Use Gmail with different account than in Chrome [updated!]

There’s a well know bug in Google Chrome that forces you to use the same Google Account (let’s name it account A) both in Google Chrome and in all Google apps that you have run in this browser. Logging-off this account in any of Google apps causes immediate log-off in Google Chrome as well and also causes your Google data synchronisation to stop.

This may be obvious and convenient in most cases, but fails completely in certain scenarios.

For example, I am using Google Chrome in my office and I am syncing all Google data to a separate account B (to have i.e. separate set of bookmarks, for my work only and to not mix them up with my private bookmarks), but when opening Gmail, I want to be logged in to account A (private one), because I’m checking my private e-mails this way (I am using Outlook for office e-mails).

There’s a workaround for this problem (“best answer” here). However, it turned out to be not working for me.

Change Chrome flags

Thus, I had to modify it a little bit:

1. Navigate to chrome://flags in the URL bar.
2. Search for consistency to find Identity consistency between browser and cookie jar option.
3. Change its value to Enabled Dice (fix auth errors).
4. Relaunch, as advised.

This will restart Google Chrome showing you that there was an error in Chrome sync functionality.

Switch accounts

Then (there will be a lot of relaunches, as in good-old Windows times):

1. Login to account A in Google Chrome / synchronisation settings.
2. Once correctly signed-in, restart Chrome.
3. Navigate in any tab to any Google app (i.e. Gmail). Verify that you’re logged in to account A.
4. Log-off and in “Login again” screen remove all remembered accounts.
5. Make sure that you’re still logged in to account A in Google Chrome.
6. Restart Chrome again.
7. Log in to account B in Gmail or any other Google app.
8. Verify that you’re logged in to different account in that Google app than in Google Chrome, that this app is working (try to refresh page few times) and that the synchronisation process in Google Chrome is also working.
9. Restart Chrome for the last time to verify that situation is correctly replicated after relaunch.

Optionally, you may want to restart entire PC to confirm that even after full system relaunch you’re still logged in to account B in Gmail and to account A in Google Chrome.

Taskbar icons

One more thing to underline. Switching between accounts in Google Chrome (i.e. logging to a different accounts there) causes it to create new icons on taskbar. Ignore all of them and always use (pin to taskbar) a shortcut created on your desktop when initially installing Google Chrome!

(you may safely remove shortcut from your desktop, once it is pinned to taskbar)

Update

As per comment below, the Enabled Dice (fix auth errors) flag has been removed in recent version of Chrome.

Now — since both accounts are available in right-top menu — you must use this menu and switch to the desired account each time you restart Chrome (each time session cookies goes hell).

After manually changing to second account all other services should operate normally, i.e. you should be able to use account B in i.e. Gmail while syncing Chrome’s configuration, tabs, bookmarks etc. to account A — all until next restart of Chrome.

A small, yet I think acceptable inconvenience.