Knowing how to create a new Gmail account is becoming almost like basic internet literacy. One email account is no longer enough, and many of us have numerous accounts to use for different purposes online.
Gmail is one of the best email services available, offering a great balance of usability and features, as well as 15GB free storage space and an incredibly easy account creation process (as you’ll see shortly). For these reasons, it has become many people's de-facto email service.
So, if you need a new email account to use for work emails, if you’d like to create a throwaway account for giving out online, or if you just fancy updating your personal email address to something a little less embarrassing, this guide will show you how. Here’s how to create a new Gmail account.
How to create a new Gmail account
- Go to accounts.google.com/signup
- Enter your personal details
- Enter your desired email address and create a password
- Provide a phone number and recovery email address (both optional)
- Agree to Google's T&Cs
- Adjust your privacy controls
Read on to see detailed instructions for each step.
1. Head to Google's signup page. This is at http://accounts.google.com/signup, and it's also very easy to find via search, as you’d expect for a Google product.
2. Google asks you enter some fairly basic information in order to open your Gmail account. Enter your first name, last name, the username you want, and a password (typed twice to ensure it's typo free). Make sure you check out our guide on how to make a strong password.
While there’s no rule that you have to use your real name, as with the likes of Facebook, bear in mind that this is how your emails’ recipients will see you.
3. If your first choice of new email address is already taken, you will see a warning telling you to try another. Enter a different address if this happens, then click outside the entry box to get the form to check again. Once you enter one that isn't already taken, the red warning sign will disappear.
People have been grabbing Gmail addresses since 2004, so unless your name is really unusual, it’s hugely unlikely that you’ll get the dream firstnamelastname@gmail.com address on your first attempt.
Think creatively. Include an initial, your profession, or a series of numbers that’s memorable to you, but avoid anything that could be useful to cybercriminals looking to steal your details for phishing attempts.
(Note: Gmail ignores periods in email handles, so "john.smith", "joh.nsmith" and "johnsm.ith" would all end up being equivalent to "johnsmith@gmail.com".)
4. Now fill in the remaining details and you'll be able to start using your shiny new Gmail account.
Enter your phone number if you're happy to. If you don't, you may be prompted to provide it after clicking Next. When that happens, simply click Skip. It's not necessary and you can always add it later.
Provide a recovery email address. Again, this is optional, but we would highly recommend doing so as a recovery address is extremely useful should you find yourself locked out of your account.
5. Agree to Google's terms and conditions by ticking the two compulsory boxes — that you agree to abide by Google’s rules and agree to have your information processed according to the privacy policy.
6. Click the "More Options" drop-down menu just above the checkboxes. If desired, select the options to stop advert personalization and prevent your app, web and YouTube history from being linked to your new account.
Your page may look different, depending on the rules in your country.
You’ve now created a Google account — and with it, your free Gmail address.
7. To get started with Gmail, either visit the Gmail website in your browser, or click the "Google apps" icon in the top-right corner of any Google service and select Gmail.
Now that you're set up and ready to use your new Gmail account, why not check out our other Gmail-themed guides, including how to back up Gmail, how to back up Gmail contacts, how to change your password in Gmail, how to schedule an email in Gmail, how to disable Gmail's smart features and prevent tracking, how to archive email in Gmail, how to mark all as read in Gmail and how to delete all emails in Gmail. If you're worried about accidentally hitting send, don't be — we have a guide on how to recall an email in Gmail. If you're concerned about your Gmail account's security, then you definitely need to read our guides on how to block emails in Gmail, how to change your password in Gmail, how to turn on Gmail's two-factor authentication on your desktop and how to set up Gmail two-factor authentication (2FA) on your phone.
