Performing Web Searches

Web searches can be initiated via LaunchBar by selecting a Search Template and pressing the space bar. A text field will appear, allowing you to enter the search string. Press Return to perform the search or press Escape to abort the input.

The search results will be displayed in your default web browser.

Examples

Input Result
GOO [Space] Elvis performs a Google search
ITART [Space] Elvis searches the iTunes Store for Artists
ADVD [Space] Elvis searches Amazon for matching DVDs
IMDB [Space] Elvis searches the Internet Movie Database

Reusing the last entered search string

LaunchBar remembers the last entered search string, so when you re-open a template later you can easily refine your most recent search.

Your recent input is stored separately for each search template. However, if you want to reuse a text that has been entered in a different template in order to repeat the latest search with another search engine, you can open the search template with Shift-Space instead of Space. If you have already opened the template with Space, you can still use Shift-Space to fetch the search string from your previously used template.

To repeat a search immediately, without opening the text field first, you can open the search template with Shift-Return.

Example
  1. Type GOO to select the Google search template.
  2. Press Space to open the text field.
  3. Enter some text and press Return to perform a Google search.
  4. If you are not satisfied with the search results, and want to perform the same search at Yahoo, go back to LaunchBar and type YAH to select the Yahoo search template.
  5. Now just press Shift-Return to repeat your most recent Google search at Yahoo.

Performing Web Searches via Instant Send

Search templates are quite powerful in combination with Instant Send. If you find some text written in a document or on a web page, that you want to search on the web, just select the text, send it to LaunchBar via Instant Send (preferably using a modifier tap), select the search template and hit Return.