Disable overview of all applications when opening application launcher

When pressing the SUPER button in Ubuntu, the gnome application launcher opens AND all open windows are shown. I find the showing of all open windows sometimes a bit too much and overwhelming. Sometimes I just want to quickly open a new application by typing in the application launcher search bar.

Is it possible to only have the gnome application launcher search box, without showing the overview of all open applications?

As a workaround for searching applications, you can use the key combo Super+A. This will allow you to search without displaying the overview of all the open windows. If you also need to search files and documents, then you can install Synapse.

Your direct request, have the search box appear on your desktop without switching to the overview, will not be possible at this time without editing source code. An extension that does that is not currently existing.

To quickly launch an application without leaving your current desktop view, you may consider some alternative ways.

1) Use an alternative keyboard launcher such as Albert, ULauncher or Synapse.

2) Use a Gnome Shell extension that provides a searchable application menu that pops out of your top bar, such as Arc Menu or Gno-menu.