Live captions display speech as text in your Google Meet window. Turning them on changes your own view; it does not enable captions for everyone or create a saved meeting transcript. Use them when following spoken discussion is easier with accompanying text, and check their behavior before relying on them for an important exchange.
Enable captions in the meeting
On a computer, join the intended Meet meeting. At the bottom, hover over Captions and translation and choose Turn on captions. The caption tray should appear as people speak. You can also open More options, select Settings, then Captions, and enable the option to see captions as people speak.
Check the language and displayed text
Use the language dropdown on the left of the caption tray to select the appropriate language. Ask someone to speak a short, ordinary sentence and compare the displayed words with what was said. Names, technical terms, overlapping voices, and unclear audio can make automatic text less useful. Ask the speaker to repeat or confirm an important number instead of treating a plausible caption as proof.
Keep the scope of captions clear
Another participant must configure their own caption view. If the organizer needs a document for later review, discuss an available transcript or recording arrangement separately, including access and consent. Google documents a separate recording option for embedding captions; simply seeing live captions does not select it. Turn captions off using the caption control when you no longer need them. If text does not appear, check that captions are enabled and that someone is speaking before troubleshooting the whole meeting connection.
References
Reviewed against the linked official product guidance on November 4, 2026. Features, limits, screen labels, and access can vary by account, platform, region, and organization policy.