A Google Meet live stream lets a large view-only audience watch your meeting, either inside your organisation or on YouTube. You start it from a computer during the meeting: click Meeting tools, then Live streaming, and pick Stream internally or Stream with YouTube.
Here's the catch most hosts hit first. If you add a live stream, continuous chat in Meet is turned off, and if the meeting has started with continuous chat on, the live stream option isn't available at all. Plan the stream when you create the event, not halfway through it.
Internal stream vs YouTube stream
| As of October 2026 | Stream internally | Stream with YouTube |
|---|---|---|
| Who can watch | People in your organisation, plus Trusted Workspace domains if your admin allows | Anyone you share the YouTube link with |
| Editions | Business Continuity, Business Continuity Plus, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Enterprise Starter, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Teaching and Learning Upgrade | Education Plus, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Workspace Individual and Google One subscribers with 2TB or more |
| Extra setup | Admin allows live streaming or Cross Domain streaming | YouTube channel approved for live streaming and linked to the meeting |
| Who can start it | Full participants in the organiser's organisation | Hosts and co-hosts if Host management is on |
| After the stream | Google Sheets report to the organiser | Google Sheets report to hosts and co-hosts |
With Cross Domain live streaming, admins can let up to 50 different Trusted Workspace sub-domains join. The maximum number of viewers depends on your Workspace edition. People can watch in Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Opera or Apple Safari.
Setting up an internal stream in Calendar
- Open Google Calendar and click Create Event, then More options.
- Add the date, time and description.
- Add the guests who should fully take part. They can be seen, heard and present their screen.
- Next to Join with Google Meet, click the Down arrow, then Add live stream.
- Click Save, then Send.
Streaming doesn't start by itself. During the meeting, click Meeting tools, Live Streaming, Stream internally, choose the captions language and click Start Streaming, then share the link from Copy streaming link. If you share the meeting code or URL instead, that person joins as a full participant, not a viewer.
For view-only guests, open the event, click Edit, then More actions, Create view-only event, and add them there. They aren't seen or heard and can't present, record or control the stream, and they still need to be approved to watch, for example by being in the same domain as the host. If you remove the live stream later, the meeting link changes, so share the new one.
Streaming to YouTube
Your YouTube channel needs approval to live stream, which can take up to 24 hours, so sort it before the day. Then join the meeting from a computer, using the same email as the YouTube channel, because you can't start a YouTube stream from a mobile device.
- In the call, click Meeting tools at the bottom right.
- Select Live streaming, then Stream with YouTube.
- Pick your channel and click Select or create an event.
- For a new event, add the title, privacy level and captions language, and review YouTube's Terms of Service.
- Copy the Live stream link and share it.
- Click Stop Streaming to end it.
Google's own tip is to make whoever's running the stream a co-host, because with Host management on only hosts and co-hosts can start it. You can't pause a YouTube stream started from Meet, but you can end it and start another in the same meeting. The video might be uploaded to YouTube for later viewing, and the channel owner can delete it afterwards.
Rules and limits during the stream
- Streams stop automatically after 8 hours.
- Viewers see any screen-shared presentation and up to 2 video tiles, picked by who's speaking.
- When you're presenting, an inactive speaker's video is hidden after 15 seconds. Without a presentation, it's hidden after 30 seconds, and at least one tile always shows.
- Streams aren't recorded automatically. A full participant from the organiser's organisation has to start and stop the recording.
- Stream captions come from the main meeting and work in English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.
- With Host management on, you control whether viewers can see and send chat messages. A poll or Q&A you create reaches both the meeting and the stream.
If you're presenting slides on the stream, my guide on sharing your screen in Google Meet covers the presenting side. And if you only need a copy for people who missed it, recording the meeting might be all you need.
Counting viewers and reading the report
While you're live, a counter at the top of the screen shows every new viewer up to the first 100, then rounds to the nearest 5. After an internal stream, the organiser gets an email with a Google Sheets report showing presenters and hosts who dialled in, the people who watched, a graph of viewership over time, total unique viewers and unique viewers per minute. Start and stop the same stream more than once and you'll get a separate tab for each run. If the report wasn't switched on beforehand, you can still find the viewer count in the Meet quality tool.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
For YouTube, hosts and co-hosts can watch analytics in real time, then receive a Google Sheets report with the start time, stop time, duration, public likes and public views.
My verdict on Meet live streaming
I'd stream internally for all-hands meetings and training, where you want staff watching and only a few people on camera. I'd pick YouTube when the audience is outside your organisation and you're on an eligible plan, but I'd get the channel approved a day early. Either way, I'd set it up in Calendar before the meeting starts, and I'd make the person running the stream a co-host so nothing stalls on the day.
Frequently asked questions
How long can a Google Meet live stream last?
Live streams automatically stop after 8 hours, because they have an 8 hour time limit.
Can I start a Google Meet live stream from my phone?
No. Participants can only start, stop and record a live stream on a computer, and you can't start a YouTube live stream from a mobile device.
How do I see how many people watched my Meet live stream?
Organisers see a viewer counter during the stream. Afterwards, the organiser receives a Google Sheets report with total unique viewers and unique viewers per minute.
Why can't I add a live stream to my Google Meet?
If the meeting has started and continuous meeting chat is on, the live stream option is unavailable. Your edition and admin settings also need to allow live streaming.
Is a Google Meet live stream recorded automatically?
No. Live stream events aren't automatically recorded, so a full participant from the organiser's organisation must start and stop the recording.
