Google Meet will change the screen layout for you, depending on how many participants are in the meeting, and how users are presenting content, but you can also change your layout manually as required.
If you are in a meeting with only 2 participants, you will both see each other’s video feed as a full window, while if you’re on a call with up to 4 participants, you will see all four in four windows.
You can choose a particular layout, regardless of the number of participants, by clicking on the ellipses along the bottom of the screen, then choosing Change Layout.
You can choose between the auto layout, sidebar layout, spotlight layout to show only the person currently talking, or tiled layout to show everyone in the meeting.
Auto allows Meet to choose the layout for you.
Tiled shows up to 4 video feeds in equal size when there is no presentation. If there’s a presentation, it fills the window with up to 3 participants on the side.
Spotlight fills the window with the presentation, active speaker or pinned feed.
Sidebar shows the active speaker or presentation with additional participants on the side.
If you are using Tiled layout, you can choose the number of people to display on screen. The default is 9 but this can be increased up to 49 as required.
To see yourself in the tiled layout, position the mouse over your image in the bottom-right corner of the screen, then click on the Show in a tile option.
If you do not wish to show yourself on screen at all, you can position the mouse over your image and click on the Minimise button.
To pin a specific speaker on screen, you can position the mouse over their tile on screen, then click on the Pin button.
Alternatively, show the people pane, then click on the ellipses next to the person you wish to pin. Choose the Pin to screen option to pin them on screen.