Multi-Account Login for Chrome lets you log in into services multiple times

If you have multiple Twitter, Facebook or Google accounts, or accounts on any other website that you have to sign in to regularly, then you know that it is not as easy as it sounds, as you can only do so one-account at a time in a single browser window.

While you can overcome this by loading one session in a private browsing window, or, if you are using Firefox, with the help of other browser profiles or the excellent MultiFox extension, you may not be as lucky depending on the browser that you are using.

I mentioned Multi-Account Login for Chrome briefly in October already. It is what Multifox is for Firefox: a way to sign in the same web service multiple times without switching browser windows or launching private browsing mode.

Update: The author of the extension has removed it from the Chrome Web Store. Currently, there appears to be no Chrome extension available that you can use instead. Try the Swap My Cookies suggestion at the bottom of this page instead.

Multi-Account Login for Chrome

The Chrome extension adds an icon to the browser's address bar that you can click on to trigger its functionality. The icon itself is rather generic, which should not be a problem if it is the only one there, but if you have lots of icons, you may have identification issues.

Anyway, to make use of its functionality, you do the following:

1. Load the first instance of the web service you want to sign in on like you always do. Complete the sign-in process until you are logged in and can access the account.
2. Click on the Multi-Account Login icon in the address bar. This creates a new account tab that behaves independent from the rest of the browser.
3. Load the website again and sign in. You are now logged into two different accounts on the same site in the same browser window.
4. You can repeat the process as often as you see fit, there does not seem to be a limit in regards to it.

Note: Whenever you click on the icon, it will display a number on it that is unique to the tab. This indicates that the tab is unique and handled in a different way than all the other tabs open in the browser.

The extension is really easy to use. The only drawback from what I can tell is that it won't save session information when you close the web browser.

What this means is that once you restart it, you will be automatically logged out of all "excess" accounts.

If you need a permanent solution, try an extension such as Swap my Cookies instead. While it does not offer the option to sign in at the same time, it lets you switch between accounts easily whenever you feel the need to do so.

Verdict

Managing multiple accounts in Chrome and accessing them at the same time is not as convenient as it could be. Multi-Account Login for Chrome adds an option to the browser to improve the usability in this regard, and it does a good job at that, at least when it comes to individual browsing sessions.

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