Connect Multiple Email Accounts to Claude Cowork
Cowork uses Claude’s connectors, so it holds one Gmail and one Outlook at a time and never two of either, but a task can still reach every mailbox you own. Connect each account to Carly, add Carly to Claude once, and a single Cowork task can search or act in whichever inbox you name.
1. Add your Gmail and Outlook mailboxes to Carly
- Sign in at carlyassistant.com.
- Open carlyassistant.com/integrations.
- Find Gmail and Outlook, click Connect, and authorize the mailbox.
- Click Connect again for the next one, and keep going for as many mailboxes as you want.
A Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 account may need administrator review. Ask the administrator to approve, then finish authorization.
Mix providers freely here. This is the step Claude Cowork’s own connectors cannot do: a second Gmail sits beside the first, and Outlook sits beside both.
Carly connects to thousands of apps, so while you are on that page you can add your calendars, files, CRM, and anything else you want Claude Cowork to reach through the same connector.
2. Add Carly to Claude Cowork
- Open Customize → Connectors in Claude.
- Click the + next to Connectors.
- Select Add custom connector.
- Paste
https://carlyassistant.com/mcp/and give it a name. - Continue to authorization and sign in to the Carly account holding your mailboxes.
- Toggle Carly on from the + menu in the message box.
Custom connectors are called from Anthropic’s cloud, so nothing needs to run on your machine. On Team and Enterprise plans an owner may need to enable the connector for the organization first.
What one session can do afterwards
- Search a personal Gmail and a work Outlook in the same question.
- Compare a thread in one company’s mailbox against another’s.
- Produce a morning briefing grouped by inbox.
- Draft or send from the exact address you choose.
- Label, move, flag or archive in the correct account.
- Check several calendars for conflicts while writing to only one.
- Let a scheduled task answer a team inbox such as
billing@overnight.
Why one connector cannot hold both
Connector authorization is per identity, not per person. Claude and Gemini each hold one Google account at a time, so the second inbox is reachable only by replacing the first. Anthropic has an open feature request asking for several named accounts on one connector, which is a fair signal it is not possible today. Carly carries all of them at once and tells you which one it acted on.
Claude Cowork’s own connectors versus Carly
| Claude Cowork’s Gmail and Outlook | Carly | |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail accounts at once | One | Every one you connect |
| Outlook accounts at once | One | Every one you connect |
| Gmail and Outlook together | Yes, one of each | Yes, any number of each |
| Says which account it used | Not consistently | On every action |
| Sends with attachments | No | Yes |
| Starts when mail arrives | No | Yes |
Give Claude's Cowork tasks a time and they will run. Give them something that just happened and they will not. ChatGPT goes further, but only as far as Gmail, Slack and GitHub, only on web and mobile, and never alongside a schedule on the same task. A lead moving stage, a form landing, an invoice clearing: none of it starts either one. Carly starts on all of it.
Carly’s agents also carry their own name, email address and memory, so a colleague or client can write to one directly and the work begins on arrival rather than when you next open a session. Around the mail, Carly connects to thousands of apps. Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month.
Connect every inbox at carlyassistant.com.
Quick fixes when a mailbox does not appear
- The provider reused your signed-in account. Choose Use another account on the provider’s screen rather than the suggested profile.
- A work account stalls at consent. A Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 administrator has to approve before authorization completes.
- Claude Cowork does not see Carly. Reopen the + menu in the message box and toggle Carly on for the task.
- The wrong inbox answered. Name the address in the prompt.
Frequently asked questions
What about a shared mailbox like billing@?
A Cowork task inherits whatever Claude’s connectors reach, so a shared mailbox is readable where your signed-in identity already has rights, and replying as that address is not on the table. Carly connects it as a mailbox of its own, which is what lets an overnight task answer a team inbox instead of queueing drafts in it. See Can Claude access a shared mailbox?.
Can Claude Cowork connect to multiple email accounts?
Its connectors hold one Gmail and one Outlook at a time. Connecting every mailbox to Carly and adding Carly to Claude once lets a single Cowork task reach all of them.
Can Claude Cowork connect two Gmail accounts?
Not natively. Cowork uses Claude’s Google Workspace connector, which holds one Google identity and replaces it when you sign in with a second.
Can a scheduled Cowork task send email?
Not through Claude’s Microsoft 365 connector, which offers no Always allow for sending, so an unattended run stops at the approval. Carly sends on its own.
Does Cowork have its own connectors?
No. It uses the same connectors as Claude, so whatever you connect in Claude is what a Cowork task can reach.
Will it tell me which account it used?
Through Carly, yes. Every action reports the source address.
More: How to connect multiple Gmail accounts to Claude Cowork · Claude Cowork multiple accounts · Claude Cowork connectors · Can Claude Cowork send emails · Best AI assistants for multiple email accounts
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