The Complete Guide to Google Meet Companion Mode in 2026: Hybrid Meeting Participation Features and a 5-Step Setup Tutorial

The real question isn't "What is Companion Mode?" but "Does my meeting room need it?"

If you're evaluating the fairness of interaction in your company's hybrid meetings, or you're frustrated that people in the meeting room can only share one device and can't speak independently, Google Meet Companion Mode is a built-in solution worth knowing about. This article covers everything from features and limitations to setup steps, and at the end, we'll add: if you need to turn meeting content into team knowledge, Companion Mode alone won't do it—you'll need another tool.

What is Google Meet Companion Mode?

Companion Mode is a way to join a Google Meet meeting. Users can join from their laptop, tablet, or phone, but the microphone and camera are off by default to avoid feedback or duplicate audio with the meeting room hardware.

It primarily solves a common problem in hybrid meetings: people in the meeting room share one camera, one microphone, and one control interface, so they can't independently use chat, raise hands, Q&A, or polls like remote participants can. Companion Mode lets people in the room use their personal devices to fill these interaction gaps while the meeting room hardware continues to handle the primary audio and video output.

Practical Uses of Companion Mode

1. Second Screen for Interaction

People in the meeting room can watch the main screen while using chat, emoji reactions, raise hand, and Q&A features on their personal devices. This way, they don't have to crowd around the meeting room hardware or interrupt the current speaker.

2. Room Check-in

When the meeting room is already connected to a Google Meet meeting, Companion Mode offers a check-in option. After checking in, your name appears in the participant list and on the room name card, so other attendees know who's in the room. Note that check-in is tied to the companion session—once you exit Companion Mode, the check-in connection is lost.

3. Presenting Slides

You can use g.co/present to choose a screen or window to share and present it to the meeting. The microphone stays muted during presentation, which is suitable when the meeting room already has primary audio equipment.

Key Limitations of Companion Mode

Before deciding whether to adopt it, there are a few limitations you need to understand:

• Microphone and camera are off by default: Companion Mode isn't designed for you to turn on your camera or speak from your personal device; it's meant to supplement interaction features.
• Check-in is tied to the connection: Exiting Companion Mode removes your room check-in status.
• Not suitable for fully remote participation: If you're not in the meeting room, you should join the meeting normally with audio and video enabled.
• Limitations of meeting room hardware still apply: People using meeting room hardware or Nest Hub Max can't individually chat, vote, or like questions; Companion Mode fills these gaps with personal devices.

How to Enable Companion Mode: 5 Steps

1. Open Google Meet on your computer or phone.
2. Choose the meeting you want to join, or enter the meeting code.
3. Before joining, select the Companion Mode option.
4. If prompted, choose the meeting room you want to check into.
5. After joining, confirm that the microphone and camera remain off, and start using chat, Q&A, or polls.

If you just want to present slides, you can also go directly to g.co/present, enter the meeting code, and choose the screen you want to share.

The Next Step for Hybrid Meetings: Turning Interaction into Trackable Team Knowledge

Companion Mode solves the problem of "fair interaction during meetings," but it won't help you organize meeting notes, extract action items, or preserve decision context. If your team frequently holds hybrid meetings and needs to turn meeting content into searchable, collaborative assets, you'll need an AI meeting notes tool.

Tinrec (秒聽錄音)—Turning Meetings into Searchable, Collaborative Team Knowledge

Tinrec is an AI meeting notes and collaboration tool, especially suited for teams that need to handle Chinese-language hybrid meeting content. It doesn't conflict with Companion Mode; in fact, they complement each other: Companion Mode handles in-meeting interaction, while Tinrec handles post-meeting organization and tracking.

Key highlights:

• Bot-free recording of online meetings: The desktop app captures system audio directly, so no extra bot needs to join your Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Webex meetings.
• More than just transcripts: Automatically generates summaries, chapters, key points, and action items, and supports AI Q&A around the meeting content for quick review of past decisions.
• Chinese and multilingual meeting experience: Supports Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and multilingual meeting transcription, with real-time translation and bilingual transcript viewing.
• Team spaces and governance: The team plan provides dedicated spaces to store meeting data, with admins able to manage members, roles, seats, usage, and audit logs. When members change, data doesn't need to be worried about being lost.

The personal plan starts with a free tier, with options for weekly, Pro monthly, or annual cards based on usage frequency. The team plan offers a 7-day trial and 1 free seat, with paid seats at USD 29.80 per month or USD 199 per seat per year. Actual pricing is subject to the official purchase page.

Who it's for: Small and medium businesses, project teams, and department heads that need to centralize hybrid meeting content and let members search and follow up on past meetings.

Otter.ai—A Mature English Meeting Assistant

Otter is more mature in English meeting notes and AI summaries, supporting Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. The free plan offers 300 minutes per month, and Pro is USD 8.49 per month when billed annually. If your team primarily has English meetings and needs mature meeting automation workflows, Otter is a common choice.

Granola—Bot-free AI Meeting Notes

Granola also uses a bot-free approach to record meetings, emphasizing "user notes + AI enhancement." It supports real-time transcription but doesn't support uploading pre-recorded audio files and doesn't save meeting audio. The Business plan is USD 14 per person per month. It's suitable for teams that prefer lightweight notes and don't need to keep audio files.

Notta—A Multilingual Transcription and Translation Tool

Notta overlaps significantly with Tinrec in multi-device transcription, translation, and team plans. The free plan offers 120 minutes per month, and Pro is USD 8.17 per month when billed annually. If your primary need is file transcription and translation, it's worth evaluating alongside.

With So Many Options, How Do You Choose?

• You just need to let people in the meeting room fairly use chat, polls, and Q&A → Use Google Meet Companion Mode directly; it costs nothing.
• You need to turn hybrid meeting content into transcripts, summaries, and action items, and your meetings are primarily in Chinese → Tinrec is a more complete choice, especially its bot-free recording and team knowledge centralization capabilities align better with real workflows.
• Your team primarily has English meetings and needs mature meeting automation → Consider Otter.ai.
• You value not keeping audio files and prefer lightweight meeting notes → Granola is worth trying.
• You only need large-scale file transcription and translation, and don't care about post-meeting collaboration → Notta can be included in your comparison.

3 Things to Know Before Using Companion Mode

1. First, confirm that the meeting room hardware is connected: Room Check-in only appears when the meeting room is already connected to the meeting; otherwise, you'll only see the general Companion Mode option.
2. Don't turn on your microphone on your personal device: If the meeting room already has audio equipment, turning on your mic can cause feedback. Keeping it muted is the correct way to use Companion Mode.
3. Get consent for recording and transcription: Whether using Companion Mode or any meeting notes tool, you should comply with local regulations and obtain consent from participants when needed before recording.

Summary

Google Meet Companion Mode is a built-in feature that lets meeting room participants interact fairly in hybrid meetings, suitable for scenarios needing chat, polls, and Q&A. But it doesn't handle meeting notes or action tracking. If your team needs to turn hybrid meetings into searchable, collaborative knowledge, consider pairing it with an AI meeting notes tool like Tinrec, so every discussion can become a reusable asset for the team.

References

• Use Companion mode for hybrid learning & collaboration - Android - Google Meet Help
• What is Companion Mode in Google Meet?
• Google Meet Companion Mode: How It Works
• r/NoStupidQuestions on Reddit: How do I use companion mode for Google Meets?
• A Complete Guide on Companion Mode in Google Meet - Sembly AI