How to Install the Google Toolbar

The Google Toolbar is an additional download you can install for Firefox or Internet Explorer to help cater to your browsing needs. Many different companies offer various toolbars to facilitate your search needs, even Yahoo offers a similar toolbar, but Google's toolbar is constantly adding new features and developments to make things easier for the average Internet user.

Toolbars give uses the opportunity to customize their browsing experience by adding to the toolbars already in place in the browser itself. Often these installed toolbars can not be customized much, and the user may desire additional features to make their browsing experience more tolerable. The Google Toolbar is one such away to add to the existing program and make their Internet experience individualistic.

The Google Toolbar will add to your web browsing experience and give you control unlike any other toolbar out there. It is easy to install, easy to customize and easy to uninstall should you decide you do not like what it has to offer. Google offers many different features that you can enable and disable through the options menu as well as being add to it down the line with upgrades, buttons and newer released features.

For Firefox users, the Google Toolbar offers customer buttons that you can add to it for different features. You can set-up the buttons to take you to your favorite web sites, favorite search engines or to do other things you commonly do while using your browser. You can create your own buttons, take ones from the button gallery or search for new ones online to add features to. The Google Toolbar is customizable down to the last button.

Google added a "sent to" feature on the toolbar that allows you to send your favorite web pages via e-mail, text message or even your blog at the click of a button. You can even search documents and spreadsheets and open them right from your browser via the toolbar. The new bookmark feature stores favorite web sites online so you can access them anyway instead of scouring through your history to find a site you wanted to go back to but forget to save.

In addition to sending e-mail from the toolbar, you can also access your Gmail account as well. You can subscribe to feeds from your favorite websites and change your subscription preferences at the drop of a hat. You can even customize the toolbar to fit your Firefox theme. There is also an auto-update feature so you can download the latest version of the Google toolbar without remember to check for updates.

The toolbar also comes with a built-in pop-up blocker. You can prevent most windows from opening up when you visit various web sites, or you can allow certain web sites to let pop-ups through. You can change the options for the pop-up blocker. It will even keep track of how many pop-ups have been stopped since installation, and you can have a little icon show up to tell you what web sites are using pop-ups or not. You can also opt to disable pop-up blocking and allow them all through.

For Internet Explorer, you want to make sure you have Windows XP or higher installed and that you are running IE 5.5+. Some features in the Google Toolbar will not work with anything less than IE 6.0+ installed.

Open up IE and head to Google's web site. Search for "Google Toolbar" and click on the first link. You will see to the right of your screen a big button that says "download Google toolbar." Click it. From there, you will want to save the file to your desktop or other designated place on your hard drive. Open the EXE file when it finishes downloading and go through the installation steps. You will need to agree to the terms of use clause Google bundles with the software and once you agree, you will continue with the installation. When it is completed, you should open IE and see the Google Toolbar below your navigation bar. From there, you can customize the features and add additional ones if you see fit.

For Firefox, you will want to make sure you are using version 1.5+ and having Windows XP (with SP3 installed) before continuing.

Open up Firefox and visit toolbar.google.com. You will want to click on the download link, read the terms and conditions, click agree and install. A window will open prompting you to install an XPI file. If you have your Firefox configured to do so, you will wait a few seconds and then click okay to install the extension. If not, you will have to configure your browser to accept XPI installations from Google. Once you are that far, you will want to restart your browser, and the Google Toolbar should be installed right under your navigation bar. You can immediately begin tweaking the options to find the right set-up for you.

If you run into any problems during installation or can not figure out how to get a particular feature to work, Google's web site provides tutorials and walk-throughs on how to get the most out of their Toolbar. Most of the time, you can figure out how to set it up from the options menu but if you still are having difficulties, there are resources set-up to help guide you through the process.

Once you get the hang of the toolbar, you may want to install more buttons to it. By visiting Google's Button Gallery, you can add to the toolbar with web sites you visit most frequently. Simply click on the "Add to Toolbar" button, and they were self-install so you can begin using them at once. You can also create your own from the same menu to help make your browsing experience unique.