How to Create a Background for Google Meet

How to Create a Background for Google Meet

Finally, Google has now caught up with its fierce competitors Microsoft Teams and Zoom, and integrated custom backgrounds when users make Google Meet calls. Google Meet users can now give their meet backgrounds a more personal touch that’ll help enhance their mood or personality. You can use anything from pictures of stuff you like to wall art or beautiful landscapes.

If you’re looking for how you can create a good impression, whether it is just for casual calls with friends and family or professional meetings with business and work colleagues, you must choose the right size, type, and ratio image for the background.

The pictures you use should be JPEG or JPG files in exclusively sRGB color space. They should also have horizontal, landscape orientations, and be 1920x1090 pixels in size, which is the usual 16:9 ratio. The file size also shouldn’t be more than 16MB.

Many people have a hard time adding different backgrounds to their calls on Google Meet. If you read through this article, you’ll find out how to create a background for Google Meet in any situation.

How to Change Background Before the Meeting

Changing the background in Google Meet before your meeting isn’t a hard thing to do if you know what you’re doing. Here’s how to easily change your background on your desktop or laptop before you start your meeting;

1. Open the Google Meet site on your device or click the meeting link if you have one.

2. Click the ‘Change Your Background’ tab in the options menu located at the bottom of the screen.

3. You’ll get access to the many in-built backgrounds when you click on the background option. Once inside, just pick the one you like the most.

4. If you don’t like the backgrounds available, don’t worry. You can click the ‘Add’ tab and choose a background from your device to use.

5. If you want to obliterate the background rather than add a new one, all you need to do is blur your background according to what you need.

6. Once you’re through, click the ‘Join Now’ tab and automatically enter your meeting with a new background.

Keep in mind, however, that you won’t be able to use this particular feature if you’re not using your Google account before you join the meeting. Also, if you need a knock to join the Goole Meet meeting, then you can only change the background once.

How to Change the Background During the Meeting

Much like how Google Meet is on a mobile phone, you can change your background on a laptop or desktop during the meeting too. The few simple steps you need to follow include;

1. After joining the meeting, click the 3-dot button found at the bottom center of the screen.

2. Next, Click the ‘Change Background’ tab presented on the menu that shows on the screen

3. Here’s where you’ll find many of Google Meet’s in-built backgrounds. If you want to pick a background from the options Google Meet provides, just select the one that speaks to you and your preferences. Clicking the turn-off tab will turn off the background if you don’t want one.

Here’s a useful tip. You should know that this feature can slow your machine down when in use, so switch it off whenever you don’t need it to increase the device’s speed.

How to Add Your Own Background to Google Meet

As mentioned earlier, users can also easily add custom backgrounds of their own on Google Meet and use them in their meetings. It’s a very simple and straightforward overall process. Just follow the steps outlined below

Once you reach the ‘Effects’ option or ‘Change Background’ option, click on either and then push the ‘Add’ prompt.

Afterward, your custom images will automatically pop up on the screen and you can choose the picture you like, upload it and then use it in the Google Meet meeting. Once a user chooses an image, all they’ll need to do next is simply click the one they like and it’ll automatically appear as their background for the meeting.

You have the option of uploading several custom backgrounds on your desktop, laptop, or mobile devices.

How to Change the Background on Android/iOS Before the Meeting

If you want to change your Google Meet background on iOS or Android, you’ll need to have an iOS or Android handset that supports this particular feature.

Some of the Android mobile devices that support Google Meet backgrounds really well are the Pixel and the Samsung Galaxy devices.

Changing the background when using a phone to access Google Meet is pretty straightforward. Here’s what you need to do whether you’re using an iOS or Android device;

1. Open Google Meet on a mobile device. Before you join the meeting, click the ‘Effects’ option at the bottom of the screen on self-view. Effects allow users to customize lighting during the meeting so that they can create a more appropriate mood.

2. If you don’t want to let others see where you are and you want to maintain some professionalism at the same time, Google Meet’s got you sorted. Why? Because you can now blur your background. But that’s not all though. You can still use its in-built backgrounds if you’d like.

3. Do you want your own custom background? Well, all you need to do is press the ‘Add’ tab and automatically add an entirely new custom background. Choose the image you’d like to use in the meeting, tap the ‘Done’ option and wait for the picture to automatically adjust to fit your phone’s background.

4. You can also add different styles and filters to your Google Meet background. All you need to do is click the ‘Styles and Filters’ option. The features in this tab allow users to customize the exposure and contrast of video backgrounds.

In some scenarios, a user can get cropped out because of the background. You’ll need to switch it off to avoid that. Also, if the phone is low on battery, then you may want to turn off the background so that the battery can last a little longer.

How to Change the Background on Android/iOS During the Meeting

There are times when you forget to change your background before the meeting or realize it doesn’t fit the session you’re having, right? Well, you don’t need to panic. You can change your background even after joining the meeting.

Here’s what you need to do to change the background during the meeting;

1. Once you’ve joined the meeting, click the ‘Effects’ tab on the self-view screen. During the meeting, tap the display screen and the option will automatically appear.

2. When you want to upload a custom image as the background, press the ‘Add’ tab and then choose the picture you like most. If you want to use Google Meet’s in-built backgrounds, just select the one you think will fit the situation best.

3. The ‘Filters and Styles’ option give you access to features that allow you to add more fun and creativity during your meeting.

So, you don’t need to leave the meeting if you start and feel like you want a different background, or none at all. Now you know how to change the background even when the meeting is ongoing.

How to Add a Video Background

Video conferencing gets more and more popular every year, and Google Meet is evolving with the times introducing new and innovative features constantly. Adding a video background can help you be a little more creative with your meetings and calls. Tweaking the DOM will allow you to upload MP4 and other video files.

1. Picking the Right Background

If you’re thinking of video backgrounds, then you need to check out GIPHY. It’s a great platform for hosting Stickers and GIFs. In fact, this can be incredibly useful for your SEO. Go to the GIPHY website and find a backdrop you like. However, you can also just use your own video if you prefer that instead.

Download the backdrop, and ensure the format is either an MP4 video or a GIF image. Once you get some kind of GIF or MP4 file, you can move on to the next step.

2. Changing the DOM

Here is where all the exciting part happens. Changing the DOM is what’ll let you upload videos. It’s generally a fairly straightforward process but if you are not familiar with the Google Developer Tools application, then you might have a bit of a tough time.

With that said, if you follow the directions in this article you should be just fine.

● Once you have an MP4 or GIF file saved on the device, go create or join a Google Meet call.

● Once you have joined or created the meeting, a self-view video feed of yourself will appear on the screen. Click the button on the bottom right corner of the screen (the one that allows you to blur your background).

● Different image options should appear on the screen in addition to giving you the option of adding a custom image.

● Click on the rectangle tab that has the addition icon on it. Clicking ‘Inspect Element’ or ‘Inspect’ will give you access to the Google Developer Tools application.

● Where it prompts you to accept this – image/jpeg, image/png, replace this with image/jpeg, image/png, image/gif, video/mp4.

● This will allow you to upload GIF and MP4 video files. Close the Google Developer Tools application and go to the rectangle tab with the addition icon and left-click it.

● The explore file will open and you can pick the file you want. Choose the GIF image or video file you want in your background during your Google Meet call.

And it’s literally as simple as that. After doing all this, your face should appear with the video background of your choice behind it.

3. Previewing the Background

Once you’ve uploaded the video background, all you’ll need to do next is join the Google Meet call and continue the meeting with the new background behind you. To use video files that aren’t in the MP4 format, you’ll need to ensure you have the right Mime type.

How to Add a Virtual Background Using a Third-Party Tool

There are more and more people behind computer screens all day seeing as how a lot of work and schooling has moved online. So even though you may no longer have a physical office space you can personalize and decorate, virtual backgrounds can help you do this for your screen.

Custom background can be way more than just a good-looking image. You can make them virtual. Branded backgrounds can be useful when expressing company culture and for business presentations. Teachers, on the other hand, can use them to create an appropriate mood and ambiance in the class.

1. Uploading an Image to the Third-Party Background Maker

Go to the photo and video and editing platform where you will be making the virtual background and uploading your image. If you do not have any picture of your own you can use, most virtual background makers will have in-house image options you can choose from.

2. Resizing the image

After uploading the picture, it will be scaled to properly fit the whole background and may seem a bit blurry at first. Click the Lock ratio option to scale the picture back to its original photo dimensions. Copy the picture and align it to fit the background on your Google Meet correctly.

3. Customizing the Virtual Background

You can customize the virtual backgrounds by adding images and text. If you want to remove the background altogether, all you need to do is click on the picture and then select the Delete option. Most editors have a ‘Magic Wand’ icon you can click that allows you to delete the background from your laptop or computer.

Most times, you can adjust the sensitivity levels of the magic wand to choose the parts of the picture you’d like to keep for the background.

4. Export and Download

When you are satisfied with the virtual background you’ve created and are prepared to add it to your Google Meet, press Export and then push the Download option. The virtual background will save to the laptop or desktop device as a JPEG file that you can then upload to your Google Meet.

5. Adding the Background to Google Meet

To use the virtual background, open your Google Meet, join a meeting, and press the 3 dots located at the top. Next, select the Change background option. Google’s default virtual backgrounds will automatically appear. Click the plus icon to upload the new virtual background and you are good to go.

Google has updated its tool suite a lot recently, but there’s nothing different with the virtual background feature. It works the same as it always has. As highlighted earlier, you can still blur the background, use a logo to brand the background or use any other custom image or video.

What You Need to Know When Using Custom Backgrounds

Using a custom background in your Google Meet calls can slow down your laptop or desktop device. If you are finding it hard to use the machine and things seem to be moving way slower than usual when the custom background is running, you might want to consider switching the feature off.

Can you use custom backgrounds in the apps? Not just yet. Right now, this only works with Google’s Chrome web browser on Mac and Windows laptops and desktop devices and ChromeOS on mobile handsets. However, Google claims it's planning to allow people to be able to use custom backgrounds on the apps.

What to Expect for the Future

Google’s inclusion of a blur and background replacement options is a timely, new, and exciting step forward in the online video conferencing space and for all users of Google Meet. With that said, however, it’s important to keep a few caveats in mind. For starters, the document where the new background appears is a bit fluid.

Every two to three months, Google provides a new tool on the list and recalls a few others. Why do they do this? Because the listed ideas on the doc aren’t bound by any official commitment or statement for Google to deliver them.

But if the new custom background features become available, there is a high probability that other features on the list will appear simultaneously. Google Meet will also soon be controlling the collaboration solution Hangout. Meaning they’ll definitely be an overall upgrade of the applications tools and features. Hopefully, this will happen to background effects as well.

After this, the next phase will most likely be to speed up all the features that already exist so that it can ensure it can compete with its fierce rivals Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Promises like breakout rooms and digital whiteboards are what most people are hoping for.

The further enhancement of custom background options like virtual backgrounds and blurred will backgrounds will also be an incredibly welcome addition by users.

FAQs about Changing Google Meet Backgrounds

Here are a couple of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to changing the backgrounds on Google Meet calls and meetings.

Q: Why is it refusing to change the background on my laptop or desktop device?

If you’re not able to change the Google Meet background on your laptop or computer, then you may not be satisfying the requirements needed for you to change the background. For instance;

● You might be using a web browser that doesn’t support this particular feature

● You might need to switch on the acceleration function on your Chrome browser

● You may need a web browser that allows WebGL 2.0

● You may need to have a 64-bit operating system

But, if all these requirements are met, sometimes rebooting the system should do the trick. Try switching your computer or laptop off and then on.

Q) Can you change the background when using Google Meet on the phone?

Yes, you can, and this article has highlighted how you can go about the whole process. You simply need to ensure the phone meets all the requirements that allow for the change of backgrounds and you’re all set.

Q) What’s the ideal background size?

Custom background pictures in Google Meet should be around 1920x1090 pixels in size or the standard 16:9 ratio. Additionally, the file size of the image shouldn’t be bigger than 16MB. Furthermore, it should use a landscape (horizontal) orientation scheme.

Can You Now Change Backgrounds?

The process of changing Google Meet backgrounds isn’t as complex as most people tend to think, as you’ve seen. All the user needs to do is follow all the aforementioned steps above and start leveraging different background settings in your Google Meet calls and meetings.

Whether you’re just having a fun call with friends and family or whether you’re having a serious work meeting with business colleagues, you can customize your background settings accordingly to help you create a better environment for yourself as well as remove all other unwanted elements from the background.

If you’ve got a recording of the Google Meet call, and you’d like to change the background in the recording, you can use a third-party photo and video editor to do this. Unfortunately, you can’t do this using Google Meet features alone.

Additionally, Google also recently announced that users on the Google Workspace for Education space can also use Google Meet images to change their backgrounds. You’ve got the option of either uploading a custom image of your own or using the pre-set images on Google. Right now, as mentioned above, you can only use custom backgrounds when the Google Meet call is within Chrome on Windows and macOS devices.

All in all, now you have a better idea of how you can create a background for Google Meet. This article wants to help you ensure you get exactly what you want and need to create in your Google Meet calls.