Search Selected Text in Google from Context Menu in Edge

The ability to search the selected text with the default search engine in available in all modern browsers. Opera, Firefox and Google Chrome provide this ability out of the box. Let's see how to get the same feature in Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft Edge is the new default browser in Windows 10. It is still in its infancy, but Microsoft is working hard to expand its functionality. With every feature release of Windows 10, Edge becomes more feature-rich and useful.

Unfortunately, the ability to search the selected text on the opened page with Google is not present in Edge. Here is a third-party extension which can add this feature to the browser.

As of this writing, the extension is not available in the Windows Store, but it is possible to sideload it.

I already covered in detail how to sideload extensions in the Edge browser. Refer to the following article:

How to sideload an extension in Edge in Windows 10

Here is a brief tutorial on how to do it.

Search Selected Text in Google from Context Menu in Edge

First of all, let's download the extension from the author's GitHub. The repository is located HERE.

You can use the following direct link to get the ZIP archive with the extension:

Download Google-Context-Menu-Edge extension

Now, you need to enable the ability to sideload extensions in Edge.

1. Open Edge.
2. Type or copy-paste the following in the address bar:

   about:flags

   You will get the following page:
   
   Tip: If the about:flags page is inaccessible, refer to the following article:Disable the about:flags page in Microsoft Edge.
   There, you can learn how to disable or enable the about:flags page in Microsoft Edge.

3. Enable the option Enable extension developer features.
4. Restart the browser as prompted.

Now you have extension sideloading ability enabled in Microsoft Edge. Let's install the Google-Context-Menu-Edge extension that you downloaded.

Install the Google-Context-Menu-Edge extension

1. Extract the archive contents to any folder you want. I unpacked it directly to the Downloads folder:
2. In Edge, click the three dots "..." menu button.
3. In menu, click the Extensions item as shown below:
4. The following page will be opened:There you'll find a new button named "Load Extension". Click it.
5. Browse for the folder which stores the extracted extension files.Note: You need to pick the folder named "Google Search". Don't select the folder "Google-Context-Menu-Edge-master" if you got it during the extension unpacking. You should locate and select the folder Google-Context-Menu-Edge-master\Google Search.
6. Once you click the "Select Folder" button, the extension will be loaded and activated in the Edge browser. See the following screenshot:

Now, let's test the extension in action.

Open a page in Edge and select some text:

Now right click the selection. A new context menu item, Search with Google, will be added there:

Click it and enjoy the new feature in the Edge browser.

The Google Search extension is a really useful addition. The Ask Cortana command is already available in the context menu but it uses Bing. Now you have an alternative search engine besides Bing.

Do you like the Google search function in the context menu? Do you find this Edge extension useful? Tell us in the comments.