Google Brings Spell Check To Gmail Search

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Gmail users with less than perfect spelling can now worry just a little less when it comes time to perform a search of your email. It seems Google has graduated a feature that was once part of the Apps Search experiment in the Labs section.

This one is rather simple, but nonetheless welcomed. Or at least welcomed by this user with a mind that can sometimes move faster than his fingers. Anyway, the best part is that you do not have to do anything to enable this, although some Gmail users may have already had this (because of the Gmail Labs).

Anyway, moving forward Gmail users will see a “Did you mean” style suggestion which will offer a correctly spelled version of what you tried to search for. And as you can see in the above image, it offers both the search results as well as the option to click on the “did you mean” word or term.

And for those wondering (and with really terrible spelling) there is also a spell checker in the compose section of Gmail. That aside though, while the spell correcting for Gmail Search is nice to see, it still lacks as compared to the regular search functionality that many have gotten used to with Google Web Search.

Sadly though, while this will help you search for correctly spelled words, it is not going to help make the search any easier when you are dealing with people sending you email with horrible spelling in the first place. In other words, first suggest that your poor-spelling friends and family members use the spell check before sending the message and then enjoy easier searches afterward.

Lastly, and for those who have never really played in the Labs section in Gmail — there is a ton you can add in terms of functionality. Not necessarily dealing with search, but you can do things like add a Google Calendar or Google Docs gadget to your sidebar, have your Google Voice messages play directly in the message, move the chat to the right side of the message window and much more.