Wrangling Google accounts

Which account does Blogger think you are using, anyway?

Just who do they think you are?

And if you need to change accounts, how do you do it?

All Blogger accounts are Google accounts, although this has not always been obvious.

In 2013, however, Google introduced "One account. All of Google" as the log-in page for all of its products. (And, people hated it.)

Today, instead of logging into a particular product, you are prompted to log into Google. This brought the Google brand front and center for Blogger for the first time.

This change prompted many Blogger users to suppose that Google had bought Blogger. Which it had, ten years earlier.

Signing in to "One Account"

This is the screen as it looks today. Once you sign in, your browser will remember your account and list it the next time you return to sign-in.

You'll see something like this if your browser remembers any of your accounts.

You'll also have the option to use another account. If you do, your browser will add that account to the list you will see next time.

If the Google service you are using supports multiple account sign-in, you can add, and switch, accounts, or sign out of Google, by clicking on the avatar (little round image) for your account that is at the top right of the page.

Blogger does not currently support multiple accounts at once, so to add or switch you must sign out and then back in.Update: Yes it does, as of April 10!

Bafflement Ensues

Here already are sewn the seed of confusion.

It may help to remember that it's only your browser that tracks these accounts, with a browser cookie.

If you use a new browser, or try to log in from work, or clear your browser cookies, you probably won't see the same options.

Nonetheless, the accounts still exist and Google remembers them perfectly well. Just add them, or add them back again.

For other sign-in help, check out what Google has to say about sign-in.

Some Takeaways

• Your Blogger account is a Google account. You log into it by logging in to Google.
• The log-in screen shows only the limited memory of your browser. Not of the internet or of Google. 
• If you don't see your account listed, add it to the list.
• Your browser is forgetful, so make sure you have your own foolproof method to keep track of all your Google accounts, their user IDs, and passwords.
• Google has help for common sign-in problems.

Today's "identity" image is courtesy of an anonymous artist under a creative commons license.