ChromeOS's Best New Feature (Mid-2025) | Select to Search & Text Capture

ChromeOS has not been exactly setting the world on fire with new features but Google may be on to something with Select to Search and Text Capture. Last month Google rolled out this new feature with ChromeOS 138 and it quickly became my favorite to boost productivity. To activate the feature you can tap and hold on the launcher icon or select the everything button and the space bar. There is also an icon in the launcher at the top right next to Gemini.

Once you have it activated just use your finger to tap and drag over the subject and the results will display on the opposite side of the search. You can also tap and drag using the trackpad. Under the subject you get an action you can take which is to copy the text. I wish there was a way to copy the image or share what was selected. I'm sure those actions will be added in a future update but this is it for now.

Overall Select to search and Text capture is an awesome new feature and I am looking forward to Google building on what they introduced. Hopefully they can get this feature as close as possible to Circle to Search that's on Pixel and Android devices.

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