Troubleshoot video & audio quality in a meeting

Here’s how to fix common video and audio quality issues in a meeting.

Update your browser

Update your browser to get the latest software fixes. Learn how to update Google Chrome.

Use automatic troubleshooting & help

Troubleshooting & help gives automatic suggestions to fix quality issues with your network or devices during a meeting when an issue is detected that may affect the call quality.

If you have network or device issues that may affect the call quality, a red dot appears on the More options button.

When the dot appears, click More options Troubleshooting & help.
Tailored recommendations are shown based on your issue.
Try the suggestions.
The red dot shows for 5 minutes or until you click More options.

Tip: The red dot only appears once a day, even if an issue persists.

Fix Echo warnings

If your audio has an echo, a red dot notification appears on the More options button:

Click More Troubleshooting & help.
Under "Audio & video devices," you’ll find instructions to minimize the echo.

Meet automatically tries to fix this echo. To help avoid an echo, you can:

Use headphones
Lower your speaker volume
Mute yourself when not speaking

Use the right peripherals

If audio or video is poor, try the following:

Use a headset with a microphone.
Make sure Meet is set to the correct camera, microphone and speakers. Headsets may use the built-in microphone.
- Change your video and audio settings
Disconnect external monitors.
Make sure your bluetooth headset works with Meet. Some bluetooth headsets work well for normal audio calls but poorly with Meet.
Update your headset or camera to the latest firmware.

Turn off the video or join by phone or mobile app

If your computer is old or network performance is poor, join without video or switch to a different device.

Improve your Wi-Fi or network performance

Bandwidth issues are a major cause of poor video quality. Even if your video and audio seem fine, other meeting participants may have trouble hearing you or seeing you. Try the following to improve your bandwidth issues:

Run an Internet speed test to ensure you have sufficient bandwidth and low latency. Observe the bandwidth and latency over time to make sure you have a stable connection, which is required for high quality video calling. See bandwidth requirements.
Use a wired Ethernet connection, if available, to see if the video quality improves.
Use the 5 GHz Wi-Fi connection instead of the more heavily used 2.4 GHz band.
Hardware firewalls and security devices that inspect or alter Meet traffic before routing it onward may cause poor video quality. Have your admin read Prepare your network.

And finally, consider disabling Quality of Service (QoS) for Meet traffic. Some network equipment uses QoS to prioritize specific types of traffic, and Google Meet also performs network prioritization, which can cause poor video quality when combined with QoS. Temporarily disable QoS for Meet to see if video quality improves. See QoS best practices.

Deactivate VPN software

Your computer or smartphone normally connects directly to Meet. A VPN routes traffic through an additional network location and may delay video transmission to and from your Meet meeting.

Temporarily deactivate your VPN and reconnect to the Meet video meeting.
If video quality improves, complete the call without VPN.
Remember to deactivate the VPN when connecting to future Meet video meetings.
Ask your IT or VPN service provider to change your VPN configuration to allow Meet traffic to bypass the VPN. They may need to obtain information on the outbound ports, allowlisted URIs, and IP ranges for Meet. Refer them to the Prepare your network for Meet.

Close other browser tabs and apps

Too many tabs and open applications can cause poor video quality.

Close non-essential tabs.
Close other apps.
Reduce the size of the Meet window.

Talk to your system administrator

If you experiencing network issues, your system administrator may be able to help you resolve the issues.Try the following:

Ask your system administrator to analyze data from your video using the Meet Quality Tool.
In some cases, your corporate network may not be properly configured to access Google’s cloud for the highest quality results. Have your system administrator read Prepare your network.

Configure antivirus, firewall, or other security software

Software that inspects or alters Meet traffic before it reaches the video meeting may interfere with Meet and may cause poor video quality.
Review the options that allow the Chrome browser and Meet traffic to operate without interference. If you run into repeated issues, your admin may need to allowlist specific URLs for Meet to best operate. See Prepare your network.

Change your computer’s camera or video quality

You can decrease the quality of your video if you experience:

Video or audio delays
Poor network connection
Low battery
Limited data availability
Other quality issues