Universal-Search PhD Hack: Turn Chrome Into a Free Second Brain (No Plugins Required) 🧠⚡

If your thesis tabs breed faster than you can read them, you need Universal Search, not another bookmark folder.
Meet Focus Dock—a Chrome productivity launcher that turns ⌘+. into a lightning-fast command center for every paper, note, and dataset you touch.

No sign-ups, no paid tiers, zero bloat.
Below is the 4-minute workflow PhD students use to never lose a source again.

1️⃣ Install & Summon Universal Search

Add Focus Dock
Hit
```
⌘+.
```
on any page—floating bar appears instantly
Type fragments, not exact titles—fuzzy search forgives typos

2️⃣ Capture Papers Faster Than Zotero

While browsing PubMed, arXiv, JSTOR:

```
/note 
```
+ paste abstract → auto-saved locally with URL & timestamp
```
/read 
```
+
```
Enter
```
→ article parked in distraction-free reading list
Both become full-text searchable the moment you hit
```
Enter
```

3️⃣ Auto-Group 100+ Tabs by Domain

Type
```
/autogroup
```
→ Focus Dock clusters every tab by domain
PubMed, GitHub, Canvas, Notion—each family gets its own label
No drag-and-drop; perfect for systematic-review chaos

4️⃣ Recall Anything in <1 Second

Forget folders. Just

⌘+.

and type any clue:

“bayesian power” (words out of order)
“smith 23” (author + year)
“sample size too small” (your personal note)
Results appear before you finish typing

5️⃣ Freeze & Resume Entire Work Sessions

End-of-day shutdown:

```
/save meta-analysis-v2
```
Close Chrome guilt-free
Next session:
```
/workspaces
```
→ pick name—every tab & note restored in 2 clicks

Bonus Commands You’ll Actually Use

```
/pubmed
```
– teleport to all open PubMed tabs
```
/clip
```
– re-paste that DOI you copied yesterday
```
/index
```
– refresh search cache after bulk imports
```
/groups
```
– rename clusters on the fly

Privacy = Zero Compromise

100% local: history, notes, clipboard never leave your device
No accounts: productive the second it installs
No tracking: your data = your thesis secrets

TL;DR

Focus Dock gives Chrome Universal Search superpowers:

Find any paper, note, or history item in <1 s
Auto tab manager keeps 200+ sources sane
Keyboard-first = zero mouse friction

Install free, tap

⌘+.

, and turn your browser into the fastest free Second Brain you’ll ever own.

Get Focus Dock – Universal Search & Tab Manager for Chrome
1,300+ PhD candidates already replaced three paid apps with this one.

Universal-Search-PhD-Hack-Turn-Chrome-Into-a-Free-Second-Brain-No-Plugins-Required