Your friends call you Tom, at work you’re addressed as Thomas. You use a Gmail address to connect with your friends on social media and the Internet, but you use a company domain email address to write your emails.
So you will find the need to switch between multiple personal and work accounts. Think about those times when you’re at work and you need to check your personal inbox, for example. You don’t need to constantly pull out your phone to do that.
There are simpler methods. You can still check your personal inbox on your work computer and be logged in to both of them. You wouldn’t need to log out of your work account, and you would still receive notifications for both.
You can find a way for every app that works. You could still juggle multiple Instagram or Twitter accounts, and swap between work and personal accounts with a couple of clicks.
This guide demonstrates 6 ways you can achieve to work with multiple accounts at the same time.
Add an additional Instagram account
In most mobile apps for social networks – say, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and most Google apps – you can easily add a new account without signing out of the previous one; and switch between them with ease from the main menu, or simply by swiping down on the profile photo [in Google apps].
After Instagram added an “Add Account” option, it became ridiculously easier for users to switch between two or more Instagram accounts on the go. You just have to tap your username and you see two options: Log in to an existing account, or create a new one. If the account you’re trying to add already exists, you need to select the first option. Otherwise, you need to tap the second option and follow the process of creating a new account.
For some apps, especially Google’s plethora of apps and plugins for all sorts of devices, switching between accounts is a piece of cake. Swapping between your profiles is usually a few taps or swipes away. Once you log into your Google accounts through your Android phone or iPhone’s settings, you could easily change your active account in any Google app installed.
However, if your email accounts are running through Office 365 or Microsoft Outlook, you can’t natively switch between two accounts. You need to use third-party apps or switch between browsers and devices.
And with some services, like Asana or Slack, you can technically “switch between accounts” but it’s not accounts you switch between. With Asana, you have one login email and password, but you can join multiple organizations. Slack works in a similar way – you have one account, but you are able to join multiple teams. With Mailchimp for example, you can switch between clients while staying logged in, all of which demonstrating a sort of multi-tasking among these platforms that don’t necessarily require switching to another account.
Pro tip: Skip switching between accounts for emails. In Gmail, you can add up to 5 inboxes in your Gmail account by mail forwarding and creating aliases. Here is how to add multiple email accounts inside a single Gmail inbox from Zapier.
Set up browser profiles
In Google Chrome or Firefox, you can set up multiple profiles and switch between them easily. When an app doesn’t natively support switching accounts, the fastest way is to usually create another browser profile. In Chrome, it’s easy to do so with a click of a button. In Firefox, it is a bit more time-consuming and needs some terminal skills. However, it’s definitely worth it when it comes down to the amount of time consumed to log out from and log in to each account each time.
If it’s difficult for you to grasp the concept of different browser “profiles”, think of them as different users on your computer, but only on your browser. Just as you can customize your user’s profile picture, background image, and so on, you could do so with different user profiles on a browser.
You could set up a new profile for your workspace and have your email and slides, and perhaps another with Facebook and Buzzfeed for a break.
Tip: At this time, Safari, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge don’t support multiple browser profiles.
Switch between devices
If you really want to keep separate or tried the methods above and still sent your thanksgiving dinner party photos to your aunt from your work email by accident, you could keep the devices you use for each purpose separate. You could, for example, handle all personal contacts and social networks on your phone while keeping your work tabs on your computer. That way, you will always know where your accounts are, and you’re already simultaneously logged in to all your apps.
Switch between browsers
If you don’t want to limit your personal communication to your phone, and you’re also confused by browser profiles and multiple account features on social media apps, don’t lose hope just yet! If you have several browsers installed on your system, you could put them to use. For example, you could leave Safari for personal matters and social networking, and use Google Chrome for work.
This way, you wouldn’t have to switch or log out anywhere. Just open up the associated browser and you’re good to go. You can juggle both your personal and work lives in separate windows on the same desktop, opened simultaneously.
Switch between user accounts
If you are the type of user that categorizes everything for a purpose individually, and you use most apps and websites on your system for your personal or work life exclusively but you are also limited to one computer, you could easily create another user account on that computer.
Whether it’s a Mac, Windows device, or a custom-configured Linux-based operating system, most laptops and desktop devices offer the option to create multiple user accounts. Different user accounts each have their own instances of applications and data partitions, so it’s the closest thing you can get to actually using a new device.
Use third-party apps
If you are using an Android phone, there are third-party apps such as Parallel Space that allow you to have two instances of the same app installed on your phone, having different databases and different login information. There is also a similar feature in newer Samsung phones called Dual Messenger, which allows for duplication of some messaging apps for the same purpose. So, if your app doesn’t natively support multiple accounts – i.e Whatsapp – for any reason, you could easily duplicate the entire app and use a different account.
Although have in mind that these apps and services naturally don’t support all messengers and they don’t guarantee flawless functionality either, so use with your own discretion.
Source: Play Store
Summary
There are multiple ways you can handle different accounts on your devices and social networking apps right now. With the need to separate work and life for many people in the industry right now, nearly all platforms and apps are incorporating multitasking features into their products. We hope this guide comes in handy next time you are trying to make the switch between profiles at work or on your phone.