Overview
From time to time, we have people ask how to get their own Google account or ask why they would need a personal account. Personal Google accounts are the perfect option to manage personal email, documents, photos, videos, music, and much more. A personal Google account is not tied to F&M and therefore you will not use your NetID or password to access it. It is the perfect way to keep your personal life….personal!
IMPORTANT: ITS highly recommends that all student, faculty and staff have personal Google account or Mac equivalent, for photos and non-college documents.
How to Sign Up
Just visit https://accounts.google.com/SignUp to create a personal Google account. Once you are signed up, you can logon to a computer or mobile device, just like you do with your F&M account. A personal account is not affiliated with an F&M Google account, so please be aware that we can not provide support or assistance with using your personal account or helping with account or password issues.
Google Apps on Mobile
Basics of having a google account.
Installing Google Mail(Gmail)
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Go to your device’s app store and search for the Google Mail app.
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Install, and Open the app.
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Select the option to add a new mail account.
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Enter your personal email
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Click Save.
If you have multiple Google email accounts, you can also select which email account to access and toggle between each account as you desire.
Google Suite Apps
- Google Calendar App Just download the Google Calendar App from your App store!
- Google Drive App Again, all you need is to download the Google Drive App. One important thing to know is that your personal Google account does not come with unlimited space. You should be fine, but if you run out of space, you can download files to another storage location or purchase more storage space for a small monthly fee.
- Google Photos App For Photos...download the Google Photos App on your phone. You can then configure the app to automatically synchronize and even backup and delete files from your iPhone or Android phone. This will keep your phone from running out of space too! Search YouTube for a recent video on how to make the most of Google Photos. Here is a video to get you started: https://www.youtube.com/user/GooglePlusPhotos. You can also check out the help button once you are in the app for detailed information on using the features on different types of devices. When on a computer, you can also use the Chrome Browser and navigate to Google Drive and find your pictures by selecting the photos icon in the left navigation menu.
- YouTube App YouTube is a part of Google! Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
Using on a Computer
Chrome Browser
We recommend using the Chrome browser. If you would like to have your browser settings follow you to other computers, you can sign-in to Chrome with a Google Account of your choice. When you are signed in, you will see a round icon with three gray dots to the right of it, at the very top of the browser window.
Sign In to your Google Account
A common way to sign in to a personal account is to open your Gmail by going to mail.gmail.com and entering your personal Google account credentials. You’ll then use the Google Apps icon to access the other Google apps that are available to you.
Toggle Between Google Accounts
When using multiple Google accounts on your computer, you’ll want to toggle between your accounts. Anytime you are on a Google website, you will see an icon near the upper right of your window (which has no dots to the right of it). It is here that you can sign-in or manage your account(s). Just click the account you wish to view and you’ll be brought to that account.