Chrome profiles in the Mac Dock: every option compared
Short answer: pick by what you need. Epichrome if you want a genuinely isolated browser and do not mind logging in again. An Automator launcher if you only need the right profile to open and can tolerate a new window each time. Okie Dockie if you want the Chrome profiles you already use to appear as separate Dock icons that return you to the window you had open. Chrome's own "Create Shortcut" solves a different problem and will not help.
On this page
The five options
Everyone who wants per-profile Dock icons on a Mac ends up looking at the same five things. They are not variations on one idea — they solve materially different problems, and most of the frustration online comes from people picking the one that solves a problem they did not have.
Chrome's Create Shortcut
Found under Save and share → Create shortcut. It makes an icon for the current page, not for the profile. Tick "Open as window" and you get a chromeless window with no tabs and no address bar.
Use it for: turning Gmail or Figma into something that feels like an app.
Do not use it for: reaching a profile. It is not what the feature is.
Automator or shell launchers
Wrap open -na "Google Chrome" --args --profile-directory="Profile 1" in an
Automator application, give it an icon, drag it to the Dock. Free, no third-party software,
and it does open the correct profile.
Two things wear on you. You must identify profiles by folder name —
Default, Profile 1, Profile 7 — not by the names you
gave them. And every click opens a new window;
there is no flag that returns
you to an existing one. By the end of a week you have a dozen stray windows per
profile.
Use it for: occasional profiles you open fresh anyway.
Do not use it for: profiles you switch back to all day.
Epichrome
Open source; its developer has ended development, with 2.4.27 as the final release. It builds standalone Mac applications that run Chrome's engine, each a real app with a real Dock identity, so clicking one goes to its window properly.
Each Epichrome app carries its own browser data directory — a new profile, not one of your existing ones — so sign-ins, extensions and browsing data are kept separately. Each app is built through a wizard, and the shared runtime needs keeping up to date.
Use it for: a client or work identity that should share nothing with your everyday
browser.
Not designed for: putting the profiles you already have into the Dock.
Unite and similar app-makers
Unite, Coherence, Flotato and friends turn a website into a Mac app. Same category as Chrome's Create Shortcut, with more options, and usually paid. They are site-specific by design and have no concept of a browser profile.
Use them for: a site you want to feel native.
Not designed for: browser profiles.
Okie Dockie
Puts the Chrome profiles you already use into the Dock, each as its own icon.
It reads the profiles Chrome knows about under their real names, builds a launcher app for each one you tick, and badges the icon with that profile's own picture. Because it tracks which Chrome window belongs to which profile, clicking an icon raises that profile's existing window; clicking again cycles through its other windows; and a new window appears only when the profile has none.
Nothing about Chrome changes. Same logins, same extensions, same history, same passwords — it is your profile, just reachable. Untick a profile and the icon disappears; Chrome never knew. Each launcher takes under 1 MB of disk, since it contains no browser of its own.
It needs Accessibility permission, because focusing another app's windows is impossible without it, and it is a paid feature at $19 once, with a 7-day free trial first. The rest of the app — snap layouts, click-through window focus, drag-to-top sharing — is free.
Use it for: switching between the Chrome profiles you already live in.
Not designed for: a separate, isolated browser.
Side by side
| Create Shortcut | Automator | Epichrome | Okie Dockie | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free | Free | $19 once · 7-day free trial |
| Uses your existing profiles | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Real profile names | n/a | No | You name them | Yes |
| Profile picture on icon | No | No | Custom | Yes, automatic |
| Returns to open window | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Cycles through windows | No | No | No | Yes |
| Keeps logins and extensions | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Setup per profile | Minutes | Minutes | Wizard + login | One tick |
The main difference between the last two: Epichrome makes a new browser, Okie Dockie makes your existing browser's profiles reachable from the Dock.
Get every Chrome profile into your Dock
Okie Dockie builds a real Dock icon for each Chrome profile you use, badged with that profile's own picture. Click one and you land back in the window it already had open.
Everything except Chrome profile icons is free forever, and the profile icons come with a 7-day free trial that starts on its own — no sign-up, no card. macOS 13+, Apple Silicon and Intel.
Frequently asked questions
Is Okie Dockie an Epichrome alternative?
For putting Chrome profiles in the Dock, yes. The difference is that Epichrome creates standalone apps with their own separate browser data, while Okie Dockie adds Dock icons for the Chrome profiles you already have, keeping your logins, extensions and history. Epichrome is suited to an isolated browser; its development has ended.
Is there a free way to put Chrome profiles in the Mac Dock?
Yes — an Automator application running open -na "Google Chrome" --args --profile-directory="Profile 1", or Epichrome. The Automator route opens a new window on every click and identifies profiles by folder number; Epichrome is free and creates a separate profile with its own data. Okie Dockie is the paid option at $19, with a 7-day free trial so you can check it against your own profiles first.
Does Okie Dockie work with Arc, Brave, Edge or Safari?
Chrome and its Beta, Dev and Canary channels are supported. Safari cannot be supported by any tool because it accepts no profile argument and exposes no profile list. Other Chromium browsers are not supported today.
Do I need to uninstall my Automator launchers first?
No, they can coexist, though you will probably want to remove them once the profile icons are in place to avoid two icons for the same profile.
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