Best practices for multiple Google/Gmail accounts?

turnstyle

Hi all,

Is there perhaps a current FAQ on best practices for using 1password with multiple Google/Gmail accounts?

I'm just getting started with 1password, but I've put off my Google passwords -- thinking there might be some "better" ways to handle several Google/Gmail accounts within 1password.

On a related note, I also assume it's best to not rely on 1password for your recovery email password -- meaning, you can still configure 1password to log in for you -- but you need to know that password without having to rely on 1password -- correct?

Anyhow, I'm interested in any tips on using multiple Google/Gmail accounts within 1password smartly.

Thanks kindly!

turnstyle

For example, it seems when I use 1pass Mini menu to log in to one Google account, I'm logged out of the others. But if I go to Google's account selector, and then choose an account, and then use 1pass -- then I think that works?

Or another issue... I tend to use different Google services with different Google accounts -- are there any tips on how to set 1password to log in and take me to the preferred service?

Overall, I'd love to have some sort of guide for how to best configure and use 1pass with several Google accounts.

Thanks again...

littlebobbytables

Hi @turnstyle,

I don't believe we have a page specific to managing google accounts and I'm not sure I really understand the questions as I'm not a massive Google user myself.

What you would want to create is a Login item for each separate account. That Login item has one specific role, to fill in a username and password on a relevant page when you request it. After that the rest is between the user/browser and the service. I believe many people needing to be logged into multiple Google accounts use Chrome profiles as account management is really between Google and the browser. Adding 1Password to the mix should merely be about enabling complex and unique passwords for each account.

For a similar reason I can't see a way of using 1Password to automatically redirect you to a particular service depending on which Login item you use. What 1Password does when it communicates with the extension is after you've selected a particular Login item it will fill in all the fields that Login item is aware about and then proceeds to mimic the press of the return key to initiate submission. We don't deal directly with buttons or links as they're messy and prone to break. Once the extension has done that then 1Password's part is complete. Now if you had to select the service you were logging into via a radio button or drop down menu on the login page then yes, 1Password could help as they're considered fields. Anything you need to do after the login page though is outside our control.

I may be misunderstanding something quite basic of course given I'm not really a user of Google's services so please do correct me.

Now regarding your recovery email query. Personally I store everything in my vault. For the most part account recovery becomes moot when you use a password manager because it's purpose is to not forget for you. Now obviously hardware failure could lead to an inaccessible vault which is why we would always recommend backing up. 1Password performs periodical backups meaning you can always revert to a previous point in time by my vault is also on my iOS device and my MacBook is completely backed up using Time Machine too. I feel confident I can retrieve my vault should something fail and so my vault contains everything. Again, I might have missed the point behind your query so please do correct me if that's the case.

turnstyle

Thanks -- you might need to be a more regular user of Google stuff to fully see what I'm trying get at -- and I'm probably not being entirely clear (partly because I just started using 1password).

For example, you can be logged into multiple Google accounts at the same time -- but it seems like different ways I use 1pass to log me in, it might log me out of all other accounts -- or it might leave me logged in.

I figured somebody here must be a regular user of several Google accounts -- and perhaps has some tips on best ways to use 1pass with multiple Google accounts.

But thanks for chiming in -- maybe not as many people here use multiple Google accounts as I would have guessed!

eva_s

Hi @turnstyle,

I use more Google accounts than I like to admit to in a public forum, but I will say that I have more than 3 and less than 15, so let me see if I can answer your questions.

I have had a similar experience with Google where I can be logged into all of my accounts at the same time when using Gmail and Calendar, but one (and only one) of my accounts logs me out of the rest of my accounts when using Google Drive. I am confident that that is a Google issue, not a 1Password issue for the reasons @littlebobbytables explained and I that I have personally confirmed it.

I would be happy to share my own best practices for using 1Password effectively with multiple Google accounts. As you know, 1Password pulls logins to the top on the mini and the browser extensions based on the URL of the site you are currently on. This means that if you have multiple accounts, there will be several login options to choose from in 1Password. I have two accounts that I use more frequently than the others, and I have made these two accounts two of my favorites so they are always easily accessible.

As for my remaining accounts, I have been strategic in how I name them. For example, I have one account that I use primarily for YouTube and not much else so I labeled that one "YouTube". Not the most creative naming structure, but it works. I have labeled the remaining ones "work", "personal", "Picasa", etc. The idea is just to make it as easy as possible for me to scroll through all of my Google logins in 1Password and select the appropriate one with my arrow keys so that my fingers never leave my keyboard.

Lastly, you asked about using 1Password with your Google account recovery login. I will be honest with you and say that I don’t know any of the passwords for my Google accounts because they were all generated with 1Password's password generator. The only passwords I remember are my master password, my password for my Mac and my AppleID. Once again, like @littlebobbytables, I have 1Password on all of my computers and mobile devices, so I always have my recovery account password at my fingertips. And on those occasions when I am on someone else's computer, I even use 1Password on my iOS device to give me my one-time password since I use two-step verification on all of my Google accounts.

Hopefully you will find my experience helpful as you figure out what works best for you when using 1Password. Please let me know if you have any follow-up questions and I will be happy to answer them.

-Eva