Gmail is the email service that most of us use in our day to day. Also, for many people it is something that is used for work or studies. In some cases, sharing an account may not be far-fetched, especially for work reasons. In this sense, shared accounts are an option that is worth considering.
Many have probably never heard of these shared Gmail accounts. Following We tell you more about what they are, and how useful they can have for us. Also the way in which we can configure one in case we are interested in using it.
What are shared accounts in Gmail
A shared account is a Gmail account that multiple people have access to. Especially in the case of studies or work, it may be interesting that there are several people who have access to this account, which will only be used to have contact with clients or other departments in the company itself. The idea is that at least two people will be able to access it at all times.
In this account the same address is shared and the password is the same in any case, for all the people who have access. When you create an account on the mail platform, you have the possibility to configure said account as one to share. So everything can be adjusted in this regard, from the people who have access to the password.
Of course, when using this type of account it is important that only certain people have access, to avoid problems with the account. Password it should therefore be shared only with these people. Although Gmail does not allow the password of that account to be changed at all times. A good protection, but in case it is to be changed, this should be something that is communicated between the people who use the mentioned account.
How to set up a shared account in Gmail
If we have made the decision to use a shared account, we will have to configure it at all times. This is something that we are going to do directly in Gmail. In the first place we will have to log in with the account in question that we are going to share or a new one must be created from scratch, in the event that this is the desired option. In any case, we must go to the inbox in the account.
Once in the inbox, click on the cogwheel icon, located in the upper right part. A small contextual menu opens, where we have several options. Then you have to click on the configuration option. When we are in the settings, we see that there are some tabs at the top. One of these options is Accounts and Import, on which we are going to click.
Here we find the section called Grant access to your account. This is the section in which we can allow other Gmail accounts to be able to access it. This function or possibility is to add delegates to this account. In a personal account we have the possibility to add up to 10 delegates at most. If it is a business account, the amount increases to 25. So we have a lot of margin in this regard, as we can see.
In the section on Granting access to your account, then click on the text «Add another account«, Which is in blue letters. When clicking on it, we will be asked to enter an email address so that this person will have said access. When we enter the account, Gmail shows us a second window in which the consequences that this has are mentioned. If we are sure, we will only have to hit the send button. This person will receive an email stating that they have access to this email account from now on.
Aspects to consider in the shared account
The delegates will be able to read the messages that are sent to said shared account. They can also reply to them at any time, in addition to writing new messages. They will also be able to delete conversations that are in the inbox. When they send a message, in the address part, you can see which Gmail account has sent it. So if you have been one of the delegates, your address will be displayed.
For security reasons, Gmail does not allow delegates to change this password on this shared account. They also do not have the ability to speak in Hangouts from it. These are important things to consider if someone is given access because someone else is on vacation and is normally communicating with someone using Hangouts. Since the second person will not have this possibility.
Add or remove delegates
If at any time you want to add a new delegate to the account, it's possible. We have already mentioned that there are certain limits in terms of quantity, of 10 and 25 delegates depending on the type of Gmail account it is. To add a new delegate we are going to follow the same steps that we have followed above. We enter the configuration, then the accounts and import section and go to the option to grant access to my account. There we have the option to add an account, where we click and we are going to enter the email of the account we want to invite.
It may be that after a while you just want to remove a delegate from that account. You just have to enter the same section of access to the account, where you will get the addresses to which you have given access. If you want to delete any of them, you will have to press and follow the steps that Gmail asks you in this regard. It will not be difficult to remove a delegate.
Deleting a delegate is possible only from the main account. This means that a delegate will not be able to delete another that has been added to that account. It is an important aspect to consider as well.