Source: Jeramy Johnson / Android Central
How many times have you jumped onto a Google Meet call, terribly embarrassed by the state of your “home office” or whatever room you were able to commandeer for a work call? It’s happened to me more times than I can count. Thankfully, you can now change and customize your background in Google Meet — even before the call begins — so you can hide those piles of laundry and takeout containers and make people think you’re in a chic coffee shop or secluded beach setting. I’ll show you how in the steps below.
Products used in this guide
How to change your background in Google Meet
- From your browser, open or create a Google Meet link.
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Before joining the call, click on the avatar icon at the bottom right of your video feed.
Source: Jeramy Johnson / Android Central -
This opens a background picker with over a dozen pre-populated background options. Click through them to see which you like best.
Source: Jeramy Johnson / Android Central -
Click on the first avatar background (second from top left) with just a few dots behind to see what a slightly blurred background will look like.
Source: Jeramy Johnson / Android Central -
If that’s not enough of a change, click on the second avatar background (third box from top left) with even more dots to see what a fully blurred background will look like.
Source: Jeramy Johnson / Android Central -
If you don’t like any of these options, you can upload your own background. Click on the box with a “+” sign on it.
Source: Jeramy Johnson / Android Central -
Choose a file to upload.
Source: Jeramy Johnson / Android Central -
Enjoy your own, personalized custom background. This will be saved in the background picker, allowing you to use it in future meetings.
Source: Jeramy Johnson / Android Central
It’s worth noting that you can follow these same steps even after you’ve joined a Google Meet session, but if you’re anxious about what the people on the other end of the call will see, it’s best to change your background before the call begins.
Google Meet is available across various platforms and operating systems, and so is one of the most accessible and user-friendly video conferencing apps around.
Our top equipment picks
Even though you may want to disguise your true Meet setting, you still probably want to look your best on camera. Here is one of our top choices for webcams to improve that lousy 720p built-in camera your laptop probably has.
