Google Meet is a powerful tool that allows you to host video conferences with your colleagues, friends, and family members using your computer’s webcam or your mobile device’s front camera. Whether you’re using it on a desktop browser or as a mobile app for Android and iOS, Google Meet provides a seamless and intuitive user experience.
In this article, we will guide you through the essential steps to set up and participate in meetings on Google Meet. Get ready to uncover all the secrets and become a pro at online collaboration!
Free and Paid Versions of Google Meet
Google Meet offers both free and paid versions, catering to different needs and requirements. If you have a free Google user account, such as Gmail, you can host meetings with up to 100 participants. The maximum duration of a meeting is one hour.
For users subscribed to Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite), Meet is included in their paid subscription. The individual Google Workspace plan, priced at $8 per month, allows for meetings with up to 100 participants, extending the meeting duration to 24 hours. Business and enterprise plans, starting from $6 per user per month, enable meetings with up to 100 to 250 participants, depending on the plan, and also offer a 24-hour meeting duration.
Paid plans offer additional features not available in the free version of Meet. These include breakout rooms, dial-in phone options for participants who can only join via traditional phone calls, polls, virtual hand raising, attendance tracking, noise cancellation, Q&A sessions, multiple co-hosts, meeting recording with the video file saved on Google Drive, live streaming, customer support, and advanced security features.
Starting or Scheduling a Meeting
Google Meet offers various ways to set up and schedule meetings, depending on your preference and convenience. You can initiate a meeting from the Google Meet website or mobile app, directly from Gmail, or within Google Calendar.
Setting Up a Meeting in Meet
When you launch Meet on a web browser, you’ll see a screen like this:
Click on the “New meeting” button on the left, and a menu will appear with three options:
-
Create a meeting for later: Selecting this option opens a panel displaying a link to a new meeting session. Click on the double-page icon to copy the link to your computer’s clipboard. You can then share this link via email or messaging apps.
-
Start an instant meeting: By clicking this option, you can instantly start a new meeting in your current browser window.
-
Schedule in Google Calendar: Scheduling a meeting in Google Meet works in conjunction with Google Calendar. Clicking on this option opens the Google Calendar website in a new browser window. (We’ll explore scheduling a meeting in Calendar later in the article.)
Starting a meeting from the Meet mobile app follows the same process. Tap the “New meeting” button at the top of the home screen, and a sliding panel will appear with options to get a meeting link to share, start an instant meeting, or schedule a meeting in Calendar. If you choose to get a meeting link to share, a panel will display the link to your meeting.
Tap the “Share invitation” button, and a sharing panel will appear, listing various social media and other apps installed on your phone or tablet. By selecting any of these apps, a link to your meeting will be shared through that app. For example, tapping on Gmail will open the Gmail app and create a new email with a link to your meeting.
Inviting Participants During a Meeting
If you choose to start an instant meeting from the Meet homepage, you’ll see a screen displaying the meeting link above the main meeting window.
Clicking on the double-page icon will copy the link to your computer’s clipboard, allowing you to share it with others.
By clicking on “Add others,” a panel will open in the center of the page, showing a list of people in your Google contacts. Click on a person’s name or enter their name or email address to invite them. You can invite multiple people at once. When you click “Send email,” these individuals will receive an email containing a clickable link to join your meeting.
At any point during a meeting, you can click on the “Meeting details” icon (an “i” inside a circle) at the bottom right. Next, click on “Copy joining info” at the top of the sidebar that appears to copy the meeting link. Alternatively, click on the “Show everyone” icon (two silhouette figures) and then click on “Add people” at the top of the sidebar to send an email invitation.
The Meet mobile app offers the same options. After starting a new meeting, tap the double-page icon to copy a link to your meeting or tap the “Share invitation” button to see the same sharing panel described above.
At any point during the meeting, you can access this sharing panel by tapping on the three-dot icon at the bottom right of the mobile app, selecting “Add others,” and then choosing “Share joining info.”
Setting Up a Meeting in Gmail
Creating a new meeting in Gmail is just as straightforward. In the bottom left corner of your Gmail homepage, click on the arrow to the left of the “Meet” header. Clicking on “New meeting” below it opens a panel in the center of your Gmail homepage. From there, you can click on the double-page icon to copy a link for a new meeting session, click on “Send invitation” and then “Share via email” to send an email invitation to people to join this new meeting, or click on “Start now” to immediately start the new meeting in a new browser tab.
Note: If you don’t see the “Meet” header in the bottom left corner of your Gmail homepage, click on the gear icon in the top right corner. Then, click on “See all settings,” and on the following page, click on the “Chat and Meet” tab header. Towards the bottom of this tab, you’ll find the setting to enable Google Meet.
As for the Gmail mobile app, Google Meet is directly integrated. Simply tap on the Google Meet icon at the bottom of the Gmail home screen, and your phone or tablet will switch to the Google Meet home screen, where you can set up a meeting as described above.
Scheduling a Meeting in Google Calendar
As mentioned earlier in the article, scheduling a meeting is done in conjunction with Google Calendar. On the Meet homepage, click on “New meeting” > “Schedule in Google Calendar.” The Google Calendar website will open in a new browser window, displaying a new event.
Fill in the various details to create your event, such as selecting a date and time for the meeting and adding the names or email addresses of people you want to invite to the meeting in the “Add guests” box.
Take note of the “Join with Google Meet” button. By clicking on it, a meeting session will open in a new browser tab. This button will also appear in the email sent to the invited participants, allowing them to join the meeting at the designated time. (Clicking on the “X” next to this button will remove Google Meet as the platform for your scheduled event.)
Once you have filled in the event details, click on the “Save” button at the top of the page. On the subsequent panel, you can click “Send” to prompt Google Calendar to send an email invitation to the people you added as guests to the event.
In the Meet mobile app, tap on “New meeting” in the top left corner. On the sliding panel that appears, tap on “Schedule in Google Calendar.” The Google Calendar app will launch, displaying a new event. Fill in the event details, identical to the Google Calendar website. Take note of “Google Meet” in this list of entries. (Clicking on the “X” next to it will remove Google Meet as the platform for your scheduled event.)
Joining a Meeting
Joining a meeting on Google Meet is as easy as setting one up. There are several ways to join a meeting to which you’ve been invited.
If you have Google Meet, Gmail, or any other Google Workspace app, such as Docs, open in your web browser on your PC, and you’re invited to join a meeting in Google Meet, you’ll receive a notification. Simply click on “Join meeting,” and the meeting screen will open in your browser. The same applies if you have the Google Meet app installed on your phone or tablet.
Otherwise, you’ll receive an email containing a meeting link and a meeting code. Alternatively, the meeting organizer can share the link or meeting code with you through another app, such as an instant messaging platform.
If you’re on a PC and you click on the invitation link, Google Meet will launch in your web browser, and you’ll join the meeting. If you’re using a smartphone or tablet, clicking on the invitation link will launch the Google Meet app, and you’ll join the meeting.
You can also join a meeting by visiting the Meet website in your browser, pasting the shared code or link in the “Enter a code or link” field, and clicking “Join.” Alternatively, launch the Meet mobile app, tap on “Join with a code,” paste the code, and tap “Join” to start the meeting.
If the meeting is a scheduled event, it will appear in a list on the Meet website or mobile app’s home screen. Click on the event in your browser to join the meeting. In the mobile app, tap on the event, and then tap “Join.”
To join from Gmail, find the “Meet” header in the bottom left corner, click on the arrow to the left of it, and then click on “Join a meeting.” You’ll see a screen allowing you to type or paste a code or link to a meeting that has been shared with you.
In Google Calendar, click on the meeting event you want to join, and then click on “Join with Google Meet.” On the subsequent screen, click “Join now.”
Note: The first time you join a meeting on any device, you’ll need to grant Meet access to your microphone and camera.
In-Meeting Options
Once you’re in a meeting, you’ll see a toolbar at the bottom center of the screen, along with a few extra icons at the bottom right. Let’s explore the main functions you need to know.
In the main toolbar (from left to right):
-
Microphone: Click on this icon to mute or unmute your computer’s microphone.
-
Camera: Enable or disable your webcam.
-
CC: Activate this function, and all spoken words will be transcribed in real-time as captions on the screen.
-
Present now (upward arrow in a box): This allows you to share your computer’s screen, such as an application or browser tab, with all the meeting participants. For example, you can show others a spreadsheet application you have open on your computer.
-
More options (three vertical dots): Click on this to access several additional options during the meeting, including the following:
-
Whiteboard: This opens a sidebar on the right where you can start a new whiteboard (or open a previously saved whiteboard in Google Drive) to collaborate with other meeting participants. This whiteboard acts as a basic drawing tool.
-
Change layout: You can choose from four layouts to organize the video feeds of meeting participants on your screen, as well as adjust their size.
-
Apply visual effects: You can ask Meet to blur your background, choose from a set of virtual backgrounds that will appear behind you, or upload your own image to use as a virtual background. Note that virtual backgrounds work best when you are well-lit from the front, and the actual background behind you is simple or without details, such as a plain wall.
-
Leave call (phone symbol): Clicking on this allows you to leave the meeting. You’ll be redirected to a page where you can join the meeting again or return to the Google Meet homepage.
-
And, moving to the bottom right corner:
-
Meeting details: As mentioned earlier in this guide, clicking on this allows you to copy the web link of the meeting to your computer’s clipboard.
-
Show everyone: As mentioned earlier in this guide, this option opens a sidebar that allows you to invite people to your meeting by sending them an email. The sidebar also lists the participants present in the meeting.
-
Chat with everyone: This opens a chat window in a sidebar. You and all meeting participants can use this sidebar to type and exchange messages.
-
Activities: This option lists other tools that may be available to you during the meeting, especially if you’re subscribed to a Google Workspace plan. These tools include breakout rooms, polls, and the ability to record the meeting.
-
Host controls: Meeting hosts will also see this icon, which allows them to control whether participants can share their screens, send chat messages, enable their microphones, and turn on their cameras.
Most of the functions described above are accessible in the mobile app at the bottom of your phone or tablet screen, as well as when you tap the three-dot icon, which opens a sidebar listing more functions.
By tapping on the meeting code (the nine random letters) at the top of the screen, you’ll access a screen where you can copy the web link of your meeting to your mobile device’s clipboard. You can also view a list of all the people present in the meeting. On Android, tapping on your own webcam video feed will take you to a screen where you can change your virtual background.
Now that you’re armed with all the secrets of Google Meet, you can confidently host your online meetings. For more useful information and tips on other Google products, visit Crawlan.com.
Enjoy your meetings and happy collaborating!
