Tips to Help You Master Google Meet

Video-calling apps have seen plenty of use since the COVID-19 pandemic began, as so many of us are spending more time at home.

- JILL DUFFY

To keep up with demand, Google gave every Google account holder access to Google Meet for their video calls. So Meet isn’t included only in paid G Suite plans—anyone with a Gmail address can use it, though free account holders are limited to 60-minute calls.

With so many schools, businesses, and groups of friends using Google Meet, it’s worth taking a few minutes to learn how to get the most out of the app.

RECORD A MIC AND CAMERA CHECK

Google Meet has excellent tools for checking your camera and microphone before you join a call. In fact, it features one of the most thorough A/V checks we’ve seen in a free video-calling app.

Before you join any call, even one that you host, Google Meet shows a preview of your video. At the bottom is a button that says, “Check your audio and video.” When you click that button, you see the input and output sources for your audio, microphone, and camera, and you can change them if you need to. Then, when you click or press Next, the app gives you an option to record a short video of yourself speaking that you can play back. What better way to know how you’ll look and sound than to see and hear it for yourself?

CHANGE OR BLUR YOUR BACKGROUND

For your privacy or just for fun, you can change what appears behind you on a Google Meet call. Some apps call this feature a virtual background. With Google Meet, you can blur the background lightly or heavily, choose a background image from the app’s library, or upload one of your own.

You can blur the background lightly or heavily, choose a background image from the app’s library, or upload one of your own.