Note: In order to get the most out of this Google Desktop how-to, you'll need to have Google Desktop installed on your computer. It's a fast, free install; the only thing that takes a bit of time is Google's indexing of your computer files in order to find them all for you later on. However, by the time you finish reading this article, that process will most likely be almost completed (for most computer systems).
How to Make Google Desktop Uniquely Yours
Google Desktop is a very, VERY useful application that can help you find documents on your computer using the power of Google's search engine. In order to make Google Desktop uniquely yours, you're going to want to set your Preferences. There are a couple ways by which this can be accomplished:
- Click on the Desktop Preferences link on any Google Desktop search results page (should be to the right of the search bar).
- Right-click on the Google Desktop icon in your toolbar, and click on Preferences.
You have a LOT of options available to you at this point. You can filter what kind of files you want or don't want to be searched, choose if you want a specific Google Desktop widget displayed, enable Advanced features, etc.
This also would be the time to choose if you want something excluded from Google's indexing of your files, for whatever reason.
Basic Google Desktop Features
Google Desktop searches files on your computer - all you need to do is enter a key word or key phrase (phrases in quotes for a more exact search). There's a few ways that you can sort your search results; the default display method is by date, but I find that sorting results by relevance (just click on the Relevance link) brings back more search-appropriate files. All the basic Google search commands apply for Google Desktop as well; for instance:
- zoology filetype:pdf: search for a specific filetype
- "dog days": search for a specific phrase
The Timeline view is also an interesting way to make Google Desktop work for you, particularly if you know approximately what time the file/chat/email was created, but you can't remember what you named it. Just click on Browse Timeline (right next to the main search bar) and you can play with the drop-down menu or the interactive calendar to choose your time parameters. I was able to search files clear back to 1997 this way!
You can also play with the Today hyperlink; it's is a great way to to get a rundown of every single thing you might've accomplished on any given day in an easy to follow format (it's interesting to see how much you've gotten done, or NOT gotten done!).
Advanced Google Desktop Operators
Here are a few of the most useful advanced Google Search commands that I use on a regular basis:
- under:: The "under:" operator puts a limit on which file folder your results can come from. So, this query: grandpa under:"C:\1_Common Folder\Wendy\Pictures" would only grab pictures titled "grandpa" in my Pictures folder.
- Email search:With thousands of emails floating around on my machine, I especially am grateful for Google Desktop implementing such a powerful way to search emails. There are five separate email search operators: Subject:, To:, From:, Cc:, and Bcc:. Here's a sample query: subject:merger to:bill gates from:steve jobs. This would grab every email from Bill to Steve with the word "merger" in the subject line.
