You can now easily share files with all participants of a Google Meet

Earlier this year, Google rolled out the ability to start a Meet call and “bring it to” Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, as well as present to the meeting from either of these applications. This is all part of the Smart Canvas rollout, which aims to deliver the next evolution of collaboration for Google Workspace using a new product experience. Google is now expanding on this and adding the ability to easily share a file with other people in the meeting through the chat feature if you are presenting or joining from that same file.

This update will allow you to give all or some meeting attendees access to a document, spreadsheet, or presentation. This means that everyone in the meeting can work together while chatting. This update, while seemingly small, can go a long way when you are under a deadline and need to share something quickly.

Previously, to share a file with meeting participants, you had to do it either via Google Drive or the file’s blue or yellow share button in the document menu. When this feature goes live, and you’ve joined the meet directly from that file, you will be able to share the file by clicking on the blue icon that resembles a waveform on the top right, then click on “Share file to Meeting Chat.” A pop-up window may appear if meeting participants don’t have access to the file, at which point you can add or remove users and then click “Share in Meet chat” to grant access.

As Smart Canvas continues to grow, we can expect more helpful features like this one to pop up. The rise of remote work in the past years has prompted these types of changes and accommodations to take place, and I am more than pleased that it has, even though the circumstances surrounding this shift were unfortunate. Still, these are features we’ll be able to take advantage of for years to come, and tech giants like Google must continue to set the bar and push innovation forward in a way that benefits the users.