How to switch between Chrome profiles quickly on a Mac
Short answer: click your profile picture at the top right of any Chrome window, or open Profiles in Chrome's menu bar, and pick the profile. Command-Shift-M opens the same profile menu from the keyboard. Each of these opens a new window for that profile, though. To get back to the window a profile already has open, add each profile to the Dock with Okie Dockie.
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The profile button
At the top right of every Chrome window is a small picture — the profile that window belongs to. Click it and Chrome lists your other profiles. Choosing one opens a window signed in as that profile. This is the route most people find first, and it works fine if you switch a couple of times a day.
The Profiles menu and Command-Shift-M
On a Mac, Chrome also has a Profiles menu in the menu bar at the top of the screen, listing every profile by name. It is handy when the current window is full screen or the profile button is hard to hit.
From the keyboard, Command-Shift-M opens the profile menu for the window in front, so you can pick a profile with the arrow keys and Return.
Why switching keeps opening new windows
All of these methods ask Chrome to open a profile, and Chrome answers that request with a fresh window every time. If the profile you want already has a window open behind your others, Chrome does not bring it forward — it adds another. After a day of switching you can easily have three windows of the same profile.
The window you want can be found with Command-` (the key above Tab), which cycles Chrome's windows, but with several profiles open that means stepping through all of them.
One click per profile, from the Dock
Okie Dockie adds your Chrome profiles to the Mac Dock one by one, each showing that profile's picture. Clicking a profile's icon takes you to the window that profile already has open; clicking again moves through its other windows. A new window only opens when the profile has none. Switching becomes one click, and the pile of duplicate windows stops building up.
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
What is the shortcut to switch Chrome profiles on a Mac?
Command-Shift-M opens Chrome's profile menu for the window in front. Pick a profile with the arrow keys and press Return.
Why does switching Chrome profiles open a new window?
Chrome treats every profile switch as a request to open that profile, and always answers with a new window, even if one is already open.
Can I switch Chrome profiles without opening a new window?
Not with Chrome alone. Okie Dockie's Dock icons bring back the window a profile already has open, and only open a new one when there is none.
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