what to know
- Click the three-dot menu, then click Apply Visual Effects > Blur Background Slightly or Blur Background .
- To turn off background blur, return to the blur options and deselect your selection.
- You can blur the background before or during the meeting.
This article explains how to blur or unblur the background before or during a Google Meet call.
If you want to hide your background during a video call and don't want to use a virtual background, you can blur it in Google Meet. Here are instructions for blurring the background during and before a call.
If the call has already started, it's not too late to blur the Google Meet background. How to do:
Click the three-dot menu button at the bottom of the screen.
Select Apply Visual Effects .
There are two options. To make a subtle change, choose to blur the background slightly . If you need more coverage, choose Blurred Background .
You can switch between the options to see which one looks best. The more cluttered (or more cluttered) your background is, the deeper the blur you want.
You can also blur the background before joining the meeting.
Click the meeting link in the invitation to enter the waiting room.
Click the icon in the lower right corner of the video preview.
Choose one of the two background blur options.
You can now exit the Effects window and join the call with the background blurred.
To turn off background blur, whether you're on a call or waiting to be joined, open the visual effects menu by following either set of instructions above. Then, select the blur option you're currently using to turn it off. The background will return to normal immediately.
Blurring the background is useful for a number of reasons. It can hide the clutter behind you and make you look more professional. Hiding your background also protects your privacy and the privacy of others in your home or office. Plus, it looks great and focuses the attention on your face rather than what's going on behind you.
However, if you have an older computer, the blurring feature may slow you down because it uses a lot of resources. If you find that it's affecting the quality of your Google Meet calls, you can quickly turn it off.
A more lightweight solution might be to use a virtual background. Google Meet has a lot of options built into it, and you can also upload images.
