Re: I've lost the google search bar on my galaxy s5. It's not in my widgets
Rooting is the process of gaining more total control over the system, which allows you to delete preinstalled or system apps or install custom versions of Android. It's powerful, but it can also be risky if you don't know what you're doing. The Google Search bar is almost always preinstalled on Android devices, so if it's gone, I was wondering if your phone had been rooted, and Google Search had been deleted somehow.
Did you get the phone brand new? If so, then it isn't rooted. But if you got it used, it's possible the previous owner rooted it.