> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://deskspruce.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Rainmeter Search Bars: Compare Options and Set Up - URL: https://deskspruce.com/guides/rainmeter-search-bars/ - Published: 2026-10-23T14:18:19.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T14:18:19.000Z - Description: Compare Elementary, Cobolt and Mangotsfield search components. Understand web search versus launchers, choose a provider and troubleshoot input. - Author: DeskSpruce - Tags: #guide Choose a Rainmeter search bar by what it searches, not just its appearance. A web-search widget sends a query to a website. An application launcher opens a configured program. Local file search needs a search tool or Windows integration; a box labelled “search” does not establish that capability. **Documentation-based comparison:** the choices below are existing DeskSpruce resources, compared using their original listings, Elementary's creator documentation and the Rainmeter manual. DeskSpruce has not independently installed or tested these search components. A documented feature is not a guarantee that an older package's current endpoints still work. ## Pick the right kind of search | Your task | What to look for | What not to assume | | ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Search the web without opening a browser first | A query field with a documented search provider and URL action | Results are rendered inside Rainmeter, or the query stays on your computer | | Open a frequently used app or folder | A launcher with editable program or folder paths | A shortcut searches installed applications by name | | Find a local document | Explicit documentation for a local search backend or Windows search integration | A Google or Wikipedia field searches your drive | None of the three resources below is documented by the sources used here as a local file indexer. If finding files is the requirement, keep using your existing local search tool unless a skin explicitly documents that integration. ## Three existing search components compared | Resource | Documented difference | Choose it when | Limit to check | | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Elementary 3.0](https://deskspruce.com/skins/elementary-3/) | FlyingHyrax's wiki documents a web-search component with Google, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, Baidu and Wikipedia choices through the skin's context menu. | You want a text-based search component with creator-documented provider selection. | The creator's repository also contains later releases. Check the instructions against the version you actually obtain; the listing's “3.0” label does not establish that it is the latest package. | | [Cobolt 2.6](https://deskspruce.com/skins/cobolt-26/) | The original listing names Google, Bing, Wikipedia and IMDB search, alongside clocks, a Lua calendar and system information. | You want search within a broader desktop information suite, especially the listed site-specific options. | The listing does not document the exact provider-switching controls or prove current query handling. Its phrase “desktop search” is followed by website names, not evidence of drive indexing. | | [Mangotsfield](https://deskspruce.com/skins/mangotsfield/) | The listing identifies a Google search bar among standalone components, separately from a launcher for Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver. | You want a Google-oriented component and prefer to select only the widgets you need. | The application shortcuts are not the search bar. Their paths may need changing for your installed programs; neither feature establishes local file search. | This is a functional shortlist, not a performance ranking. Open each resource page for its credited source and package link, or browse the wider [Rainmeter skin catalog](https://deskspruce.com/skins/). There is no need to install every suite to make the initial choice. ## Set up one search component 1. **Save the current arrangement.** Use Rainmeter's Manage window to save a named layout before applying a suite's layout. Copy any customized skin files separately: a layout does not back them up. 2. **Install the selected package.** Follow the [Rainmeter installation guide](https://deskspruce.com/guides/install-rainmeter-skins/) and the creator's instructions. A package installing successfully does not validate its online services. 3. **Load the search configuration.** Expand the installed suite in **Manage → Skins**, select the relevant `.ini` and click **Load**. Do not load every clock, monitor or weather component just to get search. 4. **Select or inspect the provider.** For Elementary, the creator documents right-clicking the search skin and selecting an engine under **Custom skin actions**. For another package, use its supplied settings or documentation rather than assuming the same menu exists. 5. **Try a harmless query.** Use a phrase with spaces, such as `rainmeter documentation`. Check the destination domain, whether the full phrase arrives and which browser opens before entering anything sensitive. For font, color and layout changes, use the separate [customization guide](https://deskspruce.com/guides/customize-rainmeter-skins/). Get the query working before changing its appearance. ## Browser behavior and privacy Rainmeter's official action documentation says that a plain URL action opens in the default web browser. A skin can instead execute an external program, so a configuration that explicitly names a browser may behave differently. Inspect its documented browser setting or action before changing Windows defaults to solve a skin-specific issue. A search provider is also separate from the browser. A Google URL still searches Google when Firefox is the default browser; changing the browser alone does not change the destination service. Elementary's documented engine selector is the appropriate starting point for changing its provider. Treat a submitted web query as information sent to the destination website, not as private local input. The skin does not establish an anonymous session or promise a private window. Inspect the browser's actual profile and session, and avoid entering passwords, access tokens, confidential document contents or private file paths. For a sensitive search, use a browser session whose privacy settings you have checked directly. ## Fix the failure you can observe | Symptom | First check | | --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | The bar is visible but cannot be clicked | Check **Click through** in Manage and whether another skin overlaps the input area. | | A text field will not keep focus | If the skin uses InputText, remove **Stay Topmost**. Rainmeter explicitly documents that position as incompatible with InputText. | | The provider opens, but the query is missing or truncated | Compare a single word with a phrase containing spaces. Review the creator's query action and quoting; InputText documentation requires quotes around input that may contain spaces. Do not replace arbitrary commands with a pasted URL template. | | The wrong browser opens | Determine whether the skin opens a plain URL or names an executable. Check Windows' default browser only for the former case. | | The component does not appear in Manage | Use the [skin-not-showing checklist](https://deskspruce.com/guides/rainmeter-skins-not-showing/) to check installation and folder structure before troubleshooting search providers. | ## References and source limits Resource-specific comparisons come from the original listings for [Elementary 3.0](https://visualskins.com/skin/elementary-3), [Cobolt 2.6](https://visualskins.com/skin/cobolt-26) and [Mangotsfield](https://visualskins.com/skin/mangotsfield). Listing descriptions establish the advertised components, not independently verified operation or compatibility. - [Elementary creator wiki: configuration and web-search engine selection](https://github.com/flyinghyrax/Elementary/wiki/Skin-Configuration) - [Rainmeter InputText: input handling, quoting and focus limitation](https://docs.rainmeter.net/manual/plugins/inputtext/) - [Rainmeter option types: actions, external commands and default-browser URLs](https://docs.rainmeter.net/manual/skins/option-types/) - [Rainmeter Manage: loading skins, position, click-through and layouts](https://docs.rainmeter.net/manual/user-interface/manage/)