Google Meet most common questions about a Timer

Google Meet is one of the most used free apps for video calls. And there’s no surprise as it offers a whole bunch of functionalities that help to be more productive at work and stay in touch with friends and family. Google Meet is also used widely by professionals to conduct important meetings like medical treatment or online language lessons. One of the biggest advantages of the app is its ease of usage, intuitive UI, and free plan. Google Meet is available both in the browser as well as a standalone app both for Web and Mobile (iOS and Android).

Having a video call is very tightly coupled to time measurement. Proper time management is very crucial nowadays, especially at work. It’s very easy to spend too much time on meetings or to extend them accidentally. That’s why you can find plenty of questions and not resolved considerations across the internet, groups and forums. Here in this article, we answer some of them.

Google Meet Timer Extension. Examples of the Timer states during the Google Meet call.

How do I create a timed Google Meet?

At this moment, Google Meet doesn’t have a built-in timer functionality. There are different options for having a timer and one of the easiest one is to install a Chrome Extension plugin that extends functionalities with a timer. You can choose different external extensions, like “Timer for Google Meet”, “Call Timer for Meet”, “Google Meet Visual Timer” or “Meeting Timer - for Google Meet”. The latter is the only plugin that offers both an Automatic Google Meet Timer (it integrates with Google Calendar) and a Manual Google Meet Timer (the user can input time manually) and it's compeletly free.

Can you set a time limit on Google Meet?

Currently, you can’t set a time limit natively in the Google Meet app. The only solution is to use an external Chrome Extension that displays a Timer and has a time-limit functionality. Go to Google Web Store and search for “Google Meet Timer”. There are plenty of available options. Some of them are very simple and some are more serious with many additional features built in. It’s up to you what works for you the best.

You can try using “Meeting Timer - for Google Meet” which has both Automatic Timer when you connect Goole Calendar as well as Manual Timer where you can set the time limit manually.

Google Meet Timer - Setting up the time limit example.

How to add a shared timer to Google Meet?

Google Meet doesn’t have a native option to add and share timers. But you can rely on Chrome Extensions that can empower Google Meet calls with a Timer. There are plenty of choices in the Google Web Store but looks like only “Meeting Timer - for Google Meet” can both display the Google Meet Timer and share it on other tabs in real-time. It can help you to better align meeting duration with all participants and to keep it well organized.

1. Go to "Google Web Store".
2. Search for Chrome Extension called “Meeting Timer - for Google Meet” and add it to Chrome browser.
3. Once installed, Google Meet will be extended with a Timer.
4. Hover over the Timer and click "Share" button.
5. Timer will be shared on all other Tabs.

Google Meet Timer - Chrome Extension. Sharing Timer on other tabs.

Summary

As you can see, in most cases you have to rely on the external plugins / extensions that can add more functionalities to Google Meet. There's no official information about when (and if) Google plans to add timer feature natively. If you’re interested in other tricks about how to optimize your online calls, you may want to read our article about it: 5 tips for productive and efficient Google Meet online calls.