Today’s workforce has gone virtual. Many schools have as well. With online workspaces replacing the traditional office setup and remote learning taking the place of the traditional classroom, either temporarily or permanently, there are a number of new tools that employees or students can use to make the most of their virtual time together. But even the best of these platforms has its limitations, and what you love about using Zoom might not be quite the same in Skype or Google Meet.
And that's where extensions come in.
By utilizing the best Google Meet extensions on the market, you can customize your video calls and conferences to get exactly the experience you're looking for.
And to help you do just that, today I'll be sharing seven Google Meet extensions that are designed to optimize your next video call.
Why Choose Google Meet?
Google Meet is one of the most used virtual meeting platforms because of how well it works with other Google tools, such as
- Google Workspace,
- Google Calendar,
- Google Docs, and more.
If your team is already familiar with Google’s suite of productivity tools, then participating in a digital meeting using Google Meet will be second nature.
So let's get right into the list so you can make your next virtual meeting exactly how you want it to be!
The 7 Best Google Meet Extensions
Some extensions are designed with the workplace in mind, while others are best for virtual learning.
Google supports both employees and educators with their unique plans for each. Google Workspace and G Suite for Educators remain two of the most popular and celebrated options available.
No matter how you use Google Meet, you’ll find something in this list to make your experience even better.
Grid View
How It Works: Within Google Meet your can easily toggle to the grid view by selecting the "Change layout" option located in the settings section on the bottom right of a Google Meet session. You can also add an extension to allow for grid view very easily in Meet.
This is one of the best extensions you can get to really bring your Google Meet experience to the next level of productivity and interaction.
The grid view button will appear in the top right of your screen, next to the chat and participant list buttons. You can toggle between grid view and speaker view to customize your screen and experience, even within a single Google Meet.
You can also keep the screen on your own video, highlight the participant who is currently speaking, and hide all screens without active video displayed.
*Please note that with this extension there have been reports of issues, but we're linking to the extension that has historically worked the best of those available. As Google Meet versions evolve, the developer has to keep pace with those changes and there can be some downtime before it works properly again.*
Download Google Meet Grid View
Google Meet Enhancement Suite
How It Works: This extension is exactly what it sounds like: features to enhance your virtual meetings in Google Meet.
A lot of the features include automating common tasks or pop-ups that require manual input when using Google Meet. You can turn on or off any of the features included in the enhancement.
The latest version includes additional basic options, including:
- Push to talk
- Auto join
- Auto join with participants
- Quick leave
- Open Meet in desktop app
- Leave confirmation
- Quick start
- Set background color
- Auto captions
- Auto mute
- Auto video off
- Pin bottom bar
- Participant video style
There are also additional Pro features in the Pro version, including:
- Meet attendance
- Auto hide bar
- Auto copy Meet URL
- Auto un-mute
- Speaker highlight
- Find active Meet tab
- Quick emoji reactions
- Meeting timer
- Toggle bottom bar
- Mirror videos
- Mute all
- Remove all
- Picture-in-picture
- Dark mode
- Hotkey editing
- Hide “Add others” pop-up
- Auto pin chat
- Auto admit new entrants
- Auto deny new entrants
- Transparent bar
- Auto full screen on presentation
- Hide mute pop-up
- Display clock
- Do not disturb mode
The developer advertises that over 200,000 people are happily using this extension. Given its wide variety of features, it’s no surprise that this is one of the most popular Google Meet extensions to add.
Download Google Meet Enhancement Suite
Dualless Window Splitter
How It Works: You don’t have to choose between sharing your screen and seeing participants anymore. With this extension, you can split your window so that you can share a presentation or class notes and monitor the participants at the same time.
You can also choose to split between a presentation and the chat window, making it much easier to keep up with questions or comments as you go.
This is the perfect solution for those who would benefit from a dual monitor set-up but do not have one. You can choose the ratio of the two screens from one of the options included in the extension: 3:7,4:6,5:5,6:4,or 7:3.
Download Dualless Window Splitter
Attendance for Google Meet
How It Works: This is the perfect extension for classrooms or meetings with a lot of participants.
Attendance for Google Meet records who logged into the meeting and exports the attendance roster to a Google Sheet. All you have to do is download the extension ahead of your Google Meet and click to take attendance.
The extension automatically records data for each participant. This includes their name, present or not, time they joined the Meet, time they left the Meet, the number of times they joined during the Meet, and the total duration in minutes that they were a participant in the Meet.
All of this information is exported into a Google Sheet after the meeting’s conclusion.
This is a particularly helpful extension for teachers and others hosting a classroom-like environment in Google Meet.
Download Attendance for Google Meet
Google Meet Breakout Rooms
How It Works: Sometimes hosting a large meeting isn’t the most productive use of everyone’s time. You can easily add the opportunity to break into smaller groups as part of your scheduled meeting using this extension.
Participants can break down to small groups, work on a particular task or have a more focused discussion, then come back to the larger group to finish the meeting.
You can nickname your breakout rooms, go back and forth between them, and easily rejoin the main Google Meet.
You can also create breakout rooms from within the Google Meet and don’t need to do anything beforehand.
This extension has over 500,000 users according to the Chrome web store and has a four star rating overall.
Download Google Meet Breakout Rooms
Google Meet Transcription
How It Works: If you struggle to take notes while participating in a Google Meet or just want to be able to reference something that was said later on, this extension is for you.
You can view the transcription in real time or look at it later in an exported file.
Using the extension is easy in Google Meet. With your captions on in your Google Meet, highlight the part of the text that you want to save, click on the extension icon, and Tactiq for Google Meet Transcription will export it for you. You can also enable the auto-save feature to record the entire transcription from your Google Meet.
Download Tactiq for Google Meet Transcription
Google Meet Party Button
How It Works: Not all extensions need to be all about increasing productivity within the meeting. It’s important to keep participant morale up as well. This addition includes a party button. When pressed, virtual confetti rains down on each participant’s screen. This is the perfect way to celebrate a job well done, herald the end of an important meeting, or just let your team know that you value their contributions.
The extension button will be available at any point in your Google Meet in the top right corner of your screen. While celebrating at Happy Hour or a company event would be great, you can still mark major milestones virtually with a Google Meet party of confetti.
Download Google Meet Party Button
Transform Your Next Video Call With Google Meet Extensions
Using Google Meet as your virtual meeting space has a lot of benefits.
It works well with other Google products and interfaces seamlessly with the Google Workspace apps your small business already uses.
By adding extensions to Google Meet to provide additional features, you can make the digital work environment even more productive and enjoyable for your employees, students, or company.
Whether you need to provide more meeting options, such as breakout rooms or transcriptions, enjoy different views, such as grid view or a split screen, or just want to raise morale with a Google Meet party button, these enhancements are sure to make remote work the best it can be for your team.
