How to Screen Share with Google Meet on Mac (or Windows)

If you use Google Meet for group video chat and video calling, you might be interested in knowing that you can also screen share through Google Meet.

Like most other Google Meet features, screen sharing is easy to use and quite convenient, and while we’re focusing on using this from a Mac, it works basically the same on Windows too.

Whether it’s for personal, business, work, school, a presentation, or just for fun, read on to learn how to use Screen Sharing with Google Meet on your next video call.

You’ll need the Chrome browser and a Google login to be able to use this feature.

How to Use Screen Sharing with Google Meet on Mac / Windows

Make sure your Mac is running macOS Mojave or later before you get started with the procedure. Windows users will want to be running a modern version too. Assuming you already know how to make video calls using Google Meet, let’s take a look at the necessary steps to start screen sharing.

1. Launch Google Chrome on your computer, head over to meet.google.com, and sign in with your Google account.
   
   
2. Once you’re in the Google Meet home menu, click on “Join now” to begin a video chat session.
   
   
3. Now that you’re in an active call, click on “Present Now” located at the bottom-right corner of the window.
   
   
4. This will open a pop-up on your screen. You’ll have options to share your entire screen, application window, or just the Chrome tab. Choose your preferred option and click on “Share”.
   
   
5. You’ll get an error message saying that your screen cannot be shared since Chrome lacks the necessary permissions. Click on “System Preferences” from the message as shown below.
   
   
6. This will automatically take you to the Security & Privacy section. Here, choose “Screen Recording” from the left pane and check the box next to Google Chrome. You may be prompted to relaunch your browser, but you can refresh the Chrome page and click on “Present”.
   
   
7. You’ll be notified when you’ve started sharing your screen or window. To stop sharing the screen at any point, click on “Stop presenting” in the active video call video.
   
   

There you go, that’s how to share your screen with other participants during a Google Meet video call.

This wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the native screen recording functionality that was introduced with macOS Mojave. If your Mac is running an older version of macOS, you won’t be able to screen share with Google Meet, though other apps may work. For Windows users, you’ll need a modern Windows version for the same reason.

Google Meet can be used by anyone with a Google account, which makes it very convenient. Users can create meetings with up to 100 participants for a time duration of 60 minutes per meeting for free, compared to the 40-minute limit offered by Zoom free meeting plans.

Do you use an iPhone or iPad alongside your Mac? In that case, you’ll be pleased to know that you can share your iOS device’s screen during a video call using the Google Hangouts / Meet app in a similar way.

Google Meet’s video conferencing and screen sharing capabilities come in handy for meetings, presentations, work, school, personal calls, and so much more, whether you’re in an office, at home, or working from home during a quarantine. Screen sharing can be used to share the content that’s displayed on your screen with all the other participants in the video call, making it easier to communicate ideas effectively.

Google Meet is one of many video calling services that also offers screen sharing capabilities, so if you’re not keen on using Meet for whatever reason, you can try out alternative options like sharing screen in Webex Meetings, screen share with Zoom, or even using the excellent Screen Sharing native feature in Mac OS (though MacOS native screen sharing is limited to a single user and doesn’t offer group broadcasting… yet anyway).

Did you share your computer screen using Google Meet? What do you think of this option versus the other myriad choices out there? Let us know your experiences, and any particular tips or advice you have in the comments too.