How to Manage Multiple Gmail Accounts

Guide to Using Multiple Google Accounts
A lot of people use multiple Gmail accounts these days. It might be a good idea to have two or more separate accounts since Google uses the same login info for all their services. For example, you could have an account for personal use and another one for work; or, you could use one Google account for your AdWords campaigns and only login to it from secure locations, while using a different Gmail account from internet cafes while traveling.

 Switching between Google accounts manually to check your e-mail is time-consuming and ineffective. Thankfully, there are some tools to check multiple Gmail accounts all at once and switch between them with a single click. Furthermore, Google themselves have provided a cool feature that allows you to link Gmail accounts together. You will find all the information on you need - such as how to switch between Gmail accounts fast and check them simultaneously - on the page below.
 How to Link Gmail Accounts Together
Send e-mails from any of them without having to switch.



Gmail has a nice feature that allows you to send e-mails from any of your Gmail accounts without having to switch between them. So, for example, you could link all your multiple Gmail accounts to your "main" one and send e-mails from there without having to log off and log in repeatedly.


All you have to do is to login to your "main" account and click Mail settings > Accounts > Add another email address you own (the image above shows the steps). After you add the account(s) you want, you will be able to specify which account you want to send the e-mail from whenever you are in the Compose Mail mode, as seen on the image to the right. That's it - now your Gmail accounts are linked together, and you can send e-mails from any of them without having to switch users!

 How to Switch Gmail Accounts Fast
Check multiple Gmail accounts at the same time.
You are going to need Firefox for this (sorry, IE and Chrome users). And, as you might have guessed already, we'll be using an extension. The best Firefox plugin to manage multiple Gmail accounts is by far the Gmail Manager. It goes without saying that it's open source and free to use. Here's what Gmail Manager does:



Remembers your Gmail account passwords and logs on them automatically on browser startup - if you want it to.

Notifies you whenever you receive new e-mails to any of your Gmail accounts. You can of course turn off notifications if you want to. And you can choose how often it will check for emails, too.

Allows you to switch between multiple Gmail accounts with a few clicks. First select the Gmail account that you want to switch to from the status bar, then left click on it. Done!

If you mouse over the Gmail Manager on the status bar, it will show you latest statistics of the currently selected Gmail account (new messages in inbox, labels, etc).
You can download the Gmail Manager from the official Mozilla addons site or straight from the developer's webpage. Switching between your Google accounts using this addon is a cinch!
 How to Enable Google Multiple Sign-in
Now you can use multiple Google accounts simultaneously!
Google has recently added a new feature called multiple sign in that makes using several Google accounts at once much easier. It works for Gmail as well as Google Code, Calendar, Reader, Sites and some other products. However, it does not work for offline Gmail & Calendar.

 The first thing you should do is enable the multiple sign-in feature in all your Google accounts that you want to use it with. Look for the "Multiple sign-in" feature in your "Personal Settings" section. Click "Edit" and follow the steps provided.

 After you do that, sign off and login with your primary account first; it will be set as the default one. You will notice that the Google account shown at the top of your Gmail and other product pages now became a link. You can click it and choose "Sign in to another account..." to use two or more Google accounts simultaneously on the same browser.

 This will allow you to check two different Gmail inboxes in two browser tabs without having to sign off and on - or use any other supported Google product in this manner. You will also be able to switch between accounts with one click. If you attempt to use a product which does not yet support Google's new multiple sign-in feature, your default username will be used.
 Forward Gmail Account to Your Main One
Receive messages from multiple e-mail accounts in a single inbox.


Perhaps instead of signing in to multiple GMail accounts at the same time, you would prefer to simply read all your emails in a single inbox. This is fairly easy to accomplish: all you have to do is forward all your "secondary" GMail accounts to your "primary" one.

 To do that, login to the account you want to forward and go to Mail settings. Navigate to the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab and click the "Add a forwarding address" button. Type in your main e-mail and hit "Next". You're almost set - all you have to do is click the confirmation link in the message that Google just sent to the email you entered.
 Single Login for Multiple GMail Accounts
Log in once to access and manage multiple Gmail accounts.


An alternative way of joining several GMail accounts is called delegation. It works by allowing another Google account to read your e-mails and send messages from your address. The messages you send using this method will have your name attached to them in the "From" field like this: Your Name (sent by Delegate).

 To grant delegate access to another Google account, open up your Mail settings and go to the Accounts and Import tab. Look for Grant access to your account section below and click the Add another account link next to it. Enter the Gmail you want to give access to, and click "Next Step". Now, the owner of said account (whether it's you or someone else) needs to check their inbox for a confirmation e-mail and click the link provided to gain access.