How to blur your background in Google Meet

Have you ever been in the middle of an important meeting, only to realize your toddler is cosplaying Captain Underpants behind you? 

For moments like these, there’s background blur. If you’re a Meet user, learning how to blur your background in Google Meet is pretty simple—definitely easier than convincing your kid to put on some pants. Let’s get into it. 

Table of contents:

How to blur your background before joining a Google Meet call

If you’re presenting on an important call, you probably want to make sure you have the nursery part of your office nursery hidden before joining. 

On desktop

1. Click on the invite to join the video call.

2. On the Ready to join? screen, click the Apply visual effects icon at the bottom of your own video.

   

3. In the Backgrounds tab under Blur and personal backgrounds, you can choose whether to slightly blur or fully blur your background. 

   

I chose the full blur option, because nobody needs to see what’s in my kitchen. 

On mobile devices (Android/iPhone)

1. Tap on a meeting link to join the meeting.

2. On the preview screen that appears, tap the icon of a person with a plus sign. 

   

3. Stay in the Backgrounds tab, and look under the Blur and uploads section. From here, you can choose whether to slightly blur or fully blur your background. Tap whichever one you want.

   

I’ve selected the full blur option again—I recommend it especially for mobile video calls, as you’re more likely to accidentally come across a pantless four-year-old. 

How to blur your background during a Google Meet call

Maybe your background looked fine at the beginning of the call, but a sudden appearance from Captain Underpants means you need to hit blur—and fast. 

On desktop

1. During a meeting, hover over your own video. Click Apply visual effects.

   

2. This will open a side panel, where you can adjust your background with the same options as before the call. Under Blur and personal backgrounds in the Backgrounds menu, choose between the slight and full blur options. 

   

Here, I’ve only slightly blurred my background, so you can still see some shapes and colors but can’t read and judge the titles on my bookshelf. 

On mobile devices (Android/iPhone)

1. During a meeting, tap the icon of the person with a plus sign in the middle of your video.

   

2. A menu will appear with a range of background and filter options. Blur and uploads will be the second section on the screen, and you can select whether to slightly blur or fully blur your background.

   

Additional visual effects in Google Meet

If the blur button just isn’t drawing the curtain over your questionable background well enough, Meet offers several other background options that range from holiday themes to mildly concerning breakfast food. 

Personal and pre-loaded backgrounds

Within the visual effects section in Meet, you can choose from a stock background or upload your own image to use as a virtual background. If you have an awesome travel photo to showcase—or a screenshot from your favorite video game—you can add it here. These should be ideally sized at 1920×1090 pixels for the best appearance. 

Next weekly standup in the Lands Between, anyone?

Filters

If you’ve ever wished you could show up to your next all-hands dressed as a plate of eggs and toast, now you can. Meet offers a perplexing assortment of filters that can turn you and your background into a spooky cat, a piece of cake, or breakfast. Use at your own risk.  

Appearance

Meet also offers a few fun lighting options. You can take your next call in sunshine, shadow, partly cloudy, or full film noir. Take your next project update on the rocks. 

You can also combine filters—in the screenshot above, I’m using the grayscale filter with the “Rainy cafe” background. 

Troubleshooting common Meet background issues

If you’re having trouble with your Meet background, one of these issues may be the culprit.

• Browser compatibility: Ensure you’re using the latest version of your browser. Sometimes older browsers simply cannot support the latest and greatest filters available. 

• Internet connection: A poor internet connection can slow video feeds to the point where backgrounds no longer work properly. Try turning your router off and back on, changing networks, or upgrading. And yes, I’m telling you to reboot.

• Browser extensions: Some browser extensions, especially ones that block or overlay parts of your browser, might interfere with Meet’s background features. You may need to turn these off before using a background filter. 

• Camera settings: If your background looks grainy or blurry across the board, check your camera settings. You may need to manually increase the resolution or video quality or consider upgrading your camera. 

If you’re still having trouble with your background, you may just need to pick a simpler one. I found that the more complex backgrounds (like the eggs and toast) ran slowly on my computer and took nearly 20 seconds to load fully. 

Automate Google Meet with Zapier 

Now that you’re equipped with background blur powers, even Captain Underpants can’t stop you from looking professional during your next big meeting.

If you’re ready to take your Meet experience a step further, you can use Zapier to automate meeting-related tasks, like following up with leads, sharing recordings, and scheduling the next meeting. This will free up more time to concentrate on your work—although we can’t help with unexpected toddler-based disruptions. 

Learn more about how to automate Google Meet, or get started with one of these pre-made workflows.

Related reading: