You’re a minute late for your next meeting. Where is that link? Is it buried in an email thread? Was it in that chat? Or is it in the other calendar?
Google Meet is built to be everywhere, but that 10-second link hunt is a universal, low-level frustration. The good news is, Google has hidden a “Join” button in pretty much every app you already have open.
This is the most direct route. By heading to meet.google.com, you have a clear dashboard to start or join meetings.
To start a new meeting: You have three options here. You can create a meeting for later (which generates a shareable link), start an instant meeting, or schedule one directly in Google Calendar (which brings us to our section 2).
To join a meeting: Simply paste the meeting link or code provided by the host into the “Enter a code or link” box.
Go to calendar.google.com and sign in. You can also access your Calendar via Gmail.
Then, when you create a new event by clicking anywhere on the calendar window, you’ll see the “Add Google Meet video conferencing” button. Clicking this generates a unique Meet link and attaches it to the event, along with dial-in phone numbers (for paid Workspace accounts). All guests included in the calendar invite will have the link automatically.
On your computer, open Google Calendar.
For many, Gmail is the main communication hub for the workday. Google Meet is integrated directly into the left-hand sidebar. From this “Meet” tab, you can:
Click “New meeting” to start an instant call and copy the link.
Click “Join a meeting” to enter a code.
See a list of your upcoming meetings scheduled in Google Calendar and join them by clicking Join now.
Sometimes a text-based chat isn’t enough. When you’re in a direct message or a group space in Google Chat, look for the phone receiver icon in the top-right corner.
Clicking it, you have a couple of options, and one of them is Send a Meet link, which instantly adds a Google Meet link to the chat, without having to schedule it first. This is the fastest way to move a conversation to a face-to-face meeting.
While working inside a Google Doc, Sheet, or Slide, you can start or join a call without ever leaving your file.
In the top-right corner, you’ll see a Meet icon. From there, you can join a scheduled call or start a new one. The meeting will appear in a sidebar, so you can see your colleagues and the document on the same screen.
For schools using Google Workspace for Education, Meet is built directly into Google Classroom.
Each class has a single, reusable Meet link generated by the teacher. This link can be made visible to students on the “Stream” or “Classwork” page, providing an easy-to-find place for students to join their virtual class.
For users away from their desks, the dedicated Google Meet app (for iOS and Android) is a full-featured access point. You can:
Join meetings by tapping a link from your mobile calendar or email.
Enter a meeting code.
Start your own instant meetings.
See your full schedule of upcoming calls.
The mobile app also allows you to share your screen, use virtual backgrounds, and use all the core features you’d expect from the desktop version.
If you see older articles listing even more ways, they likely included integration with Google’s Jamboard hardware. As of October 1, 2024, Google has discontinued Jamboard integration with Google Meet, so this is no longer an active access method.
For Microsoft Outlook users: If you work in a mixed environment, you don’t have to leave your Outlook calendar.
Google provides an official “Google Meet add-in for Microsoft Outlook” app. Once installed, it adds a “Google Meet” button to your Outlook event scheduler, so you can create and add Meet links just as you would in Google Calendar.
For audio-only (dial-in): When you’re on the road with poor internet, you can still join the audio portion of a meeting.
Most Google Meet invites created by Google Workspace accounts automatically include a dial-in phone number and a PIN. You can call this number from any phone to be connected to the meeting, just like a traditional conference call.
So, there you have it. Seven different and equally solid doors that all lead to the same room, plus some extras.
You’ll probably stick to your favorite one or two, but just knowing you can start a call from a spreadsheet can save you that 30-second panic.
It’s a small thing, but getting the tool out of the way is the whole point.
Do you need help finding your way around Google Workspace? We can help you move your entire workspace to Google Workspace and onboard your entire team, including how to adopt AI effectively. Get in touch for a free consultation!