Merge Google Accounts into One: Step-by-Step Guide to Combine Gmail IDs

“How to Merge Google Accounts into One?” is a common query of many Gmail account users.

Individuals often end up with multiple Gmail accounts from school, past jobs, or simply because they created a new one after forgetting the password to the old account. Which is why they need to merge Gmail accounts.

In this comprehensive guide, we have laid out proven steps you need to follow to merge multiple Google accounts into one: covering Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive, and Google Contacts.

If you have two or more Gmail addresses and are wondering, ” How do I combine all my Google accounts into one?” You will be disappointed to know that Google does not have a native, one-click merge option to combine Gmail accounts.

However, you can still consolidate multiple Google accounts into one without worrying about Gmail, attachments, contacts, and calendars by following this expert guide, where we discuss both manual methods and tool-based options.

Follow this structured guide till the end to seamlessly merge mail in Gmail without errors.

Why Merge Multiple Google Accounts into One?

Here are the reasons users often prefer to merge Gmail account into new email account:

• To have a single, easy-to-access, and consolidated mailbox.
• Helps reduce digital footprint.
• Users merge Google accounts to improve security.
• To manage unorganized emails & data (project-related/personal) effectively under structured labels.
• To centralize mailboxes after a business merger.
• Avoid chaos and productivity loss while switching between Gmail mailboxes.

How to Merge Google Accounts into One?- Key Steps

Here are the essential steps you need to follow to fully merge all Gmail accounts.

• POP3 Fetch Setup to automatically forward new emails & import only the Inbox from secondary email accounts to primary Gmail account.
• Set up “Send Mail As” in case you want to reply through your old/ secondary Gmail accounts.
• Use Gmail’s “Import Mail & Contacts” to move contacts when combining Gmail accounts into one.
• Fetch data from old mailboxes to the primary Gmail account. Using a specialized email merge tool.
• Combine Google Drive data to merge Google Accounts.
• Manually extract and import Calendar to the primary Gmail account.

Step 1: Set Up POP3 Fetch to Auto Forward New Emails

Follow these official steps to pull incoming emails & inbox into your primary Gmail account when you merge two Gmail accounts.

1. Log in to your primary email account.
2. Click on the Gear icon and choose See All Settings to merge Gmail accounts.
3. Go to Accounts and Import tab to combine emails when you decide to merge two Google accounts into one.
4. Scroll down to Check mail from other accounts option and click on Add another email address.

   

5. Enter the email you want to merge Google account. Press Next.
   
6. Choose the “Import emails from my other account (POP3)” option and click Next.
   
7. Enter the password and server details of your secondary account.
8. Select all the checkboxes. Then click Add Account.

Note: Ensure you have enabled POP to merge all Gmail accounts into one.

1. Log in to the Gmail accounts.
2. Go to Settings >> See All Settings.
3. Navigate to Forwarding and POP/ IMAP.
4. Scroll to POP Download.
5. Enable POP for all mail. Press Save Changes.

Step 2: Set Up ‘Send Mail As’ to Merge Gmail Accounts

The Send Mail As feature helps you continue using your previous email identity (from your merged Google accounts) even after you combine Gmail accounts.

1. Log in to the primary account.
2. Gear >> Settings >> See All Settings.
3. Open Accounts and Import tab.
4. Select Send Mail As and click on Add another email address to merge Google accounts.
5. Enter the name and email address of the account to be merged in Gmail.
6. Verify your secondary email account.

Note: You may have to repeat the process depending on the number of Gmail accounts you need to merge.

You can now send emails from all merged accounts in Google.

Step 3: Move Contacts When Combine Google Accounts

Google does not automatically merge contacts when you merge Gmail accounts via POP3.

The smart official and secure way to merge Google Contacts when consolidating Gmail/ Google accounts is through Gmail’s Import mail and Contacts option.

Here are the exact steps to merge Google accounts with contacts:

1. Log in to your primary email account.
2. Click on the Gear icon and choose See All Settings to
   
3. Go to Accounts and Import tab.
4. Scroll down to Import mail and contacts option.
5. Click on Add another email address.
6. Enter the email you want to merge with the Gmail account. Press Next.
7. Sign in with your Password.
8. Only select Import Contacts from the 3 checkboxes.
9. Then click Start import.

Limitations of Built-In Methods to Merge Two Gmail Accounts

Although using Import and Contacts, POP3 Fetch, and Send Mail As helps you combine two Gmail accounts into one, they have some limitations:

• There is no one-click button to merge email data when you merge Google accounts
• Time consuming and lengthy process for an everyday user.
• Can only import data from the inbox and not other folders.
• Loss of folder structure and metadata.
• No option to selectively merge data when you decide to merge two Gmail accounts.
• Error-prone users often get authentication & server errors.

Due to these limitations, you need to separately fetch data from all other folders to merge multiple Gmail accounts into one.

How to Merge Gmail Accounts? Using Professional Tool

1. Download, install, and run the specialized email merge tool on your PC.
   
2. Select Gmail as your email source.
   
3. Log in with your secondary Gmail account.
   
4. Select all the folders you need to merge with the primary Gmail/ Google Account.
   
5. Use advanced filters to selectively merge data between Google accounts.
   
6. Choose Gmail from the savings option.
7. Enter the Gmail ID and password of the primary account to merge two Google account data.
   
8. Press Backup button.

Step 5: Combine Drive When Merge Google Account

Google Drive is an important component when a user is trying to merge two Google accounts.

Here are the easy-to-follow instructions to merge Gmail accounts, including Google Drive data:

1. Log in to Google Drive with your secondary account.
2. Select the folders/files you want to merge with the primary Gmail account.
3. Click on the Share files option.
4. Add the primary account as a collaborator to merge multiple Google accounts.
5. Make sure you remove access from all other accounts.
6. Again, select the folders >> click on Share.
7. Change access from Editor to Transfer Ownership.
8. Hit Done.

Step 6: Merge Calendar to Combine Two Google Accounts

In a professional setup, calendars are equally important as Drive and Gmail. That’s why merging contacts becomes essential when combining Google accounts

However, Google does not have a native option to merge two Google Calendars in a single click.

But it does have an import and export tool in Google Calendar to easily merge Gmail accounts along with Calendar.

Here are the easy-to-follow instructions to combine contacts when matched to Google accounts.

1. Open Google Calendar of your secondary Gmail account.
   
2. Click on the gear icon on the top right.
3. Choose the Setting options.
4. Scroll down and click on Import and Export.
5. Go to the exports tab and click on the export button.
6. Now, log in to the Google Calendar of your primary Gmail account that you want to keep after the merger.
7. Go to the Settings >> import and export & click on import.
   
8. Select the .zip file you extracted from your secondary Gmail account and press Open.

You have successfully merged your Gmail accounts into one, along with your calendar. If you have multiple Gmail accounts, you’ll need to repeat the process for each one.

Important Note: Many users believe using Google Takeout is an effective way to merge multiple Google accounts into one. And although it is a great platform to extract all Google data like Gmail, Google Drive, Contacts, and more at once. Importing this data into the primary account can be highly technical and may require a third-party specialized tool.  Hence, the step-by-step approach is a better way to merge all Gmail accounts without corruption.

Conclusion

Google does not provide a true merge or a direct way to merge two Google accounts. Yet you can still consolidate data from multiple Google accounts into one, including Gmail, Contacts, and Calendars, using Gmail’s built-in tool and with the help of a specialized email merge tool

Although the manual process can be lengthy, you can quickly merge Gmail accounts with the specialized tool, ensuring all your Gmail folders are combined with complete data integrity.

Certain data types, such as YouTube, Photos, or Passwords, may not transfer, but you can still merge Google accounts with minimal overall data loss.

FAQs: Merge Multiple Google Accounts

Q1: Can you merge Gmail accounts?

No, you cannot merge two Gmail accounts into but you can consolidate Gmail email data into a single account without any data loss using a specialized tool to merge Gmail emails and by setting up send mail as and POP3 fetch to merge incoming emails in Gmail.

Q2: What to do if I have multiple Google accounts?

To manage data from all your Google Accounts, you can merge your multiple Google accounts into one.
Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Merge Google Drive by adding a collaborator.
2. Use POP3 to merge incoming Gmail emails into one account.
3. Merge all Gmail folders using a specialized tool.
4. Move Google Contacts with “Import mail and contacts“.
5. Set Up Send Mail As.
6. Use “Partner sharing” to merge Google Photos.

Q3: Can I merge Gmail accounts without losing labels?

Yes, using the specialized tool to merge emails in Gmail preserved folder structure & labels.

Q4: Can I unmerge after I have merged two Gmail accounts?

Yes, you can remove send mail as and POP3 fetch to unmerge after you have merged multiple Google accounts into one.

Q5: How do I merge Gmail accounts for business or Google Workspace?

The best way to merge multiple Gmail accounts on Google Workspace is using the above-recommended, reputable third-party software. Using the tool, you can merge your Google Account with Gmail, Contacts, and Calendar from a single platform.