Change background & apply visual effects in Google Meet

To help limit distractions or make meetings more fun, you can now blur your background or apply:

You can also apply styles to customize your video with various lighting, color filters, and stylized backgrounds.

Tips:

Sensitive information might be visible when you change your background.
In your self view, your background will appear mirrored or inverted. However, the other participants in the meeting will see the correct orientation.
Availability of backgrounds, filters, and styles are subject to client type, account type, and settings applied by Google Workspace admins. Workspace admins can let users apply backgrounds and special effects.
To improve real-time video on devices, you can process these in the cloud:
- Static background images
- Blur effects
- Light adjustments
This feature saves battery, reduces processor usage, and improves meeting quality.

Change your background and use visual effects

Important:

Participants who join the meeting while not logged into a Google account and participants who need to knock to get admitted, can only change their background or use visual effects once in the meeting.
Your camera is automatically turned on when you click on an effect. Your device may slow down when you use effects and backgrounds. If you experience performance issues, you can turn off effects.

Before you join a meeting, at the bottom of your self-view, click Apply visual effects .
- During a meeting, hover to your self view.
- At the center of your self view, click Apply visual effects .
  - You can also click More options Apply visual effects .
  - You can adjust and stack visual effects across different categories. Click the category and scroll down.
    - Under the “Backgrounds” tab
      - To slightly blur your background, click Slightly blur .
      - To completely blur your background, click Blur.
      - To upload your own background, click Add yourown personal background.
      - To select a pre-uploaded background, click the background you want to use.
    - Under the “Filters” tab
      - Click the filter you want to use.
        
        To turn on an interactive filter, follow the on-screen instruction.
    - Under the “Appearance” tab
      - You can adjust your video lighting or framing.
      - To change the style, click the style you want to use.
To select or remove the stacked effects, on the right of your self view in the Effects panel, click Stack .
- The number in the green bubble indicates the number of effects you’ve applied.
- Select the effects you want to remove or to remove all effects, click Remove all.
- To minimize the stack view, click Close .
To close the Effects panel, click Done .

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