Is it possible to add Google Search to all Windows context menus?

Question

Basically, I'd like to select some text in Notepad, Word, my RSS reader, what-have-you, and be able to lookup that phrase in Google. Are there any utilities that allow me to do that?

Answer 1

A context menu would be difficult as they are generated by the application rather than the operating system.

However, you can use a simple AutoHotKey script to give you a keyboard shortcut instead. The script below should work in any situation where you can use Ctrl + c to copy to the clipboard.

#s::
MyClip := ClipboardAll
clipboard = ; empty the clipboard
Send, ^c
ClipWait 
Run http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=%clipboard%
Clipboard := MyClip

This will set Win + s to copy selected text and Google it.

Answer 2

I don't know how to add Google Search to the Windows context-menu, but one can add it to the Windows Start menu.

See this article:

How To: Customize Windows Vista Start Menu Instant Search(Add Wikipedia,Google,Yahoo Search)

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Another possibility is to use Dave's Quick Search Taskbar Toolbar Deskbar which allows you to drag selected text to the search widget:

Answer 3

You might find some help here:

http://www.askvg.com/add-cascading-menus-for-your-favorite-programs-in-windows-7-desktop-context-menu/

I don't know if it'll let you do a contextual Google search, but it might let you put a shortcut to the Google search website (similar to the kinds of shortcuts you can put on the desktop or Start menu, for instance).