Your Google Account & Working Online
✓ CompletedGmail, Google Drive, Google Docs and Google Sheets are separate tools, but one Google account opens all of them. Sign in once and you're signed in to all four.
It also causes a lot of beginner problems. Often the file and the link are fine, and you're simply signed in to the wrong account.
One Account, Many Tools
You met the browser in Computer & Laptop Basics. Chrome is one browser; Google is the company that makes it, and also makes Google Search, Gmail, Drive, Docs and Sheets. Your Google account lets you sign in to all of those Google services.
You don't need Chrome to use them. Gmail and Drive work in Edge, Safari or Firefox too: go to the website and sign in.
Which Account Am I Using?
Look at the top-right corner of Gmail, Drive, Docs or Sheets. The small circle with your photo or first letter is your account. Click it to see the email address you're using right now.
ana@harborhill.co
Account from a client, Harbor & Hill
Below it you'll see any other Google accounts signed in on this browser. Click one to switch to it. Add another account signs in one more.
Many VAs end up with two or more accounts:
- Your personal Gmail, like ana.cruz.va@gmail.com. It belongs to you.
- A client-provided account, like ana@harborhill.co. The client's business creates it for you. The account is managed by the client, and they control what happens to it and its files, including closing it when the work ends. Some businesses also stop their files from being shared with outside accounts.
When a client gives you an account, do their work in that account. Keep their files in their Drive, not in your personal one, and don't forward their emails to your personal Gmail to make things easier.
Links open in your default account
When you're signed in to more than one account, Google often opens links in your default account: the first one you signed in to on that browser. So a link from a client can open in your personal account even though you were just working in the client's. Check the circle at the top-right before you start working.
Kung dalawa o higit pa ang account mo, gumamit ng hiwalay na browser profile para sa bawat isa (Computer & Laptop Basics, Lesson 5). One profile for your personal account, one for each client. Isang account lang ang naka-sign in sa bawat profile, kaya hindi ka malilito.
"You Need Access"
Sooner or later, you'll open a link and see this:
You need access
Request access, or switch to an account with access.
You’re signed in as ana.cruz.va@gmail.com
Switch account
It doesn't mean the link is broken. It means the account you're signed in with doesn't have permission to open this file. Check two things, in this order:
- Which account am I in? The page tells you at the bottom. If the file was shared with your other account, click Switch account, or open the link in the right browser profile.
- If you're in the right account, the owner hasn't given it access yet. Click Request access. The owner gets an email and can approve you. Wait, or let the person who sent the link know.
Kapag "You need access" ang lumabas, tingnan muna kung tamang Google account ang gamit mo bago ka mag-request. This is the CHECK step of STOP → CHECK → TRY → SEARCH → ASK from Computer & Laptop Basics. Lesson 6 covers the same problem from the owner's side.
Which Account?
In these situations you're Ana, a VA. Your personal account is ana.cruz.va@gmail.com. Your client Grace, of Harbor & Hill, gave you ana@harborhill.co.
You need access
Request access, or switch to an account with access.
You’re signed in as ana.cruz.va@gmail.com
Switch account
Grace shared the Supplier List sheet with ana@harborhill.co and sent you the link. You open it and see this. What do you do first?
You're about to upload Grace's product photos to Harbor & Hill's Drive, and you open the account menu. Click the account you should switch to.
You're signed in to both of your accounts in the same browser. You click a Drive link from Grace, and it opens in your personal account instead of ana@harborhill.co. What's the most likely reason?
Grace asks you to keep the signed supplier contracts "somewhere we can both get to them." Where do they go?
Your laptop only has Microsoft Edge, and a client asks you to check their Gmail. What do you need?
Try It in Your Own Account
Open Gmail or Google Drive on this computer and do these. Tick each one when you've done it. Your ticks are saved in this browser.
- One Google account opens Gmail, Drive, Docs and Sheets, in any browser.
- The circle at the top-right shows which account you're using. Check it before you start work.
- Do a client's work in the account the client gave you.
- "You need access": check your account first, then request access.