coaching newsletter contact

Creating Custom Web Searches in Alfred

Searching is one of the most technically complicated processes to build and yet the simplest to use. And it's almost universally accepted that every website has a way to search the entirety of their content. Connect this with the ability to search websites directly from Alfred and you can create a one-stop shop for searching all your favorite sites.

Alfred can do searches in Google and many other websites out-of-the-box. But if you notice yourself searching a specific website repeatedly, it makes sense to set up a custom search within Alfred. If you continually repeat this process, you'll end up using Alfred for all your searches instead of going through the multiple steps required to open a site, find the search bar, and type your query.

To set up a new custom search, you first need to know how the site handles search queries from a URL standpoint. For joebuhlig.com, this is what that looks like:

joebuhlig.com

Joe Buhlig | an analog mind in a digital world

an analog mind in a digital world

Once you have that information, open Alfred preferences, go to Features, then Web Search. At the bottom-right you'll see "Add Custom Search." From there, simply fill out the details you want for the search. Here's the full example for this site:

To make it even easier, you can click here to install it directly.

Using this search is quite simple. Invoke Alfred, type "joe" followed by your query. It'll look like this:

Sun, Nov 27, 2016 06:00pm CST https://bhlg.us/4kY3
#alfred

Want to see my August 2020 Bullet Journal setup?

Join 1,514 subscribers!

I'll send you the link to a six-minute overview video of my August 2020 spreads when you sign up for my newsletter, The Weekly Impulse.

Site Analytics

I use Fathom Analytics on this site because I care about your privacy. And if you ever want to see the stats collected and the data I see, check out the live analytics here.

Amazon Affiliate

joebuhlig.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees when linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above might be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

an analog mind in a digital world

👋 I'm Joe Buhlig. I strive to build productivity systems that stand the test of time and help me do more than check boxes. I'm here to help you do the same.

🎙 I read a lot of books and talk about it.

🐿 I can't focus on one thing for long, so I write a lot of code for an eclectic grouping of projects.

📓 And I'm a bit obsessed with finding non-proprietary solutions to digital problems. Thus, text files for the win! 🎉

MN U.S.A 1986-09-30
  • all
  • articles
  • code
  • likes
  • notes
  • photos
  • replies
  • reposts
  • steps
  • videos
coaching newsletter contact
© 2014-2025 by Joe Buhlig