If you have a gmail address or youtube account, you already have a Google account. Since it can be more convenient to keep personal and work accounts separate, you will probably want to have one that you just use for work. It’s handy to be able to upload videos for students in your work youtube account, create and share slides for class in your work Google slides account, etc. so I do recommend having a Google account that you use exclusively for work.
If you’re like me, you have too many email addresses already! Don’t worry – you do not have to set up a new email address to start a Google account. You can use your existing work account by following these steps:
- Open an internet browser. Google Chrome works best. Safari works well, and Firefox works okay for most things too. Internet Explorer does NOT work well with Google Drive and will probably cause you multiple issues and frustration. So avoid using Internet Explorer if at all possible.
- Go to drive.google.com.
- You will see something that looks like this:
- Click on “create account” and enter your information. When you get to the line that says “Choose your username” (highlighted below), this is where you can decide whether you want a new gmail address or whether you would like to use your current work email address. If you want a gmail address, you will create it here by typing a username (your address will be username@gmail.com). If you want to use your work email, click the blue “I prefer to use my current email address” link, and you can then enter your existing address.
- That’s it! Google will send you an email to verify your account, and you are ready to go.
See “get started with Google Drive” for more information directly from the Google help pages.
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