In pushing Meet adoption over the past year, Google made it possible to schedule a video call from nearly all of its main Workspace apps. The company today fully detailed when meeting codes for Google Meet expire.
Unlike consumer video chatting apps (e.g., classic Hangouts), Google Meet and its competitors leverage a link-based invite/joining system. URLs are inherently familiar — more so after the last year of remote work — and do not require people to do meeting set-up and first open an application.
It reflects how everything today is done in a web browser. Meanwhile, links can be easily added to existing note-taking and reminder apps.
Starting on May 19, 2021, Google is going to enforce the following meeting code expirations that are based on what product a link was generated from:
| Product | Expiration |
| Google Calendar | Meeting codes expire when the following two conditions are met: 1) The meeting code has not been used for 365 days, and 2) The meeting code isn’t associated with any future calendar events. |
| Gmail and the Google Meet homepage | Meeting codes expire 365 days after last use. |
| Google Chat and Google Hangouts | Meeting codes expire 365 days after last use. |
| Breakout Rooms | Breakout rooms expire instantly once the parent meeting ends |
| Jamboard, Meeting room hardware | Meeting code expires instantly once all users leave the meeting. |
| Nicknamed meetings Note: Available to Google Workspace subscribers only. | Meeting code expires instantly once all users leave the meeting. |
| Google Classroom | Meeting code expires instantly once all users leave the meeting. |
| Other Third Party Applications | Meeting codes expire 365 days after last use. If someone uses the code within the 365 day window, then it will add another 365 days to the shelf life. |
| Google Nest | Meeting code generated by speaking into your Nest device and saying “Hey, Google start a meeting” expires 365 days after last use. For users in the Google Workspace with Google Assistant Beta: Meeting generated by usage of meeting nicknames, expire instantly after the last user leaves. |
At a high level, codes either expire 365 days after last use or instantly once the meeting ends for safety reasons, like in classroom environments.
We recommend reviewing the meeting code expiry limits to ensure your meeting codes are valid, especially for meetings planned far in advance.