Google+: “Oops, you need a google profile to use this feature” and a workaround
Update: This is no longer relevant. Google+ allows to log in with a Google Apps account.
I use my custom domain name Google Apps account as my primary email. I still have Google account and Google profile but I am not logged into this account by default.
So when I go to http://google.com/+ I get this dreaded error message:
I found a workaround to this problem. The solution requires that a) you have a “regular” Google Account (…@gmail.com) and b) this account should be enabled the “Sign in to multiple Google Accounts” feature (thanks Paul for the tip) :
1. Go to any profile page on Google plus:
2. Click on the Account -> Switch Accounts menu:
3. Select the Google Account (not the Google Apps account) or log into your Google Account:
Bingo! Your Google plus is now working!




matt 10:08 pm on 2011-07-10 Permalink |
Thats a simple yet elegant tip. Thanks.
Paul 2:21 am on 2011-07-11 Permalink |
Good tip – note that you will need ‘Sign in to multiple Google Accounts’ enabled before you can see the ‘Switch Account’ link. You will find the switch on your google account page.
Sasha O 3:35 am on 2011-07-11 Permalink |
Thanks Paul, I have updated the post with the reference
Donna 7:30 pm on 2011-07-12 Permalink |
Did they block this workaround? or is this also subject to throttling? As it doesn’t work for me atm..
I am signed into my Gmail and my Google Apps email and I see the posts on the person’s profile (as I did before) but still with no comment/+1/follow buttons on the page.
Sasha O 12:13 am on 2011-07-13 Permalink |
Just checked — works as it was. Guess you need to “Switch account” to your Gmail one. Just logging in won’t cut it
Jake 2:02 am on 2011-07-26 Permalink |
This is no longer working.
I did the following
1) enabled multi account login on both my
accounts
2) logged into my apps account
3) switched to my regular account
still get the same message
Sasha O 4:09 am on 2011-07-26 Permalink |
Jake —
Just checked it again in a fresh ‘incognito’ window on Chrome — works for me just as it did. Did you try to clean cookies?
Thanks,
– Sasha
GG 1:28 am on 2011-07-31 Permalink |
I tried this and it was a no-go. Cleaned cookies, etc. Wonder if the two step authentication I enabled is messing about somewhere in Google’s entrails. Ah well, it’ll be available officially for apps users soon (or so the word goes)
Arseniy 6:41 pm on 2011-08-02 Permalink |
nice
that’s going to be popular issue
Andrew Vit 2:20 am on 2011-08-11 Permalink |
Unfortunately doesn’t work for me because my personal Google account wasn’t set up as @gmail.com, but rather using my own domain. That personal account and the Apps account were separate logins (with the same email address) but now they’ve been merged so I can’t log in using that identity as a “personal” user anymore. Hopefully Google fixes these login issues soon.
Sasha O 6:20 am on 2011-08-14 Permalink |
Andrew, I am in exactly the same situation: I have my GA and Gmail accounts linked. Did you try to login into http://gmail.com directly?