How to set up a shared Google account for a team without passing one phone around

Do you actually need a shared Google account login?

Most teams asking how to share a Google account really want one of three things: a shared inbox, shared files, or access to a tool that signs in with Google. Each has a better answer than handing out the password.

Sharing the login itself means everyone acts as the same person. Google sees one user, your audit trail sees one user, and when someone leaves you have to change the password for everyone. Use the options below first and keep the shared login for the cases they cannot cover.

• Shared inbox (support@, info@, sales@): delegation or a Google Group.
• Shared files: a shared drive or shared folders.
• A tool connected to one Google account (an ads account, an analytics property, a YouTube channel): most Google products let you add users with their own accounts and a role.
• Everything else: a shared login, stored and shared properly.

Option 1: How does Gmail delegation work?

Gmail delegation lets the owner of a mailbox grant other people access to read, send and delete mail on its behalf. Each delegate signs in with their own Google account and switches into the shared mailbox. Messages they send show who sent them on behalf of the account.

1. Sign in to the mailbox you want to share.
2. Open Gmail settings and go to Accounts (or Accounts and Import).
3. Under Grant access to your account, add each teammate's email address.
4. The teammate accepts the invitation and the mailbox appears in their account menu.

Delegates cannot change the account password or most account settings, which is exactly what you want. In Google Workspace, an administrator may need to allow delegation for your organisation first. Limits and availability change over time, so check Google's current help pages for your account type.

Option 2: When is a Google Group or collaborative inbox better?

If the address exists mainly to receive mail, a Google Group is often simpler than a real mailbox. Mail sent to the group address is delivered to every member, and each person replies from their own account. A collaborative inbox adds features such as assigning conversations and marking them done.

Groups have no password to share at all. Adding or removing a person is a membership change, and nothing needs rotating when someone leaves. The trade-off is that a group is not a full account: you cannot use it to sign in to other websites.

Option 3: How do shared drives replace a shared account for files?

Teams often share a Google account because "all the files are in there". Shared drives in Google Workspace solve this better. Files belong to the team rather than to a person, so they stay put when someone leaves.

• Create a shared drive per team or client.
• Add members with roles such as viewer, commenter, contributor or manager.
• Move the files out of the personal account into the shared drive.

On personal Google accounts without Workspace, sharing individual folders with each person's own account is the closest equivalent. Check which features your plan includes on Google's plan page.

When does sharing the actual login make sense?

Sometimes there is no way around it. A personal Gmail account created years ago owns a business listing. A third-party app only allows one Google sign-in. A freelancer set up the account and now the whole team needs it. In those cases the goal changes: share the login so that it is never typed into chats, never lives on one person's phone, and can be revoked cleanly.

The two pieces you must share are the password and the second factor. The password is the easy part. The second factor is where teams usually get stuck.

Why does one person's phone break team access?

When 2-Step Verification is tied to one person's phone, every sign-in from a new device waits for that person. If they are asleep, on leave or have left the company, nobody gets in. SMS codes have the same problem, and SIM swaps make them a weaker factor anyway.

An authenticator app works differently. During setup Google shows a QR code that contains a secret key. Any authenticator that holds that secret generates the same 6-digit code every 30 seconds. If the secret is stored in a shared password manager entry, every authorised teammate can produce the code without a phone hand-off. Our guide to sharing 2FA codes with a team covers this in detail.

How do you set up a shared Google login safely?

1. Choose a new, strong password, generated rather than invented, and never reuse it elsewhere.
2. Switch 2-Step Verification to an authenticator app. In the Google Account security settings, add an authenticator and choose the option to enter the setup key or keep the QR code available.
3. Store the setup key in a shared password manager entry alongside the password, before you finish setup. Confirm the code it generates works.
4. Download backup codes and store them in a separate, restricted entry that only owners can see.
5. Share the entry with the people who need it, at the lowest access level that works.
6. Set a recovery email and phone that the business controls, not a personal number.
7. Write an offboarding note: who rotates the password and the 2FA secret when someone with access leaves.

Will Google block sign-ins from new devices?

It can. Google watches for sign-ins from unfamiliar devices and locations and may ask for extra verification, send a security alert, or temporarily block a sign-in that looks unusual. A team signing in from several cities is exactly the pattern that can trigger these checks.

You can reduce friction by keeping the number of people with the login small, using consistent devices, and making sure the recovery email and phone are reachable by the owner. When Google asks "Was this you?", the owner should confirm it rather than ignore it. Behaviour varies, so treat any alert as real until you have checked it.

How does BobWork Vault help with a shared Google login?

BobWork Vault is a free team password manager, and team sharing is included. You save the Google password and the authenticator secret in one entry, and the Chrome extension fills the password and then fills or copies the 6-digit code. It also handles two-step sign-ins where the email and password are on separate pages.

You can share the entry with Owner, Edit, View or Login only access. Login only lets the extension sign a teammate in without showing them the password; see login-only access for contractors for its limits. When someone leaves, a guided offboarding flow removes their access and builds a checklist of passwords to change, including this one.

Everything is encrypted in your browser before it reaches the server, as explained on the security page. If you are comparing tools, see the comparison page. You can create a free team vault in a few minutes.

Checklist: sharing a Google account with a team

• Can delegation, a Group or a shared drive do the job instead?
• Is the password generated, unique and stored only in a password manager?
• Is 2-Step Verification on an authenticator, with the secret stored in the shared entry?
• Are backup codes stored separately with owner-only access?
• Are recovery email and phone owned by the business?
• Does everyone have the lowest access level that works?
• Is there a named person who rotates the password and 2FA secret at offboarding?

Try BobWork Vault — free for your whole team

BobWork Vault is a free, zero-knowledge password manager for teams, made by BobWork (BobOffice, LLC). Shared folders, login-only access, 2FA codes and guided offboarding, end-to-end encrypted. Add it to Chrome or create a free account.

Keep reading

• How to share 2FA codes with your team without waiting for one person's phone
• How to share a password without revealing it to contractors, agencies and interns
• How to share passwords with your team
• BobWork Vault Chrome extension

More: free team password manager · free company password manager · company password manager · password management software · how to share passwords with teammates · compare password managers