Lost Google search bar in Android

I had an interesting problem with my Android phone recently: I lost my Google search bar.

Of course, I went hunting - on Google - to find an answer.

The answer appeared to be pretty standard from Google's product forums: Moonycamilla posted a question asking how to restore a lost search bar, and Sweetie4u replied "If your search bar is missing from your android, hold your finger on the screen, a box pops up, touch android wi[d]gets, select google, then select all in the final box, your search bar should be back on your screen" (2012).

That sounded spot on.

Until I tried it, only to find I that had no "Google" Search widget. I had Google+, Google Play Store, and Keep. But no Google.

So I figured that somehow the Google search widget had got lost/overwritten/uninstalled with an android software update. I went hunting for how to restore the Google search widget.

And hit paydirt.

Member KAJ418 had posted the same question in 2015 on the Android Enthusiast's website. Firelord had replied, suggesting that "Go to Application Manager and keep rolling right until you get to the 'Turned Off' header. My Google Search was there. I simply had to turn it back on and then it appeared back in the widget options and I was able to pick it up from there and move it to the home screen."

These instructions were a bit tenuous though. What I actually did was to:

go to settings (pull down from the top of the screen and click the gear wheel) | Application Manager | click the "All Apps" and filter to "Disabled" | scroll down the list of apps until you find "Google App", click ENABLE | then hold your finger on the screen until the list of screens and shortcuts pop up | tap Widgets | select Google App from the list | drag to the screen you want it to appear.

That should see you right.

Sam

References:

• Moonycamilla (2012, 4 February). How do i get my google search bar back on my screen if i had already removed it? Retrieved 19 January 2017 from https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/IBn7v39la68
• KAJ418 (2015, 24 May). Google Search Bar Widget is gone from Galaxy S5, it is not in the widgets section anymore. Retrieved 19 January 2017 from http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/106720/google-search-bar-widget-is-gone-from-galaxy-s5-it-is-not-in-the-widgets-sectio