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Best Google Meet Chrome extensions

Best Google Meet Chrome extensions
Shaun M Jooste

Shaun M Jooste

  • Updated:

Many companies and freelancers use Google Meet to have meetings on their browsers. It’s a simple solution that integrates with several other Google products. While it has several features already, there are plenty of Chrome extensions that add more functionality, making you more productive or protecting your privacy.

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We’ve browsed the collection of Google Meet Chrome extensions and made a list of our favorite ones here below. They all have different functions and purposes, so look for the one that meets your needs the most.

Virtual Backgrounds for Google Meet™

If you’re bored of the standard background options, Virtual Backgrounds for Google Meet has more you can use. Once you install it as a Chrome extension, you’ll notice more images to select from in your library. The only issue is that you’ll need the meeting host’s permission to activate it during the call.

Another handy feature is the push-to-speak setting. When you activate it, your microphone will be on mute until you press the space bar to talk. 

Virtual Backgrounds for Google Meet™ DOWNLOAD
Best Google Meet Chrome extensions

Meet Extension

While Google Meet already has plenty of features, Meet Extension for Chrome offers more. You can record any of your meetings, as long as the participants are aware of this action. Other features include toggling captions on and off, switching between meetings, or instantly starting a new one.

The extension also integrates with Google Calendar so that you can schedule your meetings. There are also default settings to set, such as having your video off when you start a call.

Meet Extension DOWNLOAD

Visual Effects for Google Meet

Imagine having Photoshop for a live call, and that’s what you’ll get with Visual Effects for Google Meet. The Chrome extension lets you blur the background, add a green screen, or apply filter layers. You can even set off bubbles around you if the meeting isn’t professional.

There are also options for augmented reality settings, such as AR Halo and AR Sunglasses. Other effects you can play with include freeze, pixelate, screen text, and flip. However, there do appear to be compatibility issues with Windows in some instances.

Visual Effects for Google Meet DOWNLOAD
Best Google Meet Chrome extensions

Google Meet Attendance

Are you responsible for taking notes of everyone who attended the meeting? Perhaps you’re a teacher and you don’t want to waste the online class time by first doing roll call? Google Meet Attendance is a Chrome extension that records all the names for you and then exports them to a spreadsheet.

You can configure various settings. For instance, there’s a timer so you don’t go over the time limit. A timestamp and name of the meeting are included so you know when you held the meeting. It’s also easy to make changes to the attendance register on the spreadsheet within a few steps.

Google Meet Attendance DOWNLOAD
Best Google Meet Chrome extensions

Record & Transcribe Google Meet meeting

Many companies pay a fortune to have transcribers listen to videos and write the main notes or minutes of the discussions. To save money and time, you can give Record & Transcribe Google Meet meeting for Chrome a try. The extension records the call while making transcriptions at the same time.

You can also place timestamps for key moments in the meeting. In this way, your colleagues can see a timeline of what happened while only focusing on the main points. They’ll also be able to search the text of the minutes for specific phrases.

Record & Transcribe Google Meet meeting DOWNLOAD

Grid View for Google Meet™

Hosts of meetings, such as the organizer or teachers, usually need to see all the attendees of meetings in one space. It also helps when you’re holding a silent meeting, especially if writers are doing writing sprints for NaNoWriMo in November. Grid View for Google Meet lets you quickly show all recording cameras in a grid view to see everyone in the same space.

If members don’t have their cameras on, the extension will exclude them from the grid. It includes push-to-speak functionality, which means you won’t have to hunt for that mute button all the time. You can also enable the feature to highlight anyone that’s speaking.

Grid View for Google Meet™ DOWNLOAD
Best Google Meet Chrome extensions

Recent Meeting Codes

People in the education industry sometimes use Google Meets instead of Google Classroom to hold meetings or meet with their students. There are meeting codes you usually insert so that you attend the right meeting or start a new one for the same topic. Recent Meeting Codes places buttons on the side for any repetitive codes, saving you the time of searching for them.

It’s a handy feature if you use the same meeting codes daily, such as an online school staff meeting or the daily roll call. You’ll just need to make sure everyone uses the same meeting codes every day; otherwise, you’ll be back where you started typing in the codes again.

Recent Meeting Codes DOWNLOAD
Best Google Meet Chrome extensions

Google Meet Enhancement Suite

Here’s another Chrome extension that provides more functions to the standard browser app. Google Meet Enhancement Suite has more than 40 features you can use, most of them with the free version. The list of tools includes push to talk, auto join, leave confirmation, quick leave, playing chimes, and changing the background color.

If you’re willing to pay for a subscription, you’ll unlock the advanced features. They include options such as automatically recording, auto-unmute, taking meeting attendance, highlighting speakers, and so much more. It basically combines the functions of most of the Chrome extensions on this list into one comprehensive package.

Google Meet Enhancement Suite DOWNLOAD
Best Google Meet Chrome extensions

Google Meet Virtual Backgrounds

This Chrome extension goes beyond simply changing to a new background. Google Meet Virtual Backgrounds lets you swap images while you’re live in a meeting, which is handy if the group doesn’t like the one you placed. There’s also a hotkey function to alter the images whenever you feel like it.

Besides uploading images from the internet, you can also load custom backgrounds you created. It’s an excellent way to stick to the topic in question, like having a T-Rex at the back while discussing the latest fossil discoveries. The Chrome extension has a few other features, such as picture-in-picture mode and blurring the background.

Google Meet Virtual Backgrounds DOWNLOAD
Best Google Meet Chrome extensions

Meet Plus for Google Meet

Do you want more fun features for your meeting? Meet Plus for Google Meet stacks up so many tools in this Chrome extension, you won’t know which one to use first. The most entertaining update is adding a host of emojis to the chat bar, but you can also buzz other members to get their attention.

There are two main downfalls. The first is that everyone in the meeting needs to have this extension installed to experience the features. Buzzing someone else that doesn’t have it will result in nothing on the recipient’s side. Also, most of the advanced features are in the PRO plan.

Meet Plus for Google Meet DOWNLOAD

Meeting Scheduler for Gmail by cloudHQ

Organizing meetings can be a pain in the head when you have a massive list of clients or colleagues. Meeting Scheduler for Gmail by cloudHQ strives to make your task easier by inserting a link inside your email. When the recipient sees it, they view your calendar and indicate what time suits them best. 

Once accepted, all members will receive a meeting schedule in their calendar with the Google Meet link. Also, you’ll have a list of who you sent the link to and who responded. You can even activate SMS notifications if you supply your phone number.

Meeting Scheduler for Gmail by cloudHQ for Chrome DOWNLOAD

Google Meet Volume Control

There aren’t many features in this Chome extension, but it does come in handy. Google Meet Volume Control lets you change the volume for all participants in the meeting, which helps when no one can really hear what you’re saying. It’s ideal for hosts who have bad connections or poor voice recording equipment.

Sure, you’ll be spending some time asking, “Can you hear me now?”. It’s still perfect for making sure everyone has the same sound quality. It also helps when someone has a screeching sound in the background, or you want to mute everyone.

Google Meet Volume Control DOWNLOAD
Best Google Meet Chrome extensions

Google Meet Push-To-Talk

If you simply want to mute and unmute at the touch of a button instead of hundreds of other functions, try Google Meet Push-To-Talk. Once installed, you’ll hold the space bar when you want to speak. After you’ve had your say, you release it again to go into mute mode.

That’s as simple as it gets. If you don’t like the space button, you can change it for another one. It works for both Zoom and Google Meet, despite the extension’s name. 

Google Meet Push-To-Talk DOWNLOAD
Shaun M Jooste

Shaun M Jooste

I live in South Africa, Cape town, as a father of two children. I've been gaming almost all my life, with plenty of experience writing reviews and articles on the latest titles. With 15 years of experience in local government performing Facilities Management functions, I moved towards becoming CEO of my own company, Celenic Earth Publications, which serves to publish author's books, including my own. I'm a published author of horror and fantasy novels, while I also dabble in game and movie scriptwriting.

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