Can I use two Gmail accounts?

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Is it possible to work with more than one Gmail account on one computer? I have one and have just created another for my wife. Can we use the two Gmail addresses from our home computer?
Babilas Lungu

Gmail is a popular web-based email service from the Google. Though a late starter, the company was able to capitalize on its reputation in the search engine market and quickly snatched a lot of subscribers from the main competitors – Yahoo!Mail and Hotmail – by offering 1GB storage space and many excellent features.

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You can quickly create a free Gmail account by filling out a simple online form which gives you an email address immediately – the Gmail account is ready to use once the form has been submitted successfully. I know many people who hold multiple Gmail addresses – typically, one is for personal correspondence and the others for business. So can you use two Gmail accounts from the same computer? Yes! And here is what you should know.

There are two popular ways to access a Gmail email account. One is to use the web-based interface (webmail) which works from any computer as long as there is an internet connection and an installed web browser program. The other is to employ an email program or an email client.

Now, whether you have one or two Gmail accounts, you can access them from the same computer through either of the options mentioned above. Here are the details:

Access two Gmail accounts with web browsers – webmail

Unfortunately, you cannot take advantage of the “Stay signed in” feature when using two Gmail accounts from one browser. Why? Because if it’s checked, only one account will load each time the Gmail web site is accessed. You should log out completely from the accounts once your work is done. This enables the other person to get to the Gmail sign in page to enter their username and password. The same logic holds when you are the owner of the two Gmail accounts. You have to sign out from one to access the other.

By the way, you can always employ an alternate browser program (there are many such programs available for free – check the web browser list) for the second Gmail account. This means you will have the convenience of the “Stay signed in” feature by using different browsers for the two accounts – Gmail account #1 is always accessed from browser #1 and Gmail #2 from browser #2.

Please also refer how to use two Hotmail accounts on one computer in which this point is explained in greater detail.

Using an email client for two or more Gmail accounts

Two or more Gmail accounts can be set up on one email client (a fancy word for ‘program’) so that messages can now be downloaded and stored on your local machine. Email clients are available aplenty and most probably you have one installed on your computer already. Check the following links to get the instructions on how to set Gmail accounts in Windows popular programs.

Note: Microsoft recommends using Windows Live Mail (the default email program of Windows 7) for both XP and Vista because Outlook Express and Windows Mail are no longer being developed and supported.

Lastly, there is one more way you can check your Gmail account and that it through you mobile phone. For instance, I have configured the email account on my iPhone and can access the messages anywhere. Now isn’t that cool?

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