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The Google Meet feature built for this situation is Companion mode. People in a meeting room use the room’s conferencing hardware to talk and listen. Each person also joins the same call on their own laptop in Companion mode, where they get chat, polls, Q&A, hand raising and screen sharing without adding a second microphone to the room. This guide covers how it works, where it stops, and how to run a discussion with it. It describes Google’s documented behavior and does not claim hands-on test results.
What Companion mode does
Companion mode is designed for hybrid meetings. The room’s Google Meet hardware or a Nest Hub Max carries audio and video for everyone physically present. Participants then open the same meeting on a laptop in Companion mode to use individual controls. Google’s launch announcement describes it as allowing “interactive features and controls such as chat, screen sharing, hand raising, polls, host controls and more” (Google Workspace Updates, January 13, 2022).
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The key design choice is audio. In Google’s words, “In Companion mode, your mic and video are turned off to avoid any audio feedback” (Google Meet Help). That means a room full of laptops will not produce echo or howling, and every person still has a way to take part without speaking over the room.
Why it helps a discussion
In a mixed room, a few confident voices tend to dominate, and quieter people have no channel at all. Companion mode gives them several:
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- Chat for side questions and links without interrupting the speaker.
- Hand raising to create a visible queue.
- Polls and Q&A to collect input from everyone at once.
- Screen sharing from a personal laptop, so people do not pass cables around.
Google’s own hybrid-meeting guidance recommends hand raising in meetings of three or more people and offering several feedback routes, such as chat, Q&A, polls and an agenda document. It also admits the limit: “Even with Companion mode, it can be difficult for remote participants to break into the conversation in the room” (Google Workspace Blog). The tool supplies the channels, but someone still has to watch them.
How to set up a room
- Start or join the meeting on the room device (Google Meet hardware or a Nest Hub Max) so it carries room audio and video.
- Have each person in the room open the meeting on a laptop and choose Companion mode when joining. Mobile devices are not supported for this mode.
- Optionally use room check-in. This requires a conference-room device already connected to the meeting. It adds your name to the participant list and room tile.
- Keep laptop microphones and cameras off, which Companion mode does automatically.
Check-in is not verified. Google states that someone can check in to a room they are not physically in, so do not treat it as attendance proof.
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Running the discussion
Name a queue watcher
Assign one person, ideally not the main speaker, to watch hand raises and chat and to call on people, remote participants first. This addresses the break-in problem Google acknowledges.
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Ask a question, open a poll, and let responses arrive before anyone speaks. That avoids anchoring the room on the first answer.
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Share from your own laptop
Presenting in Companion mode keeps the content in the call without moving the room device’s connection.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Limits to plan around
| Limit | What it means |
|---|---|
| No laptop audio or video | It is not a second active endpoint; speak through the room device. |
| No mobile support | Use a computer for Companion mode. |
| Breakout rooms | Companion mode participants cannot speak or hear in breakout sessions, and room hardware cannot be assigned to one. Keep the in-room group in the main room, or have an individual rejoin with full audio and video. |
| Edition and admin settings | Features such as hand raising can depend on your Google Workspace edition. Administrators can control Q&A, polls and host management (Google Workspace admin help). |
Entitlements change, so check Google’s current Meet Help page and your admin console before building a meeting around a specific feature. The Help page used here was current as of October 2026.
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