Google Meet for Beginners: How to Join and Start a Video Call

Google Meet is free to use, runs right inside your web browser, and needs nothing more than a Google account, which you already have if you use Gmail. There is no separate program to buy, and you cannot accidentally spend money by trying it out. Family members often send a Google Meet link when they want to see your face for a chat, and once you have done it once, joining the next call takes about ten seconds.

This page walks you through both sides of a call: clicking a link someone sent you, and starting your own call to invite others. Everything below works on a computer using the Chrome web browser, and the steps are nearly identical on an iPad or phone using the Google Meet app from the App Store or Play Store.

What you need before you start

You need three things, and most likely you have all of them already. The first is an internet connection, the same one you use to read email or watch videos. The second is a Google account, which is the email address ending in gmail.com along with its password. The third is a device with a camera and microphone: almost every laptop, tablet, and phone made in the last ten years has both built in, usually a tiny camera lens at the top of the screen.

If you are on a desktop computer with no camera, you can still join a Meet call and hear and speak to everyone. The others simply will not see your face, which is perfectly fine. A cheap clip-on webcam costs roughly $25 to $50 if you decide later that you want to be seen.

You do not need to install anything special on a computer. Google Meet opens inside Chrome like any website. On a phone or tablet, you download the free Google Meet app once, and after that it opens automatically when you tap a meeting link.

How to join a call someone sent you

When a family member sets up a call, they send you a link. It usually arrives by email, text message, or a messaging app, and it looks something like meet.google.com followed by some letters. That link is your door into the call. You do not need to know any of the letters or type anything; you just tap or click the link.

1. Open the message that contains the link. Click or tap the blue underlined text or button that says something like "Join" or shows the meet.google.com address.
2. Your browser opens a page with a preview of your own face in a small window. This is normal. Nobody can see or hear you yet.
3. Look for two round buttons near the bottom, one shaped like a camera and one like a microphone. If either has a line through it, it is switched off. Click it once to switch it back on so people can see and hear you.
4. If your browser asks "Allow Meet to use your camera and microphone?", click Allow. This is safe and only applies to Google Meet.
5. Click the blue Join now button. You are now in the call. If the host has not arrived yet, you may see "Asking to join" for a moment until they let you in.

How to start your own call

Starting a call yourself is just as easy, and it means you can be the one who gathers everyone together. Open Chrome and go to meet.google.com by typing that into the address bar at the very top of the screen, then press Enter. If you are not already signed in, it asks for your Gmail address and password.

1. Click the button that says New meeting, usually a coloured button on the left side of the page.
2. Choose Start an instant meeting from the small menu that appears. The call opens straight away with your camera on.
3. Near the bottom or in a small pop-up box you will see a link beginning with meet.google.com. Click Copy next to it.
4. Paste that link into an email, a text message, or WhatsApp to whoever you want to invite. To paste, hold your finger on the spot (on a phone) or right-click and choose Paste (on a computer), then send the message.
5. Wait for them to click the link. When they ask to join, a small box appears with their name and an Admit button. Click it to let them in.

Once people are in, you simply talk as you would on the phone, except you can see each other. There is no time pressure and no cost for a one-on-one call. Google Meet limits free group calls of three or more people to 60 minutes, which is plenty for most family catch-ups, and a call between just two people has no time limit at all.

The buttons you will see during a call

During the call, a row of round buttons sits along the bottom of the screen. They fade away when you are not moving the mouse and reappear when you move it or tap the screen. Knowing what these four do covers almost everything you will ever need.

The red phone button is the one people worry about, so it is worth being clear: clicking it just leaves the call, exactly like hanging up a telephone. You cannot break anything, and you can rejoin straight away by clicking the same link again. If you click it by accident, the link still works.

Fixing the three most common problems

Most trouble on a video call comes down to a small handful of causes, and each has a quick fix. Work through them in order and one of them almost always solves it.

If people cannot hear you, check the microphone button for a line through it and click to remove it. If you cannot hear them, check the volume on your own device is turned up, and look at whether their microphone shows a line through it on your screen. If your picture is frozen or blocky, your internet is briefly slow; turning your own camera off for a minute often steadies the sound while the connection recovers.

If a call simply will not open, close the browser tab and click the link a second time. A fresh start clears up the large majority of glitches. Should that fail, restarting the computer or phone is the old reliable cure, and it fixes problems far more often than its simplicity suggests.

Trying it safely the first time

The best way to build confidence is a practice call with one trusted person before any bigger family gathering. Ask a child or grandchild to set up a Meet and send you the link at an agreed time. A five-minute practice run lets you find your camera button, test your microphone, and get used to the screen with no pressure.

Nothing you click during a call can cost money or damage your device. Joining is free, the call uses your normal internet, and leaving is a single button. Once you have joined a couple of times, the whole thing stops feeling technical and just becomes another way to see the people you love.