How to create separate Chrome profile apps on macOS

Chrome stores all its profile data under ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/. Each profile lives in a directory like Default, Profile 1, Profile 2, etc. The Local State JSON file maps these directories to human-readable names.

# List all Chrome profiles and their directory names
python3 -c "
import json, os
local_state = os.path.expanduser(
    '~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Local State'
)
with open(local_state) as f:
    profiles = json.load(f)['profile']['info_cache']
for dir_name, info in profiles.items():
    name = info.get('gaia_name') or info.get('name') or dir_name
    print(f'{dir_name:>12}  →  {name}')
"

You'll see output like Profile 1 → Work. Note down the directory name, that's what you'll pass to the script.

macOS identifies apps by their bundle identifier, not the filename. Two copies of Chrome.app with the same bundle ID still show up as one app in the Dock and Cmd+Tab. So we need a full copy that we can give its own identity.

# ~500MB per copy, unfortunately there's no way around this
cp -R "/Applications/Google Chrome.app" "/Applications/Chrome Work.app"

Patch the app's Info.plist to change the bundle identifier, name, and display name. This is what makes macOS see it as a completely separate application in the Dock and app switcher.

PLIST="/Applications/Chrome Work.app/Contents/Info.plist"

# Unique bundle ID - this is the important one
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :CFBundleIdentifier com.chrome.profile.work" "$PLIST"

# Human-readable name (shows in Cmd+Tab, Activity Monitor, etc.)
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :CFBundleName Chrome Work" "$PLIST"
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :CFBundleDisplayName Chrome Work" "$PLIST"

Chrome bundles Google's Keystone updater. If you leave it in the copy, it'll try to auto-update on its own and break your launcher. Two things to do: delete the framework and neuter the update URL.

APP="/Applications/Chrome Work.app"

# Remove the updater framework entirely
rm -rf "$APP/Contents/Frameworks/KeystoneRegistration.framework"

# Point the update URL to localhost as a fallback
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :KSUpdateURL https://localhost/disabled" \
  "$APP/Contents/Info.plist" 2>/dev/null || true

Here's the fun part. Rename the real Chrome binary and replace it with a shell script that launches the original with --profile-directory. When you double-click the app, macOS runs your script, which starts Chrome pointing at the right profile.

MACOS_DIR="/Applications/Chrome Work.app/Contents/MacOS"

# Stash the real binary
mv "$MACOS_DIR/Google Chrome" "$MACOS_DIR/Google Chrome.orig"

# Write a launcher that passes --profile-directory
cat > "$MACOS_DIR/Google Chrome" << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
DIR="$(dirname "$0")"
exec "$DIR/Google Chrome.orig" --profile-directory="Profile 1" "$@"
EOF

chmod +x "$MACOS_DIR/Google Chrome"

Replace Profile 1 with the directory name you found in step 1. The exec replaces the script process with Chrome, so you don't get a lingering shell process.

macOS won't run a modified app without re-signing it. An ad-hoc signature (the -s - flag) works fine for this, no Apple Developer account needed. Then register it with Launch Services so Spotlight and the Dock pick it up.

APP="/Applications/Chrome Work.app"

# Strip extended attributes and re-sign
xattr -cr "$APP"
codesign --force -s - "$APP/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome"
codesign --force -s - --deep "$APP"

# Register with Launch Services
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/\
Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -f "$APP"