How to Log Into Multiple Google Accounts on a Mac

To log into multiple Google accounts at once, open any Google page such as Gmail, click the profile picture or initial at the top right, choose Add account, and sign in with the second address. Both accounts then stay signed in, and the same menu switches between them without signing out. That is Google's own method, and it works in Safari, Chrome and Firefox alike. It has one rule that causes most of the confusion people search about: the first account signed in becomes the default, and Google uses it whenever it cannot tell which account is meant. This guide covers the built-in method step by step, the default account problem, and the three alternatives on a Mac (browser profiles, private windows and separate apps), with each step checked against Google's and Apple's help pages on 18 October 2026.

Adding a second account with Google's switcher

Google's help page lists the steps for a computer (Sign in to multiple accounts at once):

1. Sign in to Google on any Google page.
2. At the top right, select the profile image or initial.
3. Choose Add account.
4. Follow the sign-in steps for the other account.

Switching uses the same menu: select the profile image, then select the account to use. In Gmail, the second account opens in a new tab, with a number in the address such as /mail/u/1/. The first account signed in is /u/0/, the second /u/1/, and so on. Bookmarking those addresses opens each inbox directly.

Signing out and removing an account

The same page warns to set up backup verification methods before signing out, in case signing back in becomes difficult. From the profile menu, Sign out or Sign out of all accounts ends the sessions. To remove an account from the sign-in list entirely, go to myaccount.google.com, select the profile picture, choose Sign out or Sign out of all accounts, then Remove an account, and the remove button next to the one to drop. Google notes this has to be repeated in each browser where the account was used.

What the switcher does not separate

All accounts signed in this way share one browser. Bookmarks, history, extensions and saved passwords are shared between them, because those belong to the browser, not to the Google account. The switcher separates mailboxes and calendars, not the rest of the browsing.

Why the default account keeps coming back

Google explains in the same help page that accounts usually have separate settings, but that sometimes Google cannot tell which account is being used. The example it gives is opening a new browser window while signed in to two accounts. In that case Google may apply settings from the default account, including Web and App Activity and ad personalisation settings.

The default account is usually the one signed in first. That has practical effects:

• Links to Google Docs or Drive files often open under the default account first, then show "You need access" if the file belongs to the second one.
• Calendar invitations and Meet links open in the default account unless the account is switched before clicking.
• Google Play may show content from the default account's country, since that country is set by the account's payment information, as Google's page notes.

Choosing which account is default

There is no "make default" button. The order is set by sign-in order. To make the work account default, sign out of all accounts, sign in with the work account first, then add the personal one. Doing this once at the start of the week is enough, since the order survives restarts as long as nobody signs out.

The account chooser in shared links

When a link opens in the wrong account, change the number in the address bar. Replacing /u/0/ with /u/1/ in a Gmail or Drive address opens the same view in the other account. For Docs, using the account switcher at the top right of the document and reloading usually works.

Using browser profiles instead

When two accounts belong to two parts of life, such as work and home, a browser profile per account separates far more than Google's switcher.

Chrome profiles

Google's Chrome help describes profiles as a way to keep bookmarks, history, passwords and other settings separate, and lists keeping work and personal accounts apart as a main use (Manage Chrome with multiple profiles). To add one, select Profile at the top right, then Add Chrome profile, and choose a name, photo and colour. Signing in to Chrome with the Google account in that profile makes the profile name match the account.

Each profile opens in its own window. That is the cost: two accounts mean two windows, and links from other apps go to whichever Chrome window was used last.

Safari profiles

Safari on the Mac has profiles too. Apple's steps are: Safari, Settings, Profiles, then Start Using Profiles for the first one, and the add button for later ones (Create profiles in Safari on Mac). Each profile gets a name, icon, colour, bookmarks folder and its own extensions. A new window for a profile opens from File, New Window. Apple notes that passwords in iCloud Keychain are available in every profile, which makes signing in to a second Google account quick, but also means passwords are not separated.

Private windows for a one-off sign-in

A private window is useful for checking a second account for a few minutes. Google's Chrome help explains that an Incognito window starts a separate session, does not sign in automatically, and removes cookies and site data when the last Incognito window closes (Browse in Incognito mode). On a Mac the shortcut is Command Shift N.

That makes private windows poor for daily use. Every session starts signed out, two-step verification is asked again, and nothing stays logged in overnight. For a second account needed every day, a profile or the switcher is less work.

The four methods compared

Method	Separate inboxes	Separate bookmarks and extensions	Stays signed in	Windows needed
Google's Add account	Yes	No	Yes	One
Chrome profile per account	Yes	Yes	Yes	One per profile
Safari profile per account	Yes	Yes, except iCloud passwords	Yes	One per profile
Private window	Yes	Yes	No	One extra

For two personal accounts, Google's switcher is enough. For work and personal, profiles are safer, because work extensions and history stay out of personal browsing. For three or more accounts used all day, neither model is comfortable, because the switcher depends on the default account and profiles multiply windows.

A setup that suits most people with two to three accounts

For a typical mix of one work account and one or two personal ones, a simple arrangement avoids almost every wrong-account mistake:

1. Work account in its own profile. Create a Chrome or Safari profile just for work, sign in there, and give it a strong colour. Work extensions, history and bookmarks stay there.
2. Personal accounts together. In the main profile, sign in to the personal account used most first, then add the second with Add account. These two can share a browser without much harm.
3. Bookmarks with the account number. In the personal profile, bookmark Gmail and Drive with /u/0/ and /u/1/ in the address, so each opens directly in the right account.
4. One check before clicking shared links. For document links from colleagues, open them from the work profile window, not from Mail.

This keeps the default account rule working for, not against, daily use.

When many accounts need to stay open side by side

Freelancers and agency staff often have one Google account per client. In that situation the problem is not signing in, it is keeping five inboxes visible without five windows. Gmail can also be set up to send from other addresses, but that only helps if the client allows mail to be sent through another account.

Another option is a browser that treats each web app as its own item with its own cookie store, so each Gmail stays signed in independently and none of them is a default. One for macOS, made by the company that publishes this site, does this from the right-click menu on an app with an item called Add as Another Account (separate session), which creates "Gmail 2" with its own sign-in. That feature is part of its paid plan and of its 14-day trial; the free plan covers 1 workspace with up to 3 apps. It also offers a unified inbox that gathers every Gmail account in a workspace. How the separation works is explained on the workspaces page, and the plan limits are on pricing.

Signing in to Google accounts outside the browser

Not every Google account has to live in a browser. On a Mac, the Mail app can hold several Google accounts at once, each with its own section in the sidebar, which removes the default account problem for mail entirely.

Adding Gmail accounts to Apple Mail

Apple's Mail guide gives the steps (Add and manage email accounts in Mail on Mac):

1. Open Mail and choose Mail, then Add Account.
2. Enter the email address, or click choose from a list and pick Google.
3. Click Continue and follow the sign-in steps in the window that opens.

Repeat for each address. Every account then receives mail independently, and replies go out from the account the message arrived in.

Turning an account off without removing it

Apple's guide also shows how to pause an account: Mail, Settings, Accounts, select the account and clear Enable this account. This is useful for a client account that is only needed a few days a month. Removing an account deletes its messages from the Mac, though copies stay on Google's servers and remain available in Gmail on the web. If the account is also used by other apps such as Calendar or Contacts, Apple says it has to be removed under System Settings, Internet Accounts.

What Mail does not cover

Mail solves mail, but not Calendar, Drive or Docs. Those still open in the browser and still follow the default account rule there, so a shared document link clicked in Mail can open under the wrong account. Many people end up with Mail for inboxes and one browser profile per account for everything else.

Separate apps for separate sessions

The cleanest separation of all is a different app for each account: one in Chrome, one in Safari. Each browser has its own cookies, so the two accounts never meet, and the Dock shows which is which. The cost is two sets of bookmarks and extensions to keep, and links from other apps always go to whichever browser is set as default.

What to change first

Sign out of all accounts and sign back in with the account used most first, so it becomes the default. If links still open in the wrong account several times a day, move the second account into its own browser profile, or into a separate app space as SpaceDeck does.