Google expands Gmail, Google Drive results in Search box trial

This is pretty nifty. You can now sign up to view results from your Gmail inbox using the search bar on the front page of Google.

While some people have been able to do this since August, the trial has been expanded to include more users as well as the ability to search your Google Drive account.

According to Google the early trial had been successful, and the decision to include Drive was as a result of user feedback:

We’ve gotten very positive feedback from those of you testing it out — such as this note: “The Gmail results feature is awesome! The fact that it’s all integrated into one screen is huge.” Many testers have requested being able to find Drive files as well — as one of you put it, “It would be awesome if I could search my google drive from google search as well :)”.

So starting today, you can sign up for a new and expanded field trial that makes it easier to find your stuff across Google, whether you’re searching on Google.com or searching in Gmail.

Here’s how it works: When you’re in Gmail, type into the search box. According to Google “you’ll instantly start seeing relevant emails from Gmail” as well as results from Google Drive and Google Calendar.

Similarly, when you search on Google.com, your results will include relevant information and messages from Gmail as well as files, documents, spreadsheets and more from Google Drive:

If you fancy giving the new service a bash, you can sign up on the field trial page, as long as you have a Gmail account.

When the original article launched back in August, Google Director of Product Management, Universal Search Sagar Kamdar said it was part of the internet giant’s quest for “Universal Search”. “Gmail is almost larger than our web corpus and it continues to grow,” he said.