When you’re using Google Meet for a presentation or a team meeting, screen sharing can be a convenient feature as it allows you to share a window, a specific tab, or your whole screen.
The share screen feature in most other video conferencing platforms is pretty easy to find. However, the Google Meet screen share feature comes under a different name, which can confuse many people.
This article discusses how to share screen on Google Meet on desktop and mobile platforms. Read on to master this part of the Google Suite.
This Article Covers:
How to Share Your Screen on Google Meet for Desktop
Sharing your desktop screen in Google Meet is easy and only takes a few easy steps. To share a screen on Google Meet, you first need to set up the meeting.
To do this:
- Head over to the Google Meet website. You can enter the code for an existing meeting or start a New meeting there.
- When you start one, you can choose to start it instantly, or you can schedule one for later. Choose your preferred setting depending on your needs. In this case, we chose to Start an instant meeting.
The method indicating how to share a screen on Google Meet on Mac or PC is largely the same. To start sharing screens on Google Meet, follow these steps:
- Click on the Present now button in the bottom bar. You can find this button to the left of the three dots.
- Clicking this allows you to choose what you wish to share. You can choose from sharing Your entire screen, A tab, group of tabs, or A window. For demonstration, we have another window open which we will share.
- Click on the specific window you wish to share to select it.
- Click on the blue Share button to start the sharing process.
To stop screen sharing, click on the blue Stop sharing button or click the Present now button again.
How to Share Screen on Google Meet for Mobile
Sharing your screen in the mobile Google Meet version follows similar steps. First, let’s talk about how you can set up the meeting. Related Reading: Google Meet vs Zoom
On your mobile, you can use the dedicated Google Meet application or access Meet through Gmail.
We will be using the native Google Meet application on Android for this demonstration. You can use the same steps for the iOS version.
To set up a meeting:
- Open the Meet application. You can enter the code for an existing meeting or start a New meeting there.
- When you start one, you can begin it instantly, or you can schedule one for later. Choose your preferred setting depending on your needs. In this case, we chose to Start an instant meeting.
Then, follow these steps to learn how to present in Google Meet for mobile:
- Click on the three dots symbol at the bottom of the screen.
- In the menu that shows up, click on Share screen.
- A dialog box will show in the center of the screen, asking you to confirm whether you want to share your screen. Click on Start sharing. On iOS, you will tap Start Broadcast instead.
- To stop presenting, simply go back to the Google Meet application and click on the Stop sharing button in the middle of the screen.
When presenting on a mobile divide, one thing to note is that everything displayed on the screen is shared, including notifications. When presenting something important, you could benefit by turning on your device’s do not disturb mode to avoid unwanted disturbance.
Related Reading: How to Record Google Meet
Google Meet Screen Present With Two or More Participants
Two individuals can present at the same time in Google Meet. If another participant is presenting, click on the Present now icon as discussed in the article and select the part of the screen you would like to share.
This will prompt you to choose to Present instead. When you click on that, your presentation will be the highlight of all the participants in your Google Meet session. However, this will pause the other member’s presentation.
Prevent Users From Sharing Screen
Sometimes, you want to prevent others from using Google Meet to present a video with audio. To do this, first, you need to enable Host Management in your Google Meet. Hosts have the option to disable screen sharing for participants in the session.
To turn screen sharing on or off, follow these steps:
- Join a Google Meet call with host permissions.
- At the bottom right side of the screen, click on Host controls.
- A side panel will show up. There, you can toggle the Share their screen option on or off.
If the presentations use a recurring code, the settings are saved. If the setting for a one-time instant meeting is turned off, the presentation setting will automatically turn on once the session ends.
How to Present on Google Meet if Someone Else Is Already Presenting
If you’re asking yourself, “Can you share screen on Google Meet when someone else is presenting?” The answer is yes! Google Meets allows you to present even if someone else is already presenting. All you need to do is to click present now and select the tab or window that you want to present.
You will get the message, “This will let you take over from X as the main presenter.”
Unlike screen sharing in Zoom, Google Meets only allows one presentation at a time. This means that you will take over from someone else’s presentation. However, they won’t stop presenting, but your screen sharing will be pinned in the meeting. Their shared screen will still be visible to all the participants.
Using a Secondary Window or Device to Share Screen
If you want to use a secondary device to share screen in Google Meets, then the easiest thing to do would be to join the meeting with both the primary device and the secondary device.
Once you have joined the meeting, you must confirm that all the devices have permission to share screens. Then you can share the screen on your secondary device and pin it
if you want to use a secondary window. Then if you go to the present now option, you will see an option to select the window. This option will let you choose the window you want to share in Google Meets.
However, there is also an option called companion mode that lets you share screen in Google Meet on two devices but with audio in only one of the devices. The audio is automatically turned off for one device in companion mode to avoid the grating noise of feedback that happens when you have to device audios on in one place.
Here’s how:
- Go to Google Meet and enter the meeting code or link for the meeting or click the link directly to the meeting. If you’re already signed in on Google Chrome then you won’t need to sign in to join the meeting.
- Under the join now button, you will see an option that says Use Companion mode.
You can now use Google Meet present on any of the devices, although one of them will be automatically muted. You can also use it to on Google Meet to present video with audio.
If you are creating the meeting, you can go to companion mode directly using the link g.co/companion
There are a few important things to note when using companion mode:
- Messages from before you used companion mode can not be seen once you are in companion mode.
- Companion mode can’t be accessed in the Google Meet app, and it’s only available on the web version of Google Meet. This means that you can’t use it on an Android device.
How to Share Screen in Google Meet for the First Time on Mac
Presenting on Mac for the first time is a bit different because you will need to allow chrome to screen share. If you click present now on your Mac, this is the pop-up message you will receive.
Here’s what you need to do for your first Google Meet presentation on mac:
- Click on system preferences in the message. It will bring up the prompt below:
- Next you need to click Open System Preferences. This will take you to the system settings window in the security and privacy pop up menu.
- Click the padlock icon at the bottom left to make the changes. It will ask for your user name and password in order to change the preferences.
Once you have keyed in your credentials, click Unlock, then select Chrome in the menu. The following prompt will appear telling you to restart Chrome in order to save the changes.
Click Quit and reopen. Your chrome window should reopen after a few seconds but if it doesn’t then just restart it yourself.
Now you can share screen in Google Meets.
Google Meet Share Screen Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Share Screen and See Participants on Google Meet?
To share the screen, first, join a Google Meet call. There, click on Present now, which will prompt you to choose what you wish to present. You can choose from Your entire screen, A tab, or A window. The screen will start to be shared. Simply click on the Present now icon again or click on Stop sharing to stop the presentation.
Can I See Participants While Sharing Screen?
The participants’ panel is enabled by default on Google Meet, which allows you to see all of the participants in the video call. However, if you can’t see it, click on More in the meeting control part of the window and click on Show Video Panel.
Why Can’t I Share My Screen in Google Meet?
If your Google Meet tab sharing is not working there could be a number of reasons why. Using outdated versions of the Google Meet platform is the most common reason for not being able to share the screen. To fix this, update your browser or the Google Meet application. Try using a different browser version or create a new meeting.
Does Google Meet Allow Screen Recording?
Yes, Google Meet does allow screen recording but only on the desktop version. You can’t use screen recording on the mobile app.
How Do I Share Multiple Screens?
There can only be a maximum of 10 simultaneous presentations in a meeting simultaneously in Google Meet.
Wrapping Up the Google Meet Present Now Feature
In this article, we showed you how to share screen on Google Meet. Google Meet is a handy video conferencing tool that has made our work-from-home lives much easier, especially with its features like sharing the screen or recording a call. You can share your screen no matter if you’re using a mobile device or a desktop, and there can be 10 simultaneous presentations at once in a Google Meet call.
If you’re looking for the ultimate tool for scalable meetings, webinars, and conferences, we highly recommend checking out ClickMeeting. Get started for free and see the results for yourself!
Now that you know how to screen share on Google Meet, you may be interested in how to use screen sharing on facetime.
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