Tuesday Take-Away: Chrome, Google Apps, and Multiple Accounts

Many Google Apps users have other Google Accounts … from Picasa to personal Gmail accounts.  With Google’s new consolidated account structure, having multiple accounts open is difficult and can be confusing.

Fortunately, a feature in the Chrome browser designed to carry settings across multiple computers and devices offers a solution, particularly for those running Google Apps — Use Profiles.

Chrome lets you establish multiple user profiles, each with its own settings for home page, cache, and cookies.  By setting up a user profile for each Google and Google Apps account, you can multiple instances of Chrome.  Each instance of Chrome can be logged in and connected to a different Google account, providing you access to multiple accounts without having to use the Switch Accounts feature in Google Apps.

On the Options screen, select Personal Stuff.  From there you can add accounts and select each account’s default setting.   Once you connect Chrome with the first account, you will see an icon in the tab bar.  As you add user accounts, you can click on the icon and select a user profile, which will open in a new browser instance.

Switching between browser instances switches user accounts.