Consolidating Email Accounts

     It's essentially a given that in 2014 everyone has multiple email accounts. If you have a job or go to school, you have a unique email account for school or work, and then a personal email account, if not multiple personal accounts. Speaking from firsthand experience, it can be annoying to check both email accounts through a browser, one after the other. But life doesn't always have to be this way. There are multiples tools to make your life a lot easier. One option is forwarding email. You can forward everything you get in one email to another email, and setting it up is very easy. On email account A, simply so to settings, then email forwarding, then enter the email address you want emails forwarded to. It will send that a validation email to email B, click the link, and voila: you will get all emails from email A in email B. This method is preferable if you prefer the browser-based email experience. This Google support page explains this process in more detail: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/10957?hl=en

     If you want to consolidate the email checking process, your other option is to use a desktop email client. These clients will download and manage your email on your desktop. It provides a better organized and faster email experience.  For Mac users, the mail app is pre-loaded on all macs and does a great job of handling multiple accounts. If you have multiple email accounts set up in your iPhone, then you're familiar with the experience. The Mac version of the mail app is naturally more robust, but the iPhone version is quite functional. Windows users have a few options. You have the option of using Microsoft Outlook, which comes pre-installed on some Windows machines. It has all the features that you'd want in a desktop email client.

     Another option is Mozilla Thunderbird. This is my personal preferred option. You may be familiar with another Mozilla product: Firefox. Ever since I switched to using Thunderbird, it's hard to manually open up both email accounts in a browser when I could just open the app, see my emails and be done in a flash.

     If you are tired of manually checking multiple email accounts, then one of these options should do the trick. If you prefer a browser-based email experience, then try email forwarding. If you want a streamlined, quick and easy desktop experience, an email client like Thunderbird will solve your problems. Happy emailing!