Top 2 Ways to Enable Grid View in Google Meet on PC and Mobile

If you’ve used the Zoom app for group video calls, you may have liked its gallery display layout. The presentation of the gallery or grid allows you to view up to 49 participants at the same time on the same screen. People who have migrated to Google Meet due to security concerns in Zoom are wondering how to use the grid view in Google Meet. Let’s find the answer in this post.

Previously, Google Meet only allowed you to view 4 participants. But things changed for good in April 2020, when Google introduced support for up to 16 participants on a single screen. If you want to see more than 16 participants, we also talked about it in this post.

So let’s check out the methods to see everyone in Google Meet on Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone and iPad.

How to turn on grid view in Google Meet on the web

There are two ways to display everyone on the Meet screen on the web. In the first method, we will use the help of a native layout parameter, and the second method is to use a Chrome extension. While Google calls the layout as a tiled layout, others call it the grid view. We will therefore use them interchangeably to avoid any confusion.

Even the Chrome extension that we will discuss later in this article calls it a grid view. Well, the tiled view looks like a grid, doesn’t it?

Method 1: Use the tiled layout

As mentioned above, you can view up to 16 meeting participants in Google Meet. To do this, you need to enable the tiling setting in Google Meet.

Here’s how to view everyone in Google Meet:

Step 1: Join a Google Meet meeting.

2nd step: Inside the meeting, click the three-dot icon at the bottom. Select Change layout from the menu.

Step 3: By default, the service selects Automatic layout. Then click on Mosaic to display up to 16 participants on the screen.

Method 2: Use the Google Meet Grid View extension

The above method allows you to view up to 16 participants maximum. What if you want to see more people than that? Fortunately, a Chrome extension comes to our rescue – Google Meet Grid View. You must install the extension on your computer and activate the Grid view in the extension settings.

Note: The extension will allow the layout of the grid on your side only and not for other participants. If others want the same view, they will need to install this extension. You can share this page with them to help them.

Here’s how to install and use the Grid View extension for Google Meet.

Step 1: Open the Grid View extension download page from the link below in the Chrome browser from your Windows 10 or Mac computer.

Download the Google Meet Grid View extension

Click Add to Chrome.

2nd step: Once installed, you’ll find the extension icon in the extension toolbar at the top in Chrome.

Point: Discover the best extension managers for Chrome.

Step 3: Now open meet.google.com and join a new meeting.

If you try to use the extension for a current meeting when you install it, it may not work. You will get errors like Grid View is not running. So disconnect the Meet call and join it again.

Step 4: Click the Grid View extension icon in the same Chrome tab that you use Meet. Then check the box next to Enable Grid View.

Few parameters will now be visible. Check the box next to the settings you want to activate.

If you notice it carefully, you will see that the extension has also added a new button in the Meet window. You can use it to modify the extension parameters and also activate or deactivate the grid view. If the icon is surmounted by a bar, this means that the grid display functionality is disabled.

Fixed: Google Meet Grid View extension not working

For some users, the extension does not work as expected. Here are some tips to fix it.

Join the meeting

As mentioned above, the extension will not work after installation if you are in a meeting. You must join the meeting. You can also try refreshing the Chrome tab.

Activate the extension

Activation of the grid view as indicated in step 4 above is mandatory. Otherwise, the extension will not work.

Update Chrome

You should also try to update your browser. This solved the problem for many Meet users. To update Chrome, click the three dots icon at the top in Chrome. Select Help> About Chrome.

Your browser will begin to search for an available update. If available, click Relaunch to update your browser.

Restart the PC

When was the last time you restarted your computer? You do not remember? Damn! Restart your system now, then try using the extension as shown above.

How to enable grid view in Google Meet on Android, iPhone and iPad

Google doesn’t offer the native tiled layout (or grid view) on Meet mobile apps. Likewise, the Chrome extension only works on a computer. So how do we see all the participants on cellphones and tablets?

There are two methods.

Method 1: Open Google Meet in a browser

If you agree to see up to 16 participants on your mobile phone, you must abandon the Meet mobile application and use it via a browser. Then you will have the option to change the layout. We will use desktop mode help on the mobile browser in this method.

Here are the steps in detail:

Step 1: Launch a browser that supports Desktop mode. This step is necessary. Otherwise, if you open meet.google.com directly on your phone, you will be asked to download or launch the Google Meet app. We don’t want it.

For the sake of simplicity, we will use Chrome on mobile. So open Chrome and tap the three-dot icon at the top. Select the Desktop site.

2nd step: Now open meet.google.com there and join a meeting.

Open Google Meet

Step 3: Tap the three-dot icon at the bottom of the Dating page. Select Change layout.

Step 4: Choose Mosaic from the context menu.

Method 2: Present the screen

Screen sharing is called Present Now or Present in Google Meet. We will take the help of the same. One of the participants using a computer must activate the grid view for the meeting. They can do this using the native option or use the extension as explained above. Then they will have to present their screen to others.

When sharing their screen, everyone else will also be able to see all participants. Others can be on mobile or on computer.

To share the screen from the web, click the Present Now button available at the bottom of the Google Meet. Choose “A Chrome tab”. Then select the Google Meet tab from the list.

Point: Learn cool tips and tricks for managing and using Chrome tabs.

Google Meet vs Zoom

With the growing popularity of Google Meet, Google has been fast enough to increase the participant limit from 4 to 16 in the tiled view. We hope they will allow more participants available in the Zoom app. Then you won’t have to use the extension. In the meantime, check out how Zoom and Google Meet differ from each other.