List of Google Easter eggs

Template:Active editnotice The technology giant Google "prides itself on being a playful company" and has added Easter eggs and April Fools' Day jokes and hoaxes into many of its products and services, such as Google Search, YouTube, and Android since at least 2000.

Easter eggs are hidden features or messages, inside jokes, and cultural references inserted into media. They are often well hidden, so that users find it gratifying when they discover them, helping form bonds between Google and its users. The easter eggs are sometimes created by employees during their 20% time. Google avoids adding easter eggs to popular search pages, as they do not want to negatively impact usability.

File:Google Maps "Mordor" easter egg.png

An Easter egg in Google Maps warned users asking for walking directions from "The Shire" to "Mordor" that they should "Use caution – One does not simply walk into Mordor."

Search engine

Further information: Google Search

A Google web search for:

• "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away" resulted in the same tilted, scrolling style that the introductions to the original Star Wars movies were presented in. This included the music, which was muted but could be heard by clicking on or selecting the muted speaker icon on the page. However, this no longer worked as of 28 Jun 2017.
• "anagram" shows "Did you mean: nag a ram".
  • "define anagram" shows "Did you mean: nerd fame again"
  • "anagram" and "define anagram" in other languages. For example, a Google ES search for "anagram" shows Did you mean: frog range".
• "askew" causes and "tilt" once caused the results page to be tilted, leaning down, left to right.
• "bletchley park" shows the name of the attraction being decoded in the Knowledge Graph.
• "<blink>" or "blink html" includes samples of the blink element in the results.
• "Christmas", "Hanukkah", and "Kwanzaa" will show decorations next to the search bar for each respective holiday. The feature is only active during the month of December. Each year, new decorations are shown.
• "conway's game of life" on a desktop browser generates a running configuration of the game to the right of the search results. The process can also be stopped and altered by the user.
• "do a barrel roll" or "z or r twice" causes the result page to do a Star Fox-style barrel roll.
• "drag queen" or "drag king" causes a rainbow to display next to the search results.
• "festivus" shows an image of the Festivus pole beside the search results.
• "gay pride", "homosexuality", "stonewall" and other LGBT related searches, at times of gay pride festival activity, cause the results page to have a rainbow themed header.
• "google in 1998" on a desktop browser will generate a layout similar to the one Google used for its search engine in 1998.
• “is google down” returns with "No".
• "kerning" will add spaces between the letters of the word "kerning" in the search results.
• "keming" will remove some of the space between the letters of the word "keming" in the search results. "Keming" refers to improper kerning, particularly when not enough space is used between letters, which can cause mistakes like "kerning" to be read as "keming".
• "<marquee>" or "marquee html" will apply the marquee element to the results count.
• "recursion" includes a "Did you mean: recursion" link back to the same page.
• "sonic the hedgehog", "green hill zone" and "sanic" will give a knowledge graph with Sonic waiting. Clicking on Sonic will make him jump; if clicked on 25 times, Sonic will transform into Super Sonic.
• "super mario bros" shows a knowledge graph for Super Mario Bros. that contains a flashing ? Block which generates a coin and 200 points when clicked. After 100 coins are collected, the "1UP" sound plays.

Google's webdriver torso logo

• "webdriver torso" turns the Google logo into the moving colored blocks. This is a reference to an automated YouTube channel made by Google to test YouTube's performance. This does not work on mobile devices. This does not work when there is a Google Doodle on that day.
• "wubba lubba dub dub" results in Google's Search asking "Did you mean: i am in great pain please help me" or, when using Google Home, Google Assistant responds with "Are you in pain? How can I help?" or "Sorry, I don't speak Birdperson", referencing the adult animated science fiction sitcom Rick and Morty.
• "zerg rush" causes an army of Google Os to attack and destroy the search results, which can be defeated by clicking on them. Once you are defeated (as victory is impossible), the Os form two Gs (GG), meaning Good Game.

Embedded tools

Further information: Google Search § Special features

A Google web search for:

• "bubble level" on a mobile device will have an interactive spirit level.
• "flip a coin" will flip a coin: heads or tails.
• "fun facts" or "i'm feeling curious" will show a fun fact. Once a search result has been given, clicking on "Ask another question" will show another question. It will show a short fact in about 1-3 sentences and a link to the website where the fact was found within a featured box at the top of the search results.
• "metronome" will have a metronome that can be adjusted from 40 to 218 BPM.
• "Pac-Man", "Google Pacman" or "play Pacman" will show the interactive Google Doodle from 2010.

  

  The initial configuration of Google's Pac-Man banner.

• "play dreidel" will spin a dreidel, landing on Nun, Gimel, He, or Shin.
• "random number generator" or "rng" will generate a random number between 1 and 10.
  • Changing the maximum or minimum to a number with more than 10 digits will generate a dizzy face emoji 😵.
  • Changing both the maximum and the minimum to 100 will generate a hundred points symbol 💯.
• "roll a die" will roll a die: between 1 and 6.
• "snake", "play snake", "snake game" and "snake video game" will result in a "Play Snake" card. By selecting Click to Play, the user can play the game on both desktop and mobile. Clicking the snake will turn it rainbow.
• "solitaire" will have a playable game of solitaire. Users can select between two modes: easy and hard.
• "spinner" will have an interactive spinning wheel and a fidget spinner which can be toggled via the switch. For the spinning wheel, a dropdown menu can change the number of numbers on the wheel: from 2 to 20. Whereas, for the fidget spinner, users have to mimic a rotating motion in order for the spinner to spin.
• "tic tac toe" will have a playable game of tic tac toe. Users can select to be either player 1 (x) or player 2 (o).
• "stopwatch" and "timer" will provide interactive timing methods; the stopwatch counting up and the timer counting down. Both tools are shown for each search term.
• "what sound does a dog make" will sound out what a dog will make. The word "dog" can be replaced with other animals in the search query.

Google birthday surprise spinner

Searching for "google birthday surprise spinner" will result in a wheel that spins to one of a selection of playable Google Doodles, tools (see above) and games. Whichever is randomly selected may be opened, or the wheel may be spun again. It was added in celebration of Google's 19th birthday.

Calculator

Late 2011, Google added a graphical calculator to search results. By using natural language processing, Google's algorithms have calculated that the result might be mathematical in nature. Woven into this feature are several not entirely academic understandings, which might be considered Easter eggs.

A Google web search for:

• "baker's dozen" shows the additional result "1 baker's dozen = 13"
• "once in a blue moon" will give the additional result of "once in a blue moon = 1.16699016 × 10⁻⁸ hertz".
• "the answer to [the ultimate question of] life the universe and everything" provides the answer "42" as a result in reference to the Douglas Adams novel series, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". It is believed to be the first Google Easter egg, predating the calculator in which it's now revealed.
• "the number of horns on a unicorn" shows the number "1" on the calculator.
• "what is the loneliest number" shows the number = "1" in the calculator.

Results may be calculated; for example: "the number of horns on a unicorn plus the answer to life the universe and everything" will return "43".

Image search

• A Google image search for "atari breakout" starts a game of Breakout, using the gallery of image results as bricks. Once the bricks are destroyed, a random phrase is automatically searched and the game will restart.

Google Maps and Google Earth

Further information: Google Maps and Google Earth

• The world of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" may be explored with Google Street View. Visit New York City in 1926 as brought to life in the film, as well as the real locations today. Fans can visit MACUSA (Magical Congress of the USA); Steen National Bank, where Newt first meets Jacob Kowalski; the underground speakeasy The Blind Pig; and the magical apartment of Tina and Queenie Goldstein, two of the film’s key characters.
• Another 3D buildings easter egg involves the famous bridge jump scene from The Blues Brothers, which is recreated in Google Earth at the Tacony–Palmyra Bridge linking New Jersey and Philadelphia.
• The Mars Feature of Google Earth allows users to speak to a primitive ELIZA clone on the planet, by searching for "Meliza".
• On July 20, 2005, the 36th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon, Google debuted a version of Google Maps that included a small segment of the surface of the Moon. It is based entirely on NASA images and includes only a very limited region. Panning causes the map to tile. Zooming to the closest level used to show that the Moon was made of cheese. The map also gives the locations of all Moon landings, and the Google Moon FAQ humorously mentions a connection to the Google Copernicus hoax, which Google claimed to be developing. Supposedly, by 2069, Google Local will support all lunar businesses and addresses.
• In Street View, on Earls Court Rd, London, United Kingdom, a TARDIS from the famous science fiction series Doctor Who is on display. Street View allows one to enter the TARDIS where it is "Bigger on the Inside" and explore the set actually used in the show.
• When navigating from Snowdon to Brecon Beacons, the user can choose to travel by dragon, which takes 21 minutes.
• When navigating from Urquhart Castle to Fort Augustus, the user can choose to travel by the Loch Ness Monster, which takes 25 minutes.
• When navigating from Magdalene College to President's Lodge Queens College, the user can choose to be punted, which takes 45 minutes.
• Searching for public transportation from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace will offer the Royal Carriage option.
• Certain navigation within the greater London area showed the as-yet unopened Crossrail (Elizabeth Line) in royal purple (April Fool's Day, 2016).
• To promote the upcoming release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, users could explore Bruce Wayne's residence and the Batcave.
• For April Fools' Day 2015, when in certain areas in Google Maps, there was a Pac-Man button. When clicked (if one's in a suitable area for it to work), a Pac-Man game started, controlled by arrow keys, using the roads as paths for Pac-Man to go. A similar feature was brought back for April Fools' Day 2017, allowing users to play a version of Ms. Pac-Man upon clicking the icon on the Google Maps webpage or mobile app.
• In early test versions of Google Maps, searching for a route between locations separated by expanses of water (e.g. Paris and New York) provided road directions to the coast of the embarkation country (in this case, the west coast of France) before suggesting "Swim the Atlantic Ocean (3,500 miles)" or another ocean for a different distance.
• While Google Maps' walking directions were in beta, requesting them from the start point of "The Shire" or "Rivendell" to the destination of "Mordor", the directions returned the warning: "Use caution – One does not simply walk into Mordor."
• Searching for "R'lyeh" would take users to the coordinates of the sunken city. It was listed as a "Place of worship".
• Visiting "Salford Lads' Club" with 3D buildings activated will show Morrissey of The Smiths at the entrance. The club was featured in the cover art of the Smiths' album The Queen Is Dead.

Pegman

Further information: Google Street View § Pegman

• If the user navigates to Loch Ness, the lake can be seen from a street view and the Pegman looks like the Loch Ness Monster.
• He is given special clothing for some widely observed special occasions: for Halloween he rides a broomstick; for Valentine's Day he stands upon a heart; and during Christmas week, he becomes a snowman and on certain hashtags like the #prideforeveryone hashtag he gets a certain object like a rainbow cape.
• Around February 8, the launch day of Google Maps, he appears dressed as a birthday cake.
• When viewing past street views, he turns into Emmett Brown, one of the protagonists from Back to the Future.
• When dragged into Legoland in Carlsbad, the Pegman turns into a LEGO Minifigure.
• When dragged into Street View in Sun Valley, Idaho, he becomes a skier.
• On Election Day the Pegman is wearing a Uncle Sam's hat and an "I voted" button
• When dragged onto the vicinity of the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Pegman becomes a tennis player holding a racket.
• Dragged near the Kennedy Space Center, Pegman becomes an astronaut.
• When dragging Pegman around Groom Lake in Nevada or Area 51, he will turn into a UFO.
• When viewing some royal residences, such as Buckingham Palace (and the surrounding palaces), The Palace of Holyroodhouse and Hillsborough Castle, the Pegman turns into a representation of Queen Elizabeth II, "PegMa'am".
• When dragged onto Hawaii or Florida, the Pegman becomes a mermaid, but only when close to the ocean. The figure reverts if dragged too far inland. Pegman also turns into a mermaid when dragged to the vicinity of the Galápagos Islands.
• Dragging the Google Street View Pegman onto Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, CA used to display him with a tie-dyed shirt.
• There is a place on the southern point of Half Moon Island, Antarctica that has blue roads. When the Pegman was dragged on this spot, the Pegman turned into a penguin and users could explore the area as if on roads. Penguins and a research team in red parkas can be seen at various points on these roads.
• For the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the Pegman on Google Maps was a stormtrooper or an X-wing fighter pilot.
• For the release of the video game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD for the Wii U, the Pegman was Link holding a Master Sword and a Hylian Shield.
• For Google Street View's birthday (which took place on June 1, 2017), the Pegman appears on both Maps and Street View as if he is celebrating a birthday, wearing a red and white striped miniature party hat and holding three pastel violet, pink, and blue balloons in his right hand.

Google homepage

• Rolling over the I'm Feeling Lucky button causes the button text to spin, landing on a random phrase. Clicking on the button without text in the search bar will serve the corresponding web page.

I'm feeling	Result
Doodley	Random Google Doodle
Artistic	Random Google art project
Hungry	Google search for "restaurants"
Puzzled	"A Google A Day" home page
Trendy	Google Hot Trends
Stellar	Google Images page on the Reflection Nebula
Playful	Random interactive Google Doodle
Wonderful	Random "World Wonder" project
Generous	Google "One Today" homepage
Curious	Google search for "I'm Feeling Curious"

Google languages

Google offers interfaces for several different fictional languages. Users can set any language (except pig latin) as their preferred language in their search settings.

Language	URL
Pirate	www.google.com/?hl=xx-pirate
Hacker (Leet)	www.google.com/?hl=xx-hacker
Bork	www.google.com/?hl=xx-bork
Klingon	www.google.com/?hl=xx-klingon
Pig latin	www.google.com/?hl=xx-piglatin
Elmer Fudd	www.google.com/?hl=xx-elmer

Google subpages

The teapot found at Google's 418 error page.

• "www.google.com/heart" will redirect to an archived page which is a preservation of the old Google interface, complete with a banner that states "This site is an old friend from Google’s past, kept in its original form. Enjoy!" However, typing something in the search box and clicking "Google Search" will perform a search on the current Google interface. A Java applet with an interactive jumping heart shows under the Google logo on the search page. The applet was made in 2000 by Ken Perlin. Note: To view it, users must use a browser that supports Java.
• "www.google.com/humans.txt" is a simple plain text file serving to remind its readers that Google isn't only built on technology but, is created by many humans too. It asks for interested readers to visit their careers page.
• "www.google.com/killer-robots.txt" is a humorous plain text file in robots.txt format.
• "www.google.com/teapot" states, "418. I’m a teapot. The requested entity body is short and stout. Tip me over and pour me out." Clicking on the picture of the teapot or tilting the mobile device will result in an animation of it pouring tea into a teacup. The web page is a reference to the Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol.

Android

Further information: Android (operating system)

• Since the version 2.3 (Gingerbread) of Google's Android operating system an easter egg containing an animation has been hidden. The easter egg can be accessed through the "Settings" application, in the "About phone" section, by repeatedly tapping the "Android version" section. The animation is different in every version of the OS.
  • In 4.1 – 4.3.1 (Jelly Bean) a red jelly bean appears, which if pressed will show its face along with the OS version. If this jelly bean is then long-pressed, an interactive jelly bean minigame will appear. This is where one can fling the jelly beans around.
  • In 4.4 (KitKat) a rotating letter "K" appears, which if continually tapped turns into the text "Android" in the styling of a KitKat logo. If the Android logo is then long-pressed a tile interface, known as "a daydream" called "Dessert Case", loads with icons from all previous versions of Android. It appears to be a mock of the Windows Phone interface.
  • In 5.x (Lollipop) and 6.x (Marshmallow), a colored circle appears (or a circle with a stylized M inside in Marshmallow). If continuously tapped, it will turn into a lollipop with the text lollipop inside (or the M changes into a marshmallow in 6.x). Tapping the circle changes the color. When long-pressed, a game of Flappy Bird starts with the Android mascot instead. In Marshmallow, tapping the plus sign adds extra players (up to five), which can be controlled by the user or other players.
  • In 7.0 (Nougat), an "N" appears, which will enable another Easter egg if tapped. This Easter egg, titled "Android Neko" as a reference to the cat collecting mobile game Neko Atsume, can be accessed from the Quick Settings menu, and allows the user to create virtual treats, which will eventually attract kittens. The kittens can be viewed in a gallery-style screen. Additionally, long-pressing on the aforementioned "N" repeatedly will alternate between displaying the no symbol emoji and the cat face emoji, respectively toggling the Easter egg on and off. "No" and "cat" is a mondegreen for "nougat".
  • In 8.0 (Oreo), instead of the normal way of going to the easter egg, heading to System > About Phone and tapping on the Android version repeatedly will launch the easter egg. An orange circle appears, representing an "O" for Oreo. Tapping on it a few times will open a blue screen representing a sea with an octopus floating around. The "O" in octopus represents Oreo while the eight legs on the octopus represent the version (8.0). The octopus can be moved by dragging the head around.
• On YouTube Creator Studio, swiping down the screen repeatedly will show a cat at the top of the screen.
• Spells may be cast on an Android phone by saying "Ok Google" followed by "Lumos" or "Nox" to turn the flashlight on and off, or "Silencio" to silence the ringer and notifications.

Android applications

• In the Google Play Games app, if the player swipes the Konami Code, a box will appear with three buttons – a B, an A and an ►. Pressing B then A then ► unlocks a secret achievement called "All your game are belong to us", a reference to the well known "All your base are belong to us" phrase.
• In the Google Allo app, sending the Konami Code to the Google Assistant by typing "up up down down left right left right b a start" will respond with "Cheat mode enabled". Typing it again will respond with random statements relatable to the code.
• In the Google Play Store app, when viewing the Google MyGlass app page, the fifth screenshot is a picture of a dog in pajamas.
• In the Google Phone (Dialer) app, inputting the "Emergency Number", advertised to replace "999" in The IT Crowd's season 1 episode "Calamity Jen", will prompt the phone to vibrate and the action button flash blue & red.
• In Google+, if the device is shaken while viewing a photo, snow will fall; if the device is shaken again it will save an animated GIF of the image with falling snow to the pictures directory.
• Searching for "let's go caroling" or "let's go carolling" on Google Now will result in an extra card which displays a list of Christmas carols. The phone will play the music and show the words if one of them is selected.

Chromecast

Further information: Chromecast

• The model numbers for the first generation Chromecast unit and its power adapter read H2G2-42 and MST3K-US, respectively.

YouTube

Further information: YouTube

• On a video published by Numberphile on June 22, 2012, titled "Why do YouTube views freeze at 301?", the view count is frozen at 301, referencing the bug in the now changed subject behavior.
• Adding "&wadsworth=1" to a video URL will apply "Wadsworth's constant", skipping the first 30% of the video.
• Whilst viewing any video, type "awesome" and the progress bar and other player elements will flash multicolored. Typing "awesome" again will stop it.
• YouTube's robots.txt file at "www.youtube.com/robots.txt" states that it was "Created in the distant future (the year 2000) after the robotic uprising of the mid 90's which wiped out all humans." This is an ostensible reference to the song "Robots" by Flight of the Conchords.
• When the live-stream countdown reaches 24 hours before it is scheduled to start, a "Dawn of The Final Day -24 Hours Remain-" is shown along with a sound effect, referencing the video game The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
• On December 12, 2015, in order to promote the then-upcoming release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the progress bar was changed in order to look like a Lightsaber. By signing up to a specially created promotional page, users were able to follow the Light Side (which would change the progress bar to blue) or the Dark Side (which would change the progress bar to red). This was turned off after February 1, 2016. Along with this, mousing over the volume controls would play a lightsaber sound like it was turned on, and mousing off of it would play a power off sound.
• A Snake game could be activated by pressing a combination of arrow keys whilst videos were paused or playing. Once started, the snake could be controlled by further use of the arrow keys, directing it to "gobble up dots" to increase its size. If the snake hit the edges of the video window, the game ended. The feature no longer works.
• When watching a video with "fidget spinner" in the title, the buffering icon will change into a spinning fidget spinner.

Search

A YouTube search for:

• "beam me up scotty", a reference to Star Trek, would cause the search results to beam down onto the screen, as in Star Trek.
• "doge meme" changes the font on the search result page to pastel color Comic Sans typical of the Doge meme.
• "do the harlem shake" will cause the Harlem Shake song to play and the results to dance around.
• "use the force luke" causes the results to levitate, as if by the force mentioned in Star Wars.
• "webdriver torso" will return the results but with a red background and a blue rectangle around some videos. It also says "aqua.flv – Slide 000[0–9]" at the bottom left of the page. This is a reference to the Webdriver Torso mystery. Google has confirmed that it is behind the Webdriver Torso mystery; it is one of many test channels used by YouTube to ensure video quality.

Chrome OS

Further information: Chrome OS

• In the Camera app, activating caps lock and typing "CRAZYPONY" will open the files app and prompt the user to select a video file. Users can then add filters and take screenshots of the video.
• The keyboard shortcut ctrl+alt+⇧ Shift+refresh causes the current window to spin (Barrel Roll).

Other

• On Google Chrome, if the user tries to browse when offline, a message is shown that they are not connected to the Internet. An illustration of the "Lonely T-Rex" dinosaur is shown at the top, designed by Sebastien Gabriel. From September 2014, tapping the dinosaur (in Android or iOS) or pressing space or ↑ (on desktop) launches a browser game called "T-Rex Runner" in which the player controls a running dinosaur by tapping the screen (in Android or iOS) or pressing space, ↑ or ↓ (on desktop) to avoid obstacles, including cacti and, from June 2015, pterodactyls. In 2016, another feature was added to the game. When the player reaches 700 points the game begins to switch between day (white background, black lines and shapes) and night (black background, white lines and shapes). Reaching a score of 900 will switch the colour scheme back to day, and the switch back and forth will occur at further subsequent milestones. The game is also available at "about:dino" and "chrome://dino" pages. The game's code is available on the Chromium site.
• When using the Google Chrome App in an Android device, entering the tabview and swiping a tab five times will make the tab do a backflip.
• Pressing Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Y in the Picasa desktop application will cause a teddy bear to appear on the screen.

Password	Page theme
IIIOOIII	cat
OOIOIOIO	outer space
IOOOOOOI	Pong
IOOIOOOO	bacon
IIOIOOII	Simon
OIOIOOII	8-bit
IOOOIOOO	synthesizer
IIOIIOII	song
OIIIIIII	ASCII
OIIIOIOI	bowling
OIOOOIOI	rocket
OOIIIOOI	hamburger
IOIOIOIO	metaball
IOOIOIIO	donut

• In the Google I/O 2013 page, "instrument.github.io/google-io-2013/", one can click the letters "I" and "O" to input passwords.
• In Google Glass, tapping Settings -> Device info -> View licenses, then tapping the touchpad 9 times, will show a Tap Meet Team option. Tapping again will show a photo of the Google Glass development team.
• Any photograph with Christmas lights uploaded to Google+ will be turned into an animated GIF, showing sparkling lights.
• On the Google Play Store, clicking the search button with a blank search field will search "unicorns".
• When using Google Translate to translate the German version of The Funniest Joke in the World ("Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!") to English, the result will be "[FATAL ERROR]".
• In Google's iPhone and iPod touch search application, swiping downwards (past About) repeatedly in the Settings interface brings up a hidden menu item, called Bells and Whistles, allowing customization of colors, sounds and more within the app. However, this no longer works as of the newer app updates.
• On Google Forms, entering the table flip emoticon (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ as the title will cause the interface to flip and replace the title with ┬─┬ノ(°_°ノ)
• In the Google Chrome Apps splash page at "chrome://apps/", if "inspect element" is used or if the source code is viewed, under the body header, a comment can be found that reads "A div to hold all the templates, and in the darkness bind them". This is a reference to the One Ring featured in The Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien.

See also

• elgooG – was a mirrored website of Google Search with horizontally flipped search results. A usable mirror of elgooG is located at Google elgoog
• Google Doodle
• List of Google April Fools' Day hoaxes
• Google bomb
• Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Browser Usage (AptiQuant)
• Netflix April Fools' Day jokes

External links

• About Google