Google quietly dropped a native, Spotlight‑style search overlay for Windows that brings Google Search, Google Lens and an integrated AI Mode to the desktop — summoned by a single hotkey and gated as an opt‑in experiment in Search Labs.
Background
Google’s new “Google app for Windows” is an...
Google’s experiment brings its search engine and visual AI directly to the Windows desktop with a compact, Spotlight‑style overlay that promises to search your PC, Google Drive, installed applications and the web from a single keystroke.
Background / Overview
Google has quietly expanded the...
admin controls
ai mode
alt space shortcut
desktop search
drive integration
enterprise
gemini ai
googleapp for windowsgoogleappwindowsgoogle lens
keyboard first
lens integration
local files
privacy
productivity
search labs
spotlight style overlay
spotlight style search
unified search
windows desktop search
Google has quietly dropped an experimental desktop app for Windows that behaves like a modern, Spotlight‑style launcher — summonable with Alt + Space — and bundles unified local + cloud + web search with Google Lens and the company’s AI Mode, promising to fix many of the long-standing pain...
ai mode
ai mode multimodal
alt space shortcut
desktop search
drive integration
enterprise admin controls
enterprise privacy
googleappwindowsgoogleappwindows labs
google lens
google lens desktop
local indexing vs cloud processing
powertoys run
privacy concerns
privacy telemetry controls
search labs
search labs experiment
unified search
unified search overlay
windows spotlight style
Google’s experimental Windows app aims to remove the friction of switching windows to look something up — a floating, Spotlight‑like search bar you summon with Alt + Space that can search local files, installed apps, Google Drive, and the web, and that folds in Google Lens and the company’s AI...
accessibility
admin controls
ai assistant
ai mode
ai-assistant
ai-assisted
ai-mode
ai-powered launcher
aimode
alt plus space
alt space
alt space hotkey
alt space launcher
alt+space
alt-space
altspace
appapp-experiment
beta
closed-source
cloud search
cloud-ai
cloudsearch
command palette
cross surface search
cross-platform
dark mode
data privacy
data-flow
data-privacy
desktop
desktop search
desktop-app
desktop-search
desktopsearch
drive
drive integration
drive-integration
driveintegration
end-user
enterprise
enterprise it
enterprise privacy
enterprise readiness
enterprise-it
enterprise-readiness
everything vs google
experimental
filesearch
gemini
gemini ai
generativeai
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googleapps
google drive
google drive integration
google lens
google lens desktop
google search
google search labs
google-drive
google-lens
googledrive
googlelens
governance
installed apps
integration
itadmin
keyboard first
keyboard shortcut
keyboard shortcuts
keyboard-first
keyboard-launcher
keyboard-shortcut
keyboard-shortcuts
keyboardshortcuts
labs
labs experiment
launcher
launcher overlay
launcher tool
launchers
lens
lens integration
lens ocr
lens-capture
local and cloud search
local and web search
local files
local indexing
local search
local search windows
local-and-web
local-files
local-search
localsearch
microsoft copilot
multimodal
multimodal ai
multimodal search
multimodal-ai
ocr
open-source
opt-in
os integration
os launcher
os search ux
os shell
osintegration
overlay
overlay app
overlay launcher
overlay ui
performance
permissions
power users
powertoys
powertoys run
privacy
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privacy-safety
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productivity
productivity tools windows
screen capture lens
search
search labs
search-ecosystem
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searchlabs
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spotlight
spotlight style
spotlight style search
spotlight-like
spotlight-like launcher
spotlight-like search
spotlight-style
spotlight-style search
spotlightlike
spotlightstyle
start menu
telemetry
translation
unified results
unified search
unified search results
unified-search
unifiedsearch
user interface
ux design
visual search
visual-search
visualsearch
web results
web search
web search integration
web-search
webresults
websearch
windowswindows 10
windows 10+
windows 11
windows desktop
windows desktop appwindows launcher
windows search
windows search alternative
windows ux
windows-10
windows-11
windows-appwindows-labs
windows10
workflow
workspace support
Google’s experimental Google app for Windows lands as a compact, Spotlight‑style overlay that promises to unify web search, local file search, Google Drive access, Google Lens visual queries and a conversational AI Mode — all summoned from anywhere on the desktop with the Alt + Space hotkey...
ai mode multimodal
ai-mode
alt space shortcut
alt-space
desktop-search
enterprise
gemini ai
googlegoogleappwindowsgoogle drive integration
google lens desktop
labs experiment
lens
privacy
productivity
spotlight
unified local and web search
web-search
windowswindows spotlight like search
