Working from the comfort of your home has many benefits. Especially when you’re using awesome conferencing apps like Google Meet. However, when you share your screen, you may notice that the audio function may be missing.
At the moment, Google Meet hasn’t found a perfect solution for this. But there is a workaround you can try. In this article, you will learn all about it. So the next time you start a meeting with a YouTube clip, everyone can hear it.
Google Slides with PC Sound
Preparing for an online work meeting is a little different from preparing in the office, mainly because you have to make sure that all the technical prerequisites are in order.
If you are a Windows user, you can ensure that the training video you have prepared contains accompanying audio, or share other videos, animations, gifs, music, and more in your meetings .
You currently have two options. You can change microphone settings in Windows 10 and Google Meets, or use the Google Meets presence option in Chrome. The Present Chrome Tab feature was “fully” launched in May 2021 . Here are your options.
Option 1: Adjust microphone settings for sharing audio in Google Meet
- Go to the Windows 10 Start menu.
- Open “Settings”.
- Go to “System”and then to “Sound”.
- Now click on “Manage Sound Devices”.
- Make sure Stereomix isenabled in the Input Devices section .
- Also, make sure you turn on the microphone function, which is located under the Stereo Mix Option.
- Once you introduce yourself to everyone who uses Google Meets, click on “Settings”(the three vertical dots in the lower right corner).
- On the Audiotab , change the default microphone to Stereo Mix.
- Navigate to the clip you want to present and click
After completing the above steps, meeting attendees will not hear your voice because you have set up the studio for PC sounds.
So make sure you let everyone know what’s going to happen before you make any changes. Otherwise, the script can create confusion.
After playing the sound you want, you can go back and switch the setting to the default microphone. Moving from one mic setting to another might not be ideal, but at the moment it is the only option available.
Option 2: Use the Show Chrome tab to share audio to Google Meet
An official submission from the Google Workspace team shows that the “… Present” option is available for G Suite users, but we have confirmed that it also works for Google accounts in general. This function only displays the tab you selected.
However, when you switch to a new tab, a notification is displayed asking if you want to switch to the current tab. She explains how to use the Show Chrome Tab feature.
- Click the Peopleicon in the upper right corner to open additional options.
- Select Show Now,then select Tab A from the options listed.
- Click the tab you want to submit in the list displayed on the screen, then click Share.
- You will be notified that you are sharing the tab.
- Switch to a new tab if necessary. A prompt appears at the top asking if you want to share this tab or stop instead. Select Stopto end the presentation, or Select Instead, Select Share This Tab to switch. You can also click on the currently presented tab (shows a blue rectangle) to ignore the request if you want the same tab to stay running.
- To close the presentation, click “Stop Presentation”in the main window, in the Windows presentation notification, or “You are presenting -> Stop Presentation” in the lower right corner of the main window.
Option 3: Use a different device to share audio with Google Meet
In addition to changing microphone settings in Windows 10 and Google Meets, you can also use your smartphone at the same time using the Use Phone for Sound feature .
Thus, you can speak at the same time as showing videos or images from your PC. However , phone use for audio playback in Meets is currently limited to Google Workspace hosts only . It also mutes the PC sound during a call.
Mute attendees in Google Meet
If you plan on sharing audio during your Google Meet presentation, you are probably worried about too much noise or chatter. It would be nice if there was a Disable All button available that you could click while audio sharing is active.
Fortunately, Google Meet has just started to provide mute for everyone in May 2021, bringing it to Google Meet hosts in the Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals and Education Plus domains.
All other users should wait for further notice. For businesses and ordinary users, this does not mean that all is lost. You can try using a third-party browser add-on or mute Google Meet attendees individually with just a few clicks.
Google Meet: mute everyone with personalized choice
The most guaranteed way to mute everyone during a Google Meet presentation is to mute each participant, one by one , if you have the option to use Mute All. Here’s how to mute everyone individually.
- During your presentation, navigate to the Peopleicon in the upper-right corner of the Google Meet window.
- In the member list, select the name you want to disable.
- You will have three icons. Click the middle ( “microphone icon”) .
- You will be asked to confirm if you want to mute this participant. Click
This person’s microphone will now be muted. You can repeat the process as many times as you like if you want to mute everyone .
Google Meet: Mute everyone with Mute All
When you’re using Google Meet for educational purposes with many students, it’s helpful to know how to turn off any unnecessary noise, primarily because teachers often use audio and video clips in class.
For those using the Meet for Education Plus or Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals domains (as mentioned earlier), you’re in luck. Feel free to disable everyone in one fell swoop. Just remember that you cannot turn on the sound .
So, include something in your presentation so attendees know they can turn on their microphones as needed! Here’s how to mute everyone in Google Meet.
- During a Google Meet session, click People in the top-right menu of your session.
- Select Disable All.
- The mute icon will change from black to colored to indicate active status, and the text will change to “All Mute”.
Google Meet: first listen, then talk
Sometimes it’s hard not to want to rush in with comments, even if it’s not the right moment. If you’re sharing audio, you want everyone to hear it first. You may even need to resort to mute participants, especially if you are dealing with students.
Second, until Google Meet finds a better way to share audio, you can always switch from one microphone setting to another, as described above, or use your smartphone to stream audio. It’s not perfect, but it works.