Let us say that you are out of town or, for any other reason, you want someone else to have access to your Gmail. Well, here is an important technological tip. Never, ever share your account username and password, for any account, with anyone else! Yes, they may be your best friend right now, but what about the future? Sorry, but you never know. If they had that info and you are like many people and use the same login information for other accounts, which you should not, you could have problems.
However, you can delegate your Gmail Inbox with anyone you wish. You may give someone else permission to read, send and/or delete any of your emails in your inbox. They can sort, filter, archive and use labels in your Gmail. So, they control your email; however, they cannot reset your password, close the account, chat with your account, or anything else detrimental to your account. You may also pull their access to your account at any time.
To add someone as a “Delegate” for your account, first open your Gmail account on your computer. Go to Settings by clicking the Gear in the upper-right corner and then, “See all settings,” followed by “Accounts and Import.” Scroll down to, “Grant access to your account.” Then, “Add another account,” enter the Gmail account you want to give access to, and make sure you enter the correct email address. If misspelled, you could give access to the wrong person. It takes up to 30 minutes for the verification to complete. However, it usually takes just a few minutes. You are done as the delegator until you want to revoke their permission. To do that, just go back where you started and click “delete” next to their account name under, “Grant access to your account.”
The person you have granted delegate authority to will get an email asking them to accept or decline your invitation. In case they are new to this, it will also give them a link to explain what delegation of an account grants them.
Once they accept, you will be notified by email that they have accepted delegation in your Gmail account. When they log into their Gmail account, they will see nothing out of the ordinary. Unless they click their icon in the upper right corner. Then they will see your email address listed in the dropdown with, “Delegated” next to it. If they click that link, your inbox will open in another window or tab (depending on how their browser is set up).
Your delegate will then be in your email and control it, as mentioned previously. Their Gmail Inbox will still be open where it was when they started. So, if needed, they may quickly access either.
You, as the delegator, will have a warning at the top of your Inbox telling you have granted a delegate on your account. This will last for a week or so and then will stop as it thinks you are now aware of the feature being on.
Try it out if you wish before you need it so that you may see how easy it is to do. I look forward to seeing you next week!
