Fix · Google Meet

Google Meet screen share not working, or nobody can hear the video you share

When you cannot present in Google Meet it is usually the Mac’s screen permission for your browser, a host or admin who turned presenting off, or a shared window where a shared tab — with its sound — was needed.

What you are seeing

You click **Present now** in Google Meet and nothing happens, the option is greyed out, people see black or a hall of mirrors, or they can see the video you are playing but cannot hear it.

The likely causes, most common first

Work down the list; most people find theirs in the first two.

1. Your Mac has not let the browser share the screen

  1. On a recent Mac, the first time you present, macOS asks whether Chrome may record the screen. Click Allow.
  2. Missed it? Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording, switch Google Chrome on, and restart Chrome.

Google: “You’ll receive a cautionary prompt when you first attempt to record a meeting or share your screen.” — support.google.com/meet/answer/9308856

2. The host or your admin turned presenting off

  1. In a Workspace organisation an admin can stop people sharing their screens, and in any meeting the host can limit who presents. Ask the host to let you present.

Google: “Sharing your screen may be disabled for you due to admin settings (if you're part of a Workspace organization) or meeting host controls.” — support.google.com/meet/answer/9308856

3. They can see the video but not hear it

  1. Sound travels with a shared Chrome tab. Present the tab the video is playing in, rather than the whole screen.
  2. If you must share a window or the whole screen, switch on Also share system audio in the dialog before you start.

Google: “If you present a Chrome tab, it shares that tab's audio by default.” — support.google.com/meet/answer/9308856

4. You joined in Companion mode

  1. Clicking Present on the screen before you join puts you in Companion mode — your screen is shared, but your microphone and speaker are off. Leave, join the call normally, then present.

Google: “When you use this option, your mic and speaker are unavailable.” — support.google.com/meet/answer/9308856

5. Everybody sees Meet inside Meet

  1. Sharing the window that has the meeting in it shows the meeting inside itself, over and over. Share a different window, or one tab.

Google: “For better presentations and to prevent mirroring, share a new window or a specific tab instead of the meeting window.” — support.google.com/meet/answer/9308856

6. Ten people are already presenting

  1. A meeting shows at most ten presentations at once. Ask somebody who has finished to click Stop presenting.

Google: “There can be a maximum of 10 simultaneous presentations in a meeting at a time.” — support.google.com/meet/answer/9308856

7. Right-to-left text comes out backwards on Windows

  1. On some Windows computers a shared window in Hebrew, Arabic, Urdu or another right-to-left language shows up mirrored or blank. Share the tab, or the whole screen, instead.

Google: “you can share a tab or the full screen, which will appear correctly” — support.google.com/meet/answer/7290456

Every quote above is from Google’s own help pages, read on 10 November 2026. Something changed? Tell us.

Other Google Meet problems

Transcript missingA Google Meet transcript is saved to the organiser’s Drive, only starts from a computer or an Android phone, and waits for the host to join on the web.Recording missingGoogle Meet saves recordings to the organiser’s Drive, only records from a computer or an Android phone, and stops by itself after eight hours.Notes or summary missingGoogle’s automatic notes need an eligible plan, a meeting of about fifteen minutes or more in one supported language, and somebody from the host’s organisation to start them.Breakout rooms missingBreakout rooms in Google Meet need an eligible Workspace edition and a host on a computer, and Google never records what happens in them.No sound, or people cannot hear youMost Google Meet sound problems are one of four things: the browser was not allowed the microphone, you are muted somewhere, the wrong speaker is chosen, or you joined in Companion mode.Camera not workingWhen the camera does not work in Google Meet, Google’s own checklist starts with the simple things: the right camera, another app holding it, and permission in the browser and the computer.

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