Many of us have ‘collected’ email addresses over time, often from a variety of email service providers and apps. It’s often the same for a business, too: a startup may begin its life using one email app before switching to another a little way down the line.
Before we know it, we’re using multiple platforms and checking two, three, or even more inboxes on a daily basis. As well as being a frustrating and time-consuming process, this can also put us at risk of missing an important message or an invitation to a virtual meeting. Combining all these various platforms into one is the solution. But this sounds complicated, right? You may be surprised to learn that, in most cases, it can be done in less than five minutes! Keep reading to find out how.
Combining Your Email Clients and Management Tools into a Single Platform
Combining all your email clients into a single platform can save loads of time and hassle and is easier than you think. Here are the steps you need to take to do so, depending on the email app you want to make primary.
Spike
Spike is the ideal platform to consolidate your various email accounts, as it’s been specifically designed to support the most popular email services. As well as featuring a range of best-in-class collaboration tools, Spike offers a great iMessage for PC alternative, so it really is a one-stop-shop for smoothing workflow and boosting productivity.
To add accounts from other email clients, all you need to do is head to the app and click on the Spike logo, and then select Add Account. Now type in the relevant email address. And that’s it! Spike takes care of everything else, including configuration, for you.
Gmail
Adding email accounts from other providers is also easy with Gmail, as this facility is built into the app’s native settings.
Go into Accounts, and then select Import. From here, choose Check Mail from Other Accounts, and then Add a Mail Account. A pop-up window will now appear; all you need to do is enter the email address you wish to add.
Outlook
Want to combine all your other inboxes into your Outlook account? No problem! Select the gear icon, and then choose Options. From here, head to Accounts, then click Select Accounts. Now hit Add an Email Account. You’ll have two options: adding a Gmail account or another type of email account.
If you want to add a Gmail account, you can either add it as a send-only account or link it as an account that you’ll manage entirely via Outlook.
Yahoo
If you wish to make Yahoo your primary inbox, then select the gear icon in-app, click Settings, and then choose Accounts. From here, it’s easy to add other email accounts as necessary: you’ll be asked to log into the accounts using your security details and grant Yahoo access to the relevant accounts.
The Benefits of Managing Multiple Accounts From One Platform
Time-Saving
Checking multiple inboxes can take up a lot of time – and can easily result in missing important messages, notifications, and reminders. Having a single primary email and management platform will save valuable time and help you stay on top of your day.
Find What You Need Fast
If you need to retrieve a message, or find an important attachment, scouring multiple inboxes is not ideal. Hunting through loads of sub-folders, or staring at the screen for hours seeking a conversation from a year ago, is not the best use of your time. Having everything in one place is a much better option. And for an even slicker system, why not take the opportunity to run a deep clean on your inbox now it’s merged? Create a filing or archiving system for old emails you may still need to access, and delete the rest. Feels good, doesn’t it?
Boost Professionalism
If you run a business, having a variety of different email addresses and platforms risks making you seem unprofessional. Having a single, dedicated inbox offers consistency and makes it much more likely that you’ll spot that email from an important client the minute it hits!
Money Saving Potential
If you’re paying a premium price to access the advanced management and productivity tools available on more than one platform, then this is an area in which you can easily save money. Synch all your services into one, and get rid of those unnecessary charges!
Easy Merging for Increased Productivity
Merging multiple email accounts into a single inbox may sound like a complex, time-consuming task, but, in fact, it can usually be completed in a matter of minutes! And doing so can offer many benefits, not least of which is a boost to productivity and efficiency.
When choosing which of your inboxes to make primary, think about the tools and features offered by each option and how useful these are to you. For example, while Outlook is designed to integrate with all the other Microsoft apps, the collaboration-fuelling tools and video conferencing features of Spike may be more valuable to you or your business.
Once you’ve made a decision, use the guide above to merge your email accounts into one, and prepare to enjoy the ease of checking and managing a single inbox.
