Google’s experiment quietly drops a compact, Spotlight‑style search bar onto the Windows desktop — summonable with Alt + Space — that unifies local files, installed apps, Google Drive and the web, and layers in Google Lens and an optional AI Mode for conversational, multimodal answers...
ai mode
alt space
desktop search
enterprise readiness
google app for windows
google drive integration
google lens
keyboard shortcut
local and web search
multimodal search
privacy concerns
productivity
search labs
spotlight style searchunifiedsearch
visual search
windows 10
windows 11
windows spotlight style
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
google app for windows
google app windows
google lens
keyboard first
lens integration
local files
privacy
productivity
search labs
spotlight style overlay
spotlight style searchunifiedsearch
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
google app windows
google app windows labs
google lens
google lens desktop
local indexing vs cloud processing
powertoys run
privacy concerns
privacy telemetry controls
search labs
search labs experiment
unifiedsearchunifiedsearch overlay
windows spotlight style
Google has quietly pushed a compact, Spotlight‑style search overlay to Windows as an experiment — a one‑keystroke gateway that stitches together web results, Google Drive, installed apps and local files while folding in Google Lens and an AI Mode for conversational answers.
Background
Google’s...
ai mode
ai-mode
alt-space
data governance
drive integration
enterprise
enterprise controls
google
google lens
google windows labs
labs
local file search
on-device indexing
privacy
privacy and enterprise
productivity
spotlight style searchunifiedsearch
windows overlay
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
app
app-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
google
google app for windows
google app windows
google app windows labs
google apps
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
privacy and security
privacy concerns
privacy-safety
privacyconcerns
productivity
productivity tools windows
screen capture lens
searchsearch labs
search-ecosystem
search-labs
searchlabs
security
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
unifiedsearchunifiedsearch results
unified-searchunifiedsearch
user interface
ux design
visual search
visual-search
visualsearch
web results
web search
web search integration
web-search
webresults
websearch
windows
windows 10
windows 10+
windows 11
windows desktop
windows desktop app
windows launcher
windows search
windows search alternative
windows ux
windows-10
windows-11
windows-app
windows-labs
windows10
workflow
workspace support
Start8 1.20 Changelog
-Updated for Windows 8.1 Preview build compatibility
-Start8 allows customizing the Start button image AND provides a desktop Start menu
-Added new prompt on first run to select a default button image. Upgrade installs will not see this prompt.
-When running on Windows 8.1...
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changelog
compatibility
customization
desktop
download
functionality
jump list
metro apps
search
settings
software update
stardock
start menu
start8
unifiedsearch
user interface
windows 8
windows 8.1