How to open links in a specific Chrome profile on Mac

When you click a link in Mail, Slack or any other Mac app, Chrome opens it in the profile whose window you used last. There is no built in setting to change that. You can fix it after the fact with Chrome’s Open link as menu, or before the fact with a link router app that sends each link to the profile you choose.

Why links land in the wrong profile

macOS only knows about browsers, not browser profiles. When you set Chrome as your default browser, every link from another app is handed to Chrome as a whole. Chrome then has to pick a profile, and it picks the one you were using most recently.

That breaks as soon as you switch between work and personal, or between clients. You check your personal Gmail for a minute, then click a work document link in Slack, and it opens in the personal profile where you are not signed in to the right account. If this sounds familiar, our guide on why Chrome opens the wrong profile on Mac goes into more detail.

Option 1: move the link with “Open link as”

Chrome has a simple fix for links that are already on a page. When you have more than one profile, right-click any link and you will see Open link as, with a list of your other profiles. Pick one and the link opens in a window of that profile.

This is handy when a link opens in the wrong place:

1. Let the link open in whatever profile Chrome chose.
2. Copy the page address, or go back to the page that had the link.
3. Right-click the link and choose Open link as, then the right profile.

It costs a few clicks each time, and it does not help with links clicked in other apps. For those, you switch profiles yourself; the quickest ways are covered in how to switch Chrome profiles on a Mac.

A simple habit also helps: bring a window of the right profile to the front before you click a link in another app. It is easy to forget, which is why many people move on to a router.

Option 2: use a link router

A link router is a small Mac app that you set as your default browser in System Settings, under Desktop and Dock. It never shows web pages itself. Instead, every link from every app goes to the router first, and the router passes it on to a real browser.

Well known routers include:

• Velja
• Choosy
• Finicky, which is free and open source, and uses a config file you write
• Browserosaurus, which is free and open source, and shows a picker when you click a link

They work in two broad ways. Some show a small picker each time, so you choose the browser or profile by hand. Others follow rules you set up once, for example “links to our company domain go to the Work profile” or “links clicked in Slack go to the Client profile”. Several of them can target a specific Chrome profile, not just Chrome as a whole. Check each app’s own documentation for how it handles profiles, since the setup differs between them.

A few tips when you set one up:

• Start with a handful of rules for the domains you use most, such as your work email, your team’s document tool and your code host.
• Pick a sensible fallback for everything else, usually your personal profile.
• Test each rule by clicking a real link from Mail or Slack, not just by typing an address in Chrome, since typed addresses do not pass through the router.

Option 3: combine a router with per-profile Dock icons

A router gets the link into the right profile. It does not help you find that profile’s windows afterwards. On a Mac the Dock shows one icon per running app, so every Chrome profile shares the same Chrome icon, and clicking it brings forward whatever Chrome had in front last.

This is where Chrome Profile Switcher fits in. It is a small menu bar app from ZwayStudios that gives each browser profile its own icon in the Dock, with that profile’s picture on it. Click the Work icon and the Work profile’s existing windows come forward, even if they are on another desktop or display. Click again to cycle to that profile’s next window. It keeps one real copy of Chrome running, so your logins, extensions and history stay as they are.

Together the two tools cover the full loop:

1. You click a link in Slack. The router sends it to your Work profile.
2. Later you want that page again. You click the Work icon in the Dock and you are back in that profile’s windows.

If you also want to open a new window in a profile without hunting through menus, right-click its Dock icon and choose New Window. For the full setup of the icons, see how to add multiple Chrome profiles to the Mac Dock.

Which option should you pick?

• You rarely get a wrong profile link: right-click and use Open link as when it happens.
• Links from other apps often land in the wrong place: set up a link router with a few domain rules.
• You also lose track of which window belongs to which profile: add per-profile Dock icons on top of the router.

Chrome Profile Switcher is free during the beta and works with macOS 14 Sonoma or later. You can download it here.

Questions

Can Chrome itself choose a profile for links from other apps? No. Chrome opens outside links in the profile you used most recently. To choose a profile per link, you need a link router or you need to move the link yourself with Open link as.

Where is “Open link as” in Chrome? Right-click any link on a web page. The option appears in the menu when you have more than one Chrome profile, with a list of your other profiles.

Does Chrome Profile Switcher route links? No. It gives each profile its own Dock icon and brings that profile’s windows forward. For routing links by rules, use a link router alongside it.

Do these tools work with Brave or Edge profiles too? Chrome Profile Switcher supports Brave, Edge, Vivaldi and other browsers; see the browsers page. For routers, check each app’s documentation for the browsers and profiles it supports.