Google Interview Warmup Is Shut Down — What It Was and What to Use Instead

Google Interview Warmup is shut down. The free Grow with Google practice tool at grow.google/interview-warmup no longer works. The URL now redirects to a generic interview-tips page. Google retired it during what they called "spring cleaning."

If you searched for Google Interview Warmup today, you are in the right place. The tool was useful, it disappeared quietly, and many old links and AI summaries still talk about it as if it is live.

Here is what happened, what the tool actually did, and how to get the same warmup for free.

Is Google Interview Warmup still available?

No. It is completely shut down.

The old URL (grow.google/interview-warmup) redirects to Grow with Google's How to prepare for an interview guide.
Google now recommends practicing with Gemini Live in the Gemini mobile app instead.
The tool went dark around March 2026. There is no replacement with the same simple five-question loop.

What was Google Interview Warmup?

Google Interview Warmup launched in June 2022 as part of Grow with Google. It was built for Career Certificate students first, then opened to everyone. Free, no account needed.

Here is how it worked:

Pick a field — data analytics, UX design, IT support, project management, e-commerce, or general.
Get five interview questions.
Answer out loud (or type). The tool transcribed you in real time.
See insights — job-related terms you used, talking points you hit, your most-used words, and some pacing notes.

The key thing: your answers were never graded. You could retry as many times as you wanted. Google called it a "judgment-free zone."

It was not a Google software-engineering interview simulator. It did not run LeetCode. It did not know your target job. It did not ask follow-ups. It did not tell you if your story was good or bad.

What it did well was simple: it made you say the answer out loud and then read what you actually said. That is why people still search for it.

Why did Google shut it down?

Google never published a full explanation. The public line was spring cleaning.

The likely reason is consolidation. Interview Warmup was a small, single-purpose tool from 2022. By 2026, Google wanted everyone inside Gemini instead of scattered microsites. The replacement page points to Gemini Live, Career Dreamer, and custom Gems — none of which is the same simple five-question page.

The shutdown was messy. For weeks the marketing page still looked alive while "Get Started" dumped you into a retirement notice. That is how a dead tool keeps showing up in search results.

What it did well vs. what it never did

This matters because most "alternatives" lists try to sell you a $20/month product that solves a different problem.

What it did well:

Zero setup. Open the page, pick a track, talk.
Out-loud practice. Most people only rehearse in their head. The first transcript of "tell me about yourself" is usually messy — and that is the point.
No score, no login, no stored recordings. Low pressure.

What it never did:

Judge whether your answer would pass a real interview.
Know your company, level, or job description.
Push back with follow-ups like "what would you do differently?"
Cover coding, system design, or technical rounds. It only helped with the behavioral / communication layer.

If you only wanted the warmup habit, you do not need an "AI interview copilot." You need a microphone and a question list.

What to use instead of Google Interview Warmup

Pick the replacement based on what part of the tool you actually used.

1. You just want to talk out loud (the core warmup)

Use Gemini Live on the Gemini app. That is Google's own recommendation. Start with this prompt:

You are a hiring manager for [role] at [company]. Ask me one interview question at a time. After I answer, ask one follow-up, then give me three short notes: structure, specificity, and what a stronger version would include. Be direct, not encouraging.

ChatGPT Voice or Claude can do the same thing. The prompt matters more than the tool.

Zero-tech option: Voice Memos on your phone. Answer for 90 seconds. Play it back. The gap between the answer in your head and the answer on the recording is the whole exercise.

2. You want questions that match a real company

This is the gap Interview Warmup never filled. Generic "data analytics" prompts are not what a Google L5, Meta E4, or Stripe onsite will ask.

Use questions people actually reported from recent loops:

Recent interview questions — updated daily from what candidates share.
Google interview questions if Google is on your calendar.

Then say the answers out loud. A question bank without spoken practice is just a reading list.

3. You are prepping the coding round, not the behavioral one

Interview Warmup was never designed for this. Do not replace it with another talking app.

FAANG Roadmap — see what LeetCode topics you have actually covered.
Practice problems out loud the way the real interview works: restate the prompt, walk through an example, name the brute force, then code. Talking through your thinking is the skill that separates passing from failing.

4. You want feedback on stories, not filler words

Warmup counted job-related terms. Real interviewers remember a scene they can retell.

Write five stories as five lines each: scene, stake, choice, turn, takeaway. Say each one once. Cut anything past two minutes.

For prompts, use our list of behavioral interview questions. For longer guidance on building strong stories, read effective storytelling in hiring manager interviews and how to tell your story without clichés.

A friend who is willing to say "I still don't know what you did" is worth more than any word cloud.

A 30-minute warmup you can run today

This is the Interview Warmup loop, without the dead website.

Pick five questions from the job posting and from recent reports for that company. Include "tell me about yourself," one conflict story, one failure, one "why this company," and one role-specific prompt.
Answer each out loud once. Stand up. No notes. Phone recording on.
Read the transcript. Circle every sentence that could belong to anyone. Replace it with a name, a number, or a choice you made.
Re-answer only the weak ones. Do not grind all five again. The second take is where the structure shows up.
Add one follow-up you did not prepare: "Walk me through the trade-off" or "What would you do differently?" If you cannot answer it, the story is still a résumé bullet, not an interview answer.

Thirty minutes. No signup. Same muscle the Google tool was training.

FAQ

Where did grow.google/interview-warmup go? It redirects to Grow with Google's interview-tips article. The practice tool is gone.

Did Google replace Interview Warmup with Gemini? Not as a dedicated product. They recommend Gemini Live for conversational practice, but you have to prompt it yourself.

Was Google Interview Warmup for Google jobs? No. It was a general practice tool for Career Certificate tracks and anyone else. It was not the Google software interview, and using it gave no advantage for getting into Google.

Is there an official Google Interview Warmup alternative? Officially: Gemini Live. Unofficially: any voice recorder plus a real question list does the same job. Paid "AI copilot" tools are a different category — live assistance during an interview is not what Warmup was, and many companies treat that as cheating.

Can I still use old Interview Warmup links? No. All URLs under /certificates/interview-warmup/ are dead. They are not coming back.

The bottom line

Google Interview Warmup was never magic. It was a timer and a transcript with a friendly UI.

The habit it built is still the right one: say the answer out loud, then look at what you actually said. Tools rotate. Gemini will get a new name. Another startup will rank for this keyword with a pricing table.

If you have an interview coming up, skip the scavenger hunt for a dead Google demo. Grab real questions, talk for 30 minutes, and fix the stories that do not survive a follow-up.

That is the warmup.