Chrome is testing a quicker way to search highlighted text with Gemini

Google is currently testing a quicker way to search highlighted text with Gemini. It’s not a groundbreaking feature, but it’s a step in the right direction.

In recent Chrome Canary builds, Google is experimenting with a floating toolbar that shows up whenever text is selected on a webpage. According to findings from Windows Report, the toolbar includes shortcuts for Ask Gemini, Copy, Share, and additional site controls, putting common actions directly next to the highlighted text instead of burying them in a menu.

Image credit: Windows Report

The main function of this is to search for highlighted text quickly. At the moment, if you highlight text on Chrome, then right-click and select “Ask Gemini,” it will just open up the Gemini sidebar. From there, you have to manually type what you want to search for. This new experimental feature cuts out that process completely.

Clicking Ask Gemini sends the selected text directly to Chrome’s Gemini side panel, where users can continue the conversation with follow-up questions. That means there’s no need to manually copy text, open Gemini, and paste it into a prompt.

I tried replicating the feature on Chrome Canary 151.0.7905.0 but couldn’t get the floating Ask Gemini toolbar to appear. The underlying functionality does seem to be present, though. In my testing, selecting text and opening Chrome’s right-click context menu revealed an Ask Gemini option. Clicking it automatically passed the selected text into the Gemini side panel, allowing me to immediately continue with questions about the highlighted content.

The experiment also feels like a natural continuation of other Chrome interface changes we’ve been tracking recently. Google is already testing a redesigned text-selection menu that places a preview of selected text beside actions such as Copy and Translate, while also introducing new icons to make options easier to identify at a glance. This latest Gemini integration seems to build on the same foundation by bringing AI actions closer to the selected content instead of hiding them behind additional menus.

Chrome’s growing focus on Gemini isn’t limited to desktop either. Earlier this week, Chrome 150 for iOS introduced an upgraded Gemini experience that allows the floating AI window to be minimized into a small pill-shaped shortcut at the bottom of the screen.

Windows Report also notes that the floating toolbar includes a three-dot menu containing options such as “Hide for this site” and “Settings.” The hide option appears intended to suppress the popup on specific websites, while the settings entry currently redirects users to Chrome’s standard content settings page rather than a dedicated Gemini configuration screen. That suggests parts of the feature are still under development.

Google hasn’t announced the text-selection feature publicly, and like many Chrome Canary experiments, there’s no guarantee it’ll make its way into a stable release.

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