You can conveniently login and switch between multiple Google accounts in your web browser. This makes it easy to use Google’s suite of web applications and services with any account, personal or business.
However, your browser will automatically fall back to the specific Google account it defines by default. This is only ideal if you use this account the most. If not, you need to change the default Google account.
But here’s the problem; Google doesn’t offer any options or settings for this. So, you may well be stuck with the default account that you almost never use, constantly reminding yourself to change your account all the time. Annoying, right?
Fortunately, there are several methods you can use to change the default Google account in your web browser. Let’s go over both.
Sign in with your default Google account first
Your browser doesn’t pick a random Google account by default. Rather, it automatically assigns this slot to the first account you log in with. This means that you can use any default Google account as long as you sign in first.
If you’ve already signed in to all of your accounts, you must sign out of each and start over. It seems like it takes a lot of work, but as you will see, the whole process of changing the default Google account is easier than you might think.
1. Load Google Search into a new browser tab.
2. Open the Google account menu in the upper right corner of the screen. Then select the Sign out of all accounts option. The browser will immediately log out of all Google accounts.
3. Click the “Login” button in the upper right corner of the screen. If you are using Chrome, first select Continue and then select Sign In. After that, you will see a list of all Google Accounts that you signed in to earlier.
4. Select the Google account that you want to set as default. If you haven’t signed in yet, select the “Use a different account” option.
5. Insert your Google account credentials and sign in. This should make it the default Google account in your browser.
6. Open your Google account menu (which should be visible again) to sign in to your other Google accounts.
If you want to make sure that the first Google account you signed in with is indeed the default account, just switch to another account and then open the Google account menu again. You will see a default tag next to your default Google account.
The above steps apply to all major web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. If you are using Chrome, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- If you sign out of all Google accounts, Chrome will not be able to sync your browsing data. It will only resume after you sign in again to the Google account that you set up at the browser level for sync purposes.
- Changing your default Google account will not change the account you entered into the browser level. If you want to change this, you must turn off Chrome sync and sign in with a different account in Chrome settings.
Add your Google account to a new profile
If you plan to change your default Google accounts frequently, having to log out and back in again can be a problem. Instead, using separate browser profiles can help.
Since browser profiles work independently of each other, signing in to a new profile with a Google account will automatically make it the default profile. You get the opportunity to use a separate set of settings, extensions, and browsing data that will also be used with the account.
Of all the browsers in Chrome, the easiest way to create profiles and switch between them. Adding a Google account to a new Chrome profile also means you can sync your browsing data with the same account.
1. Click the profile icon in the upper right corner of the Chrome window. Then select “Add”.
2. Enter a name for the profile and select a profile picture. If you are using Chrome on Windows, you can add a desktop shortcut to a profile by checking the “Create desktop shortcut for this user” checkbox. When you’re done, click the Add button to create your profile.
3. Select Already a Chrome user? Login option on the Welcome to Chrome splash screen. If you don’t see it, click the profile icon in the upper-right corner of the Chrome window and select “Turn on syncing.”
4. Enter your Google account information and sign in to the new Chrome profile.
5. Select Yes, I’m signed in when prompted to turn on Chrome sync. Instead, select Preferences if you want to specify the different forms of browsing data (passwords, extensions, etc.) that you want to sync. You can also do this later in Chrome settings.
Google Account should now be the default for Chrome profile. It will remain the same even if you decide to add other Google accounts. If you want to change your default Google account, follow the steps in the previous method.
To switch between Chrome profiles, click the profile icon in the upper right corner of the screen and select a profile from under other people. Select Add if you want to create another Chrome profile.
You can also create new profiles in Firefox and other Chromium-based web browsers such as Microsoft Edge. While they lack browser-level Google account integration, you should be able to set up default Google accounts in separate profiles without any problem.
The New Default
Until Google implements a means to directly specify a default Google account, both of the above methods should help. As a reminder, logging out and logging back in works as long as you’re not going to regularly change the default accounts. Otherwise, separate browser profiles can be used.
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