How To Group Your Google Nest Speakers For A Whole-Home Sound System

Google Home is the beating heart of the tech giant's smart home ecosystem, and its Nest speakers have made it easier than ever to issue voice commands into the ether. Still, if you've blanketed your home in these speakers — or any Google Assistant-capable speakers, regardless of manufacturer  — you're probably wondering if you can turn them into a home-wide sound system. After all, how great would it be to walk room to room without ever having to stop belting out the chorus to your new favorite song?

Thankfully, one of Google Home's great features is that it makes it incredibly easy to group your Google Nest or other Assistant-capable speakers and customize them to your heart's content. It's actually far easier than grouping lights in Google Home. Not only can you group all of your speakers together for a whole-home sound system, but you can create smaller groups. This means that if you've got a few speakers in the bedroom, you can put them into their own group. 

Other devices can be grouped as well, including Smart Displays and Smart Clocks. Chromecast with Google TV and TVs that run Google TV can also be added your home entertainment system into the mix. All of these devices can be grouped in any combination. Moreover, you can use your speakers to cast audio to specific groups by name, meaning that once you've created a group, it's incredibly easy to send your content to it. So, here's how to group your Google Nest speakers and other connected audio playback devices.

To create groups of Google Nest or other Google Assistant -enabled speakers in your household, the first thing you'll need to do is make sure they're set up in the Google Home app on your smartphone and assigned to the correct room in your home. You should also make sure your Google Home devices are in the right places. Once all your speakers are set up and assigned to a room, you can group them by following these steps:

Open the Google Home app and tap the Settings icon in the bottom right of the screen. Tap on Devices, Groups & Rooms, then tap Speaker Groups. Tap on Create Speaker Group. You will see each speaker represented in a square with its name and a corresponding icon. Tap each speaker you want added to the group. A checkbox will fill as you do so. Tap Next, and you will be prompted to name the group. Whatever you name it is how you will refer to it in Google Assistant voice commands, so choose something distinct. Tap Save, and the group will be saved.

Once a group is set up, you can manually cast audio to it by using the Chromecast button in apps like Apple Music or the Devices button in Spotify. Wherever the option to cast audio exists, your speaker group will appear as an option. Alternatively, you can use voice commands. For example, if you have a group called Living Room Speakers, you could say, "'Play 'Never Gonna Give You Up' by Rick Astley on the Living Room Speakers."