Empower your users to customize their video meetings with custom backgrounds, seasonal images, and special effects. As an administrator, you can let users replace their background and use special effects during a Google Meet meeting. You can provide images and let users upload their own images. This creates a more engaging and personalized meeting experience.
Customize visual effect settings
Before you begin: If needed, learn how to apply the setting to a department or group.
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Sign in with an administrator account to the Google Admin console.
If you aren’t using an administrator account, you can’t access the Admin console.
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Go to Menu
Apps > Google Workspace > Google Meet.
Requires having the Service Settings administrator privilege.
- Click Meet video settings.
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(Optional) To apply the setting only to some users, at the side, select an organizational unit (often used for departments) or configuration group (advanced). Show me how
Group settings override organizational units. Learn more
- Click Visual effects.
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Check the Users can replace their background with an image box.
You can also select any of the following options:- Users can replace their background with custom images they provide themselves: Any participant, even those outside your organization, can use a custom image background during your users' meetings.
- Users can replace their background with stock seasonal images
- Users can replace their background with a custom image provided by you: You can create a label for each image.
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To let users use filters provided by Google, check the Users can use special effects box.
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Click Save. Or, you might click Override for an organizational unit.
To later restore the inherited value, click Inherit (or Unset for a group).
Changes can take up to 24 hours but typically happen more quickly. Learn more
Note: These settings affect Google Meet meetings, but not calls or messages.
Customization limits
Some Google Workspaceusers might have fewer options for customizing their meeting effects than others:
- Google Workspace for Education users might only be able to replace their background with a stock or seasonal image.
- VDI users have limited effects options and cannot preview effects in the greenroom. For details, go to Using VDI.
Provide custom images
You can provide up to 15 custom images for each organizational unit or group in your organization. Use these image settings:
- JPEG format
- Landscape orientation
- Maximum size of 1920x1080p
Google Drive retention policies apply to custom images. For details, go to How retention works.
Set up image access
- Add images to a shared drive that everyone in your organization can access.
- For details, go to Set up shared drives for your organization.
- Set access to the file to Anyone with the link.
- For details, go to Share files from Google Drive.
- Set sharing permissions on the file so that you can edit the images and your users can use the images.
- Share the images with View access to prevent users from modifying them.
- Users can’t use an image as a background if they lose permission to view the image or the image is deleted from Drive.
Label images for accessibility
Add a label to your custom image to help all viewers understand the image. Screen readers announce the label.
The image's name in Drive is its default label. To change an image label:
- Point to the image and click Menu
Rename image.
- Enter a label name and click Save.
