Here is a tip for those of us that like to use Google and may have multiple accounts. Last summer Google started a slow rollout of Google Multiple Sign In. This service allows you to sign into multiple Google accounts with only one browser open.
Why is this so important?
Many people now are using Google not only for personal email and business, but also for professional work. In the past a you would have had to have multiple browsers, not just windows but actual browsers (i.e. Firefox and Chrome) open so that you could be logged into each account separately. With this new system you can be logged into multiple accounts in separate tabs or windows within the same browser. According to a Google blog you can be logged into a maximum of 10 accounts simultaneously.
How is this achieved?
To start log into one of your Google accounts from your favorite browser. Once logged in, go to the upper right corner and under the menu below your account picture click on the “Account Settings” label.
Once in your account settings under personal settings you will see a multiple sign in setting. Click on the edit label to be taken to approval process.
Once in the edit screen, Google has a few items for you to approve before they will activate the service. Basically you are just acknowledging that this service may not work with all products at this time.
Save your edits and you have just set up multiple sign in. Now go back up to you account menu in the upper right corner. In the bottom right of the menu you will now see a “Switch Account” label. If you click on that it it will bring up a menu with the current account you are logged into with a check mark by it and then a set of labels. One to log into another account and the other to log out of all accounts. Add as many accounts as you wish from here.
A small aside, if you use webmaster tools or adwords for your daily work make sure that the account that the tools are associated with is your primary account. Multiple sign in only uses the primary account for access to these services. You can log into them separately as you always have in a separate browser though not as ideal as multiple sign in.
Reed Daniels says
Andy, you are a life saver! This has been driving me crazy for a while and this really helps.
Thanks!
Linda says
It’s really good!