting Up the Address Toolbar
To make the address toolbar (search box) appear on the taskbar, first right-click the taskbar. Left-click the Toolbars menu and a second menu appears with a list of toolbars. Left-click the Address option. The address toolbar appears on the taskbar.
Do the same again to remove the search box from the Windows 7 taskbar.
What's your next move, after having read this post?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Man, it’s a trick that’s there since XP.
It doesn’t appear to be built in to XP, Kent. Setting it up in Windows 7 (or Vista) is very easy.
acutally its been around since win2000 … but since ie7 you cant remove the stupid ass go button without a reg hack