A Simple Way to Cure Your Google Identity Crisis

First of all, let me start by saying that I am all about making things easier with simple fixes.  There’s not going to be anything Earth-shattering below, but this one simple fix in Google Chrome changed my world.

I know you’ve been here…

Someone sent you this awesome document, you click to view, and it says you need permission.  You’re signed into Chrome, but you’ve recently logged into your personal Gmail account to check your mail, and all of the sudden Google thinks you’re on personal time, not at work.  Take it from a person who has multiple work Google Accounts, as well as multiple other accounts between my personal Gmail, my wife’s Gmail, and my 4th grader’s school account, it can lead to a complete roll of the dice as to who Google thinks you are.  Have no fear, the fix is simple.  There are some simple instructions here, but try doing a couple of other things to make it work even better.

Start by signing out of all of the accounts you are signed into.  We’re going to break these all into completely separate Chrome worlds, so get signed out of Google first.  As you follow the simple steps on Google’s Help page linked above, make sure to check to box to “Create a desktop shortcut for this user.”  Now you’ll have this on your desktop...

And you’ll just need to open the specific version of Chrome you’d like to be for that session!  No more mixing accounts; no more identity crises.  To make this fix work even better for you, head on over to the Chrome Web Store in each different “Chrome World,” and slap a theme on each Chrome Account.  This way, you’ll know as soon as you open Chrome (and be reassured while you’re working) that you are in fact who you think you are.  You can also easily have multiple different profiles open at the same time, so you can be checking your personal email in one window and working on your school Google Drive in another without mixing those two worlds.

Nothing ground-breaking or earth-shattering, but easily the best thing I have ever done on my computer to make life just a little bit better and whole lot more efficient.

Submitted by Justin Knull
Shiawassee Regional Education Service District
REMC 14 West (Director)