How to Use Google Vids: The Beginner's Guide (First Video, Veo 3.1 Clips, Avatars, and a Clean Export)

CodexFuse Team · 2026-10-28T08:55:15.077Z · 23 min read

Learning how to use Google Vids takes about ten minutes: open vids.new, pick a start option, generate Veo 3.1 clips, add an AI avatar, and export a clean MP4 — all on a free Google account.

Learning how to use Google Vids takes about ten minutes, and most of it is just picking the right way to start. Google Vids is Google's AI video editor inside Workspace: you describe the video you want, or turn a slide deck into one, and it builds a draft with scenes, a script, and a voiceover that you then edit on a timeline. If you can build a slide deck, you can build a Vid — and if you have edited video before, the CapCut beginner's guide is the closest comparison point for how the two editors differ. This Google Vids tutorial walks you through the whole thing in order: opening Vids, choosing a start option, generating Veo 3.1 clips, adding an AI avatar, recording yourself, editing with the new October 2026 audio and speed tools, and exporting a clean MP4.

How do I use Google Vids?

To use Google Vids, open a new video by typing vids.new in your browser, pick Landscape, Portrait, or Square, then choose how to start: from an AI prompt, a Google Slides deck, a recording, your own uploads, a template, or a blank Vid. You edit scene by scene on a timeline and share the finished video as a Vids file, an MP4, or a YouTube upload.

1. Open Vids. Type vids.new in your browser's address bar, or go to vids.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
2. Pick an orientation. Landscape is the default; switch to Portrait or Square if the video is for a phone feed.
3. Choose a start option. Create AI videos, Edit videos, AI avatar, Convert Slides, Record, Upload, Templates, or Blank Vid — the table below explains each one.
4. Build the draft. Let "Help me create" write the outline, script, and voiceover, or add your own scenes one at a time.
5. Edit scene by scene. Fix the script in the transcript, swap media, and adjust timing on the timeline.
6. Export. Download an MP4, save one to Google Drive, or publish straight to YouTube.

What is Google Vids?

Google Vids is an AI video generator and editor that lives inside Google Workspace. It is powered by a mix of Google models: Gemini handles the script and voiceover text, Omni 1.1 Flash generates the video, and Lyria generates the audio, according to Zapier's guide updated in October 2026. The editor itself feels like a mix of Google Slides and Gemini. Scenes in Vids resemble slides: both apps share many of the same formatting tools, and you can add the same media types — animations, transitions, GIFs, and photos from Google Drive and Google Photos. What Vids adds is video-specific: stock photos, videos, and music; screen recordings with or without a video of you; AI-generated photos and videos; voiceovers and AI avatars that narrate your script; and Google Slides presentations that convert into videos.

Vids is built for the kind of video most businesses and creators actually make: walkthroughs, explainers, training clips, product demos, team updates, meeting recaps, and onboarding videos. That is the short version of how to use Google Vids; the rest of this guide is the long version, step by step. It is not an app for making a feature film, and Google does not pretend otherwise. Where it shines is speed: a deck becomes a narrated video in minutes, inside the account your team already uses. The October 2026 audio and speed controls fixed two of its most annoying gaps, which this guide covers below.

One thing that confuses people: if your account does not have access to the AI features in Vids, those AI options simply do not appear on the start screen. That is your account level, not a bug. On a Workspace account, your admin decides whether you can use Vids and its AI features. On a personal Google account, the app is free with a small monthly allowance of AI credits, covered in the next section.

Is Google Vids free?

Yes, Google Vids is free to use with a personal Google account. It covers the basics plus a handful of monthly AI credits to generate AI video clips and avatars, according to Zapier's guide updated on October 16, 2026. That is plenty if you are making the occasional video. If you are making videos every week, you will hit that cap fast, and that is when it makes sense to upgrade to Google AI Pro, which starts at $19.99 a month. Note that you get the same Vids limits on the lowest paid tier, Google AI Plus, as on your personal plan, so Plus is not the upgrade path for more Vids capacity.

The exact free-versus-paid line has moved during 2026, so treat the numbers above as the picture at the time of writing. Google's own help pages say limits are subject to change. April 2026 coverage reported that any Google account gets 10 free Veo 3.1 video generations a month inside Vids, and Google's Workspace help pages list daily caps of up to 20 AI video generations a day, with up to 10 of them on Veo 3. Check the limits shown in your own account before you plan a big project around the free tier.

How do I start my first video in Google Vids?

Your first decision is the start option, and it matters more than any other click in Vids, because each option builds a different kind of draft. Open vids.new, pick your orientation, and choose from the eight options below. If you already have a slide deck, Convert Slides is the shortcut to use first. If you have nothing yet, Create AI videos is the fastest way to a first draft.

To build a video from scratch, close the start menu with the X in the upper right and go straight to the timeline. You can still use the recording studio and add template content later, so starting blank does not lock you out of the AI tools. Google Vids templates are pre-built sets of scenes with media and transitions already in place — pick one to outline your video, then customise it as needed.

How do I make a video with "Help me create"?

"Help me create" is the fastest route to a first draft. It uses Gemini to plan your video from a prompt, and you can point it at your own documents by typing "@" and selecting a file from Google Drive, such as a Doc, a Sheet, or a Slides deck. Gemini reads the document and builds the video around it, which is the fastest way to turn a written report, proposal, or training document into a shareable video.

1. Open a new video in Google Vids, then click File, then Storyboard.
2. Enter a prompt, or click a suggested prompt. Add related files with "@" to improve the output — for a Slides file, Vids analyses the visuals, images, and GIFs for reuse in related scenes.
3. Click Next. Vids generates a suggested outline with scenes populated with generated text, media from stock or your included files, a script, and a voiceover. Video placeholders are suggested in relevant scenes so you know where to add your own recordings.
4. Edit the outline by updating the tiles that represent each scene.
5. Pick a design for your video, preview samples by hovering, and click Create the draft video.
6. Edit or customise the result: review the generated voiceover scripts, swap media placeholders, and adjust the video size.

Google's help pages set the scale of a Vids project: for each video, you can add up to 50 video objects and 50 audio objects, and those limits are subject to change. That is generous for a business video — most explainers need fewer than ten scenes — and it means the draft generator will not run out of room on a normal project.

The same "@" trick works from Google Docs: reference a Doc in a Vids prompt and Gemini builds the storyboard from it. If most of your content already lives in Docs, the Google Docs beginner's guide is the companion piece to this section.

How do I generate a Veo 3.1 clip in Google Vids?

Google Vids Veo 3 clips are powered by Veo 3.1, Google DeepMind's video generation model, built directly into Vids. You describe a shot in detail — subject, scene, and tone — and it generates an 8-second clip. According to Google's help pages, generated videos are 8 seconds long, at 24 frames per second, 720p resolution, and 16:9 landscape orientation. You can generate up to 20 videos per day, including up to 10 per day on Veo 3, and Google says those limits are subject to change.

1. Open Google Vids and click Create AI videos in the start menu. If a video is already open, click AI Video in the right sidebar instead.
2. Enter a prompt that describes the video you want Gemini to create, including the subject and tone. Google's own examples are "A cat walking down a fashion week catwalk" and "A dog driving an F1 racecar" — specific subjects in specific scenes work better than vague requests.
3. If you have reference images, drag and drop them into the Ingredients area so the model matches your subject.
4. Use the model, resolution, and duration dropdown to change the video model, resolution, and duration before you generate.
5. Click Create. When the clip is ready, it shows up in the Generate video panel.
6. Hover over the clip to preview it, then click Insert to add it to your canvas, and Insert again in the canvas preview. In the timeline, the clip gets its own object track.

Once a clip is generated, you have four useful options. Extend continues the clip with a new prompt describing what happens next. Edit reworks the clip from a new prompt. Recreate keeps your original prompt and generates a new result. And Preview lets you hover over the clip to review it before it touches your timeline. Extending is how you build a longer sequence out of 8-second pieces: generate a clip, extend it with what happens next, and repeat.

Two things to know before you spend your credits. First, every AI-generated video or clip carries an embedded watermark, which is not visible when you watch the video but is there so verification tools can identify AI-generated content, according to Zapier. Free-tier exports have also been reported to carry a visible "Made with Veo" mark. Second, the free allowance is small: April 2026 coverage reported 10 free Veo 3.1 clips a month for any Google account. Plan your generations — write the prompt once, get it right, and generate once rather than five times.

If you want to generate the still images that feed a Vids clip, the Google AI Studio beginner's guide covers the Veo and image-generation side of Google's AI tools, including the API route.

How do I add an AI avatar to my video?

A Google Vids AI avatar is a presenter who speaks your script so you do not have to record yourself. Vids offers 12 different preset AI avatars, each with a different look and a built-in voice, according to Google's help pages. You pick one, paste in a script, and the avatar narrates it. Zapier's guide adds that you can also pick from realistic or cartoon avatars, or design your own.

1. Open the scene where you want the avatar, then click Avatar in the sidebar to open the AI Avatar panel.
2. Click Add your script and paste or write the words you want spoken.
3. To change the avatar, click Edit below the script. Hover over the options to preview each avatar's voice — every avatar comes with a predefined voice.
4. Click the avatar you want, then Select, then Preview.
5. Click Generate. The avatar video is automatically added to the scene you wrote the script for.

Generating an avatar can take a few minutes, and Google advises you not to close the Vids window while it generates. The limits are tighter than the clip limits: you can generate up to 20 AI avatar generations each week, and each generated avatar video has a maximum length of 30 seconds. The weekly limit resets 7 days after your first AI avatar generation at 12:00 AM Pacific Time, and Google says the limits are subject to change. Write the script properly before you generate, because a 30-second avatar clip spent on a typo is a generation you do not get back that week.

How do I record myself or my screen in Google Vids?

Vids has a built-in recording studio, so you do not need a separate screen recorder for a walkthrough or a talking-head clip. You can record yourself, your computer screen, or both, preview the recording, and re-record until you like it before it goes anywhere near your timeline.

1. Open Google Vids and click Record and share in the start menu.
2. Choose what to record: yourself, your screen, or both.
3. Click Start recording. When you are done, click Pause, then Preview in the corner of the recording window.
4. If you like it, click Insert to add it to a scene. If you do not, click Restart and record again.
5. Once the recording is added, customise it like any other clip.

Recordings you create in Vids can be up to 30 minutes long, according to Google's help pages. That is far longer than an AI clip, and it is the reason the recording route suits lessons and demos: one continuous take, trimmed afterwards, rather than a chain of 8-second generations. You can also record a presentation directly from Google Slides — open the deck, click Record, then Record video, and Vids captures you presenting the slides, with the option to edit the recording in Vids afterwards.

If you need more control than the built-in studio offers — multiple audio sources, scene switching, or live streaming — record in a dedicated app instead and upload the file into Vids. The OBS Studio beginner's guide covers the free recorder most creators pair with Vids for that job.

How do I turn Google Slides into a video?

Converting a deck is the single biggest time-saver in Vids. Each slide becomes a scene, and the speaker notes are imported as the script for each scene. A webinar deck becomes a narrated explainer without retyping anything — but tidy your speaker notes before you convert, because they become the words on the timeline.

1. Open Google Vids and click Import slides in the start menu. If a video is already open, click File, then Import slides.
2. Select the presentation and click Insert.
3. Choose Select all slides to import the whole deck, or click individual slides to import only those.
4. Click Import slides. Each slide becomes a scene with its speaker notes as the script.
5. Add an AI voiceover scene by scene, or record your own narration over the imported scenes.

The same idea works in reverse for planning: build the deck first, then convert it, rather than scripting a video from a blank page. If you are starting from scratch, the Google Slides beginner's guide covers building the deck that Vids will convert.

How do I edit scenes, audio, and speed in Google Vids?

Every Vid is a set of scenes on a timeline. In each scene you can upload images, add audio, add stock media, add text, shapes, and lines, control timing with object tracks, and change the transitions between scenes. To add a new scene, click the + in the timeline or press Ctrl+M. Click a scene on the canvas to open the floating toolbar, where you can edit the scene with Omni, edit the transcript, animate the intro and outro, adjust the audio, loop the video, and format the clip.

The transcript is the fastest way to edit narration. If your video has narration or voiceovers, cut or add words in the transcript and Vids updates the video to match, instead of you re-recording the line. The same idea applies to the audio mix: you can adjust the sounds in any scene, and if you have narration over background music, you can adjust the levels so the voice stays clear.

Two editing tools arrived in October 2026, and they are the reason a guide written before then is already out of date. Google announced them on October 23, 2026, according to Lilach Bullock's guide updated the next day.

• Separate audio tracks. Until this update, the sound on a video clip could only be muted or unmuted as one thing, and it was stuck to its scene. Now you can split a clip's audio into its own standalone clip on the timeline with a single click. You can trim, move, or delete the detached audio without changing the video clip's timing, let the audio play under other video tracks, stretch it across several scenes for one continuous voiceover, or remove a distracting bit of background noise without cutting the picture. Google began rolling this out on October 19, 2026, with up to 15 days for the feature to appear, and there is no setting to switch on.
• Per-clip playback speed. You can now speed an individual clip up to 2x or slow it down to 0.25x, right inside Vids. Speed up the boring part of a software demo, slow down the one click people always miss, and keep everything else at normal pace. This one started rolling out on October 16, 2026, again over up to 15 days.

If either tool is missing from your account, wait — the rollout takes up to 15 days and there is nothing to switch on. Both are also a reminder to check the date on any Vids guide you read: anything written before October 2026 will not mention them.

How do I export my video from Google Vids?

When you are happy with your video, click File and choose how to share it. The right choice depends on who needs the video and where it will live.

A finished Vids video can be up to 30 minutes long. If you import videos to edit, they can be up to 95 minutes or 4GB, but you will have to trim them down to 30 minutes or less, according to Zapier. Anyone with a Google account can watch a Vid you share with them. On a phone, you can watch processed videos in a compatible browser, but you cannot edit or comment on mobile, so plan your editing time at a desk. And you cannot create or edit a Vids file offline — if you need to work offline, export the video as an MP4 and edit it in another editor.

Google Vids vs CapCut: which should I use?

The honest answer is that they solve different problems. Vids is the fastest way to turn words — a prompt, a Doc, or a slide deck — into a narrated video inside a Google account. CapCut is the stronger editor for cutting, effects, and publishing to social feeds. If your video starts as a document, start in Vids. If your video starts as footage on your phone, start in CapCut.

Many creators use both: draft the explainer in Vids, export the MP4, and finish it in CapCut for captions and social cuts. The CapCut walkthrough covers the other half of that workflow.

7 mistakes beginners make in Google Vids

Most bad first videos from people learning how to use Google Vids come from the same seven mistakes. All of them are avoidable in under a minute each.

1. Starting from a blank Vid when you have a deck. Convert Slides turns each slide into a scene with the speaker notes as the script. Starting blank and retyping the same words wastes the one feature that saves the most time.
2. Writing a vague AI prompt. "Make a video about our product" produces a generic clip. Name the subject, the scene, and the tone — the way Google's own examples do — and add reference images to the Ingredients area.
3. Generating clips five times instead of once. The free allowance is small, and every Recreate costs a generation. Preview first, then generate once with a specific prompt.
4. Recording the narration before the script is final. Edit the transcript first, then record. Re-recording a 30-minute take because one line changed is the most expensive mistake in the list.
5. Ignoring the audio mix. Narration over background music needs its levels adjusted, or the voice disappears. Use the separate audio track to stretch one voiceover across several scenes.
6. Forgetting the mobile limit. You can watch a Vid on your phone, but you cannot edit or comment on it there. Do not plan to finish a video on the train.
7. Treating the free tier as unlimited. The AI credits run out fast — 10 free Veo 3.1 clips a month, 20 avatar generations a week — so storyboard on paper before you spend them.

Sources

• Google Support — Create your first video in Google Vids — "Help me create" draft flow (up to 50 video objects and 50 audio objects per video), video-clip generation (up to 20 per day, up to 10 per day on Veo 3; 8 seconds, 24fps, 720p, 16:9), recordings up to 30 minutes, 12 preset AI avatars (up to 20 generations a week, each up to 30 seconds, weekly reset 7 days after the first generation at 12:00 AM Pacific Time), importing slides (each slide becomes a scene, speaker notes become the script). Checked October 28, 2026.
• Zapier — What is Google Vids? And How to Use It — free with a personal Google account plus a handful of monthly AI credits; Google AI Pro from $19.99 a month; Google AI Plus has the same Vids limits as the personal plan; videos up to 30 minutes, imports up to 95 minutes or 4GB; AI clips carry an embedded watermark that is not visible during playback; view-only on mobile; no offline editing; models Gemini, Omni 1.1 Flash, and Lyria; Ctrl+M adds a scene. Updated October 16, 2026; checked October 28, 2026.
• Lilach Bullock — How to Use Google Vids: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners — start-option table, separate audio tracks (announced October 23, 2026; rollout from October 19, up to 15 days) and per-clip playback speed 0.25x to 2x (rollout from October 16, up to 15 days), export options (Vids file, MP4 in Drive, MP4 download, YouTube). Published and updated October 24, 2026; checked October 28, 2026.
• Veo3AI — Google Vids Now Free for All: Use Veo 3.1 AI Video Generator at No Cost (2026) — Veo 3.1 free for all Gmail accounts, 10 free generations a month, 8-second clips, 720p maximum for free users. Checked October 28, 2026.
• ExplainX — Generate AI Videos in Google Docs with Vids and Veo 3.1 — as of April 2026, any free Google account can generate up to 10 Veo 3.1 video clips a month at no cost inside Google Vids; Google AI Pro and Ultra unlock hundreds to 1,000 clips a month. Checked October 28, 2026.
• Gadget Hacks — Google Vids Adds Longer Veo Clips and Parallel AI Video Generation — in April 2026 Google extended Veo 3.1 access in Vids to all personal Google accounts at no cost, with 10 free generations a month, plus Lyria 3 music, AI avatars, a Chrome screen recorder, and direct YouTube publishing. Checked October 28, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Google Vids free?

Yes. Google Vids is free with a personal Google account, and it includes a small monthly allowance of AI credits for generating video clips and avatars. If you make videos every week, you will hit that cap fast — Google AI Pro starts at $19.99 a month for more capacity. Note that Google AI Plus, the lowest paid tier, has the same Vids limits as the free personal plan.

How long can a Google Vids video be?

Up to 30 minutes. That applies to videos you build in Vids and to recordings you make in the recording studio. If you import existing footage, it can be up to 95 minutes or 4GB, but you have to trim it down to 30 minutes or less before you finish.

Can I use Google Vids on my phone?

You can watch a processed Vids video in a compatible browser on your phone, but you cannot create or edit videos on mobile. Vids is a web app — all editing happens on a computer, in Chrome or Edge.

Do AI videos from Google Vids have a watermark?

Yes. Every AI-generated video or clip has an embedded watermark, but it is not visible when you watch the video — it is there so verification tools can identify AI-generated content. Free-tier exports have also been reported to carry a visible "Made with Veo" mark, so expect AI clips to be marked either way.

Can I turn a Google Doc into a video?

Yes. In Vids, open "Help me create," type your prompt, then type "@" and select the Doc. Gemini reads the document and builds a full storyboard from it — outline, scenes, script, stock media, and voiceover — which is the fastest way to turn a written report or training document into a shareable video.