How can I add "Google results" as a search provider in GNOME shell?

Question

When I press the Super key I see the Overview window. From here I can search current open windows, files, Software Senter, etc, but I couldn't find how to make it search in Google. Looks like there should be a search provider for it, but I couldn't find it in GNOME Extensions portal.

Am I missing something?

My setup is GNOME Shell 3.32.0 (Ubuntu)

Possible duplicate of [How to enable Google search for GNOME Shell?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/233543/how-to-enable-google-search-for-gnome-shell) — pLumo, Apr 16 '19 at 08:54
Very old duplicate, but answer still seems to be correct. Anyways, do you **really** want to give Google information on everything that you type in the Gnome shell search? — pLumo, Apr 16 '19 at 08:59
Thanks for pointing me to the original question. Unfortunately, the answer there didn't work for me. I created google.xml file, pasted the source code from the link, copied it to the /usr/share/gnome-shell/search-providers and rebooted. — Alexey Chernov, Apr 16 '19 at 09:18
Weather the privacy issue with google. I agree to switch from Google to DuckDuckGo, but couldn't find how to implement it either. — Alexey Chernov, Apr 16 '19 at 09:19
Welcoem to AskUbuntu! There appears to be some confusion. Ubuntu 19.10 hasn't been [released yet.](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases) Please [edit] the output of `lsb_release -a` into your question. Thank you for helping us help you! — Elder Geek, Apr 16 '19 at 15:58
@ElderGeek thanks for pointing out, I confused the version. It is 19.04 that I downloaded a day ago, which will be released in 2 days. But this is already a stable version. And I think this problem is more related to Gnome version, rather than Ubuntu one. — Alexey Chernov, Apr 16 '19 at 17:32
@AlexeyChernov if you believe that's the case then it would be useful to [edit] the output of `gnome-shell --version` into your post as well. Comments can be deleted for many reasons. This is why it is requested to [edit] useful information into your post. — Elder Geek, Apr 16 '19 at 17:50

Elder Geek · Answer 1 · 2019-04-20T13:12:32.333

The google search provider is available in the gnome extensions portal here.

It's reported to work with gnome-shell v.3.18.5 but I personally haven't tested it.

One alternative is the Web Search Dialog extension available here or on the project page here

It's pretty old and hasn't been updated in years but you might be able to get it to work by changing the version number in metadate.json

Another alternative would be to simply do your web searches from within your favorite browser. Personally I've found this approach to be highly effective.

A third alternative would be to develop your own using the data available here.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 23 '19 at 00:54

There is a GNOME Shell extension on GitHub called Web Search Provider for GNOME Shell that lets you add different web search providers.

Note that adding Extensions from non trusted sources is unsupported, not recommended and you may encounter stability and/or security issues.

Now if you still want to set it up, download the extension:

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/mrakow/gnome-shell-web-search-provider ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/gnome-shell-web-search-provider@mrakow.github.com

Edit config.json file:

gedit ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/gnome-shell-web-search-provider@mrakow.github.com/config.json

And replace its content with the following:

{
  "searchEngines": {
    "Google Search": {
      "urlTemplate": "https://www.google.com/search?q={searchTerms}",
      "iconPath": "/usr/share/icons/gnome/256x256/actions/search.png"
    }
  }
}

Restart GNOME Shell: Alt+F2, r, then Enter. Or logout and login again (for Wayland).

Enable the Web Search Provider extension in GNOME Tweaks or at https://extensions.gnome.org/local.

Now a Google Search entry should appear whenever you use GNOME Shell search.

Tested on Ubuntu 19.04

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 01 '23 at 03:22

You can pass searches to gnome's browser Epiphany by installing it and then enabling "web" as a search provider. You can pass searches to Firefox but it takes two more steps. If Firefox defaults to searching with google, you will see Google results. Clicking on one opens in Firefox.

First, create a text file in /usr/share/gnome-shell/search-providers

The file is here: https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/source/browser/components/shell/search-provider-files

its contents:

[Shell Search Provider]
DesktopId=firefox.desktop
BusName=org.mozilla.Firefox.SearchProvider
ObjectPath=/org/mozilla/Firefox/SearchProvider
Version=2

Then you need to create a preference in firefox. Create it, it is not there.

go to about:config, search for

browser.gnome-search-provider.enabled

and use the + button to add it. Make sure the value is true. Restart firefox

Go to Gnome Settings for Search and make sure firefox is enabled.

Now, search from the Gnome shell.

Source: https://mastransky.wordpress.com/2020/09/25/firefox-gnome-shell-search-provider/

How can I add "Google results" as a search provider in GNOME shell?

3 Answers3