Google ships a Spotlight‑style Windows app

Google made its desktop search app for Windows available globally in English on April 14, adding a keyboard launcher and on-screen visual search to personal computers. (blog.google) The app opens with Alt + Space and can search the web, Google Drive files, installed apps, and files saved on the computer from one box. Google says AI Mode is built in, so answers can include AI-generated responses with links to the web. (blog.google) Google’s support page says the Windows app also includes Google Lens, which lets users select part of the screen and ask questions about text, images, or objects without switching tabs or uploading a separate screenshot first. (support.google.com) The feature set puts Google closer to the desktop launcher model that Apple users know from Spotlight: one shortcut, one search field, and results pulled from local files, apps, and online sources. Google’s own Labs page describes it as “built for Windows” and says the app is still experimental. (labs.google.com) Google first introduced the Windows app as a Search Labs experiment in September 2025, pitching it as a way to search while writing in a document or playing a game. The April 2026 change moved it from a limited test to a global English release for Windows users. (blog.google 1) (blog.google 2) The app extends tools Google had already been pushing inside Chrome and Search. Google Lens on desktop could already analyze content inside a browser tab, and AI Overviews and AI Mode were already adding generated summaries and follow-up answers inside Search results. (support.google.com 1) (support.google.com 2) (support.google.com 3) Google says users control what they share with the app, and its Labs page lists known limitations and notes that the experiment works best with Web & App Activity turned on. The same help pages also warn that AI responses can include mistakes. (labs.google.com) (support.google.com) The release gives Google a permanent shortcut on Windows for the same visual-search system it has been building across phones, browsers, and Search itself: point at what is on screen, ask a question, and get results without opening a browser first. (blog.google 1) (blog.google 2)