How to use multiple Gmail accounts on a Mac

Google lets you add several accounts to one Gmail session, but anyone with more than two quickly finds the limits: the account switcher reloads, notifications get muddled, and a link from one account can quietly open in another. Here are the common approaches, and where each one breaks down.

1. Gmail's built-in account switcher

Add accounts under your avatar in the top right and switch with /u/0, /u/1, and so on. It's free and built in, but every switch is a full reload, it's easy to reply from the wrong account, and there's no at-a-glance view of unread across accounts.

2. Separate browser profiles

Chrome and other browsers let you create a profile per account, each in its own window. This keeps sessions cleanly separate, but you end up with a clutter of browser windows mixed in with the rest of your browsing, and it eats memory fast.

3. A different browser per account

Some people put work in Safari, personal in Chrome, and so on. It works for two accounts and falls apart at three. It's a hack, not a system.

4. A heavy multi-service app

Apps like Shift or Franz/Ferdium hold many web apps in one window, including Gmail. They solve the multi-account problem but bundle a full Chromium engine, so they're large and memory-hungry, and several charge a subscription.

5. A native email client

Apple Mail, Mimestream, and others connect to Gmail and show their own interface. Great if you want a different take on email, but it isn't the Gmail you know, and some Gmail features and the familiar layout aren't there. Mimestream is also a subscription.

6. A focused, native Gmail app: Smails

This is the gap Smails fills. It's a tiny native macOS app that keeps every Gmail account in one window, each in its own private, persistent session, showing the real Gmail interface. Switch with a click or ⌘1–9, no reloads. Links open in your default browser, and it can be your default mail app. Built on the WebKit engine already in macOS, so it's a couple of megabytes, not hundreds. Free with one account, a one-time $9.99 for unlimited, no subscription.

Which should you use?

For one or two accounts, Gmail's own switcher or browser profiles are fine. Once you're regularly switching between three or more, a focused app pays for itself in saved clicks and lost-context headaches. If you want the actual Gmail (not a rebuilt client), a light footprint, and a one-time price, that's exactly what Smails is for.