How to create a profile in Safari on Mac: steps for Safari 17 and later

A Safari profile is a separate browsing space inside the same app. Each profile keeps its own tabs, history, cookies, and website data. One profile can hold your work logins while another holds your personal ones. Tab Groups are separate as well.

Check your Safari version first

Profiles need Safari 17 or later. Apple's Use profiles article says so directly. It adds that you need macOS Sonoma or later, or the latest Ventura and Monterey updates. Open Safari and choose Safari > About Safari to see your version number.

If your Mac is older, the Profiles tab will not show up in Settings. An Apple Community thread describes exactly that on Safari 16.6 running macOS Ventura 13.5. The top reply says the answer is Safari 17 or later, and that upgrading to Sonoma brings the tab back. That reply came from another user, not from Apple, so treat it as a clue and check Apple's own requirements.

Read the menus before you click

Apple's two profile pages do not agree on the entry point. The Safari User Guide says to open Safari > Settings > Profiles, click the add (+) button, and fill in the form. Apple's Use profiles article also lists Safari > Create Profile as a way in, followed by a Start Using Profiles button for first-time setup.

Name, icon, color, and bookmarks

The name is the label you see most. It shows on the profile button and in the File menu, so choose something short such as Work, School, or Research. Keep it short enough to read at a glance when you switch windows.

The icon and color give you a second cue. When two windows sit side by side, you can tell them apart before you read a word. Pick a color that is clearly different from the others. Avoid two similar blues.

The bookmarks folder decides which favorites this profile shows. Apple describes it as choosing a bookmarks folder for favorites. If you want work links kept out of your personal list, make a folder for each profile first, then pick it in the setup form.

Pick extensions for each profile

Extensions are installed for all profiles, but each profile turns them on or off on its own. A new profile starts with its extensions off. That matters for an ad blocker or password helper, since it will not run in a new profile until you turn it on there.

Give each profile only what it needs. A research profile might keep a note tool and a citation helper. A personal profile might keep a password manager and nothing else. Fewer extensions means less to check when a page behaves oddly.

Worked example: one Mac, three profiles

Say you split one Mac into three profiles. Work gets a Work name, a blue color, and a bookmarks folder that holds your client portals. Personal keeps the default Personal profile, which always exists, with a password helper turned on. A third profile called Research gets a folder of reference sites and the extensions it needs.

Set them up in that order, one at a time. Finish each Create Profile click before you start the next. Then open each profile once and check its toolbar icon, so you know which is which. This small check keeps you from browsing a client site in your personal window.

History works differently from passwords. A search made in Research does not show up in the Personal profile's history. Passwords stored in iCloud Keychain show up in every profile, so a login saved once works everywhere on your Mac.

Switch between profiles without losing your place

You can switch in two ways. The profile button in the toolbar opens a new window for a profile or switches to one. The File menu does the same job from the menu bar. Choose File > New Window > New [profile name] Window to open one for the profile you want.

One limit catches people. The Switch to [Profile] Window option only appears from a start page or an empty page, before you visit another site. If you have already loaded a site in the window, open a new window first and choose the profile there.

• Click the profile button in the toolbar and choose the profile you want.
• Or choose File > New Window > New [profile name] Window from the menu bar.
• Press ⌘` (Command and backtick) to move between open Safari windows.
• Apple lists no keyboard shortcut for creating, switching, or deleting profiles. Use the menus or the toolbar.

What stays separate and what is shared

Profiles separate less than many people expect. History, cookies, website data, Tab Groups, and start page settings stay inside each profile. AutoFill, passwords, and security, websites, and privacy settings are shared across all of them.

The table is the short version. Apple's full list covers start page settings and new tab behavior too. Check Apple's Use profiles article before you assume a setting is local to one profile.

Sync profiles across your Apple devices

Profiles sync automatically only between devices that meet three conditions. Each device runs Safari 17 or later, is signed in with the same Apple Account, and has Safari turned on under iCloud in Apple Account settings. Apple's article also lists iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 or later for syncing.

If a profile is missing on another device, check those three conditions on both devices. A mismatch in any one of them stops the sync, so the profile seems to vanish.

Edit, rename, or delete a profile

Open Safari > Settings > Profiles to change a profile later. Select it, then edit its name, icon, color, or bookmarks folder. The Personal profile always exists, and you can change its name, icon, and color. You cannot delete it or make another profile the default.

Apple's two pages describe bookmarks differently. One says the favorites folder stays unless it is empty. The other says bookmarks and favorites are kept. Treat both as a reason to check first, not as a guarantee.

If you delete every profile except Personal, Safari stops using profiles altogether. You are back to one browsing space.

Mistakes people make with Safari profiles

1. Creating a profile, then browsing in the old window. Open a new window in the new profile before you sign in.
2. Keeping work tabs in Personal. Profiles only separate what you put in them, so move work browsing into its own profile.
3. Expecting passwords to split. Passwords in iCloud Keychain show up in every profile, as Apple describes it.
4. Forgetting extensions. New profiles start with extensions off, so check them before you rely on one.
5. Deleting a profile to clear one site. Deleting removes the whole profile's history, cookies, and website data.
6. Assuming links from Mail open in the right profile. The Open Links With Profile setting sits in Safari > Settings > Websites.

Safari's place among Mac browsers

Safari is a smaller slice of desktop browsing than many people assume. StatCounter put Chrome at 66.98% and Safari at 7.83% of worldwide desktop browser use in October 2026. That figure covers every operating system, not only Macs, so use it as context rather than a Mac count.

Apple released Safari 27 on September 14, 2026. Its security page lists macOS Sequoia and macOS Tahoe as supported. Apple's Safari 27 guide describes profiles, and the steps on this page follow that guide.

When the profile option is missing

Start with the version. If Profiles is missing from Safari > Settings, check Safari > About Safari first. Then update macOS through System Settings > General > Software Update.

If the profile button is missing from the toolbar, use the File menu instead. File > New Window > New [profile name] Window reaches the same profile. The toolbar button is a convenience, not the only route.

What to do after your first profile

Use the new profile for a full day before you judge it. Note which sites you still open in the wrong window. Move those habits into the right profile, then delete any profile you tried and no longer need.

Two profiles, one for work and one for everything else, cover most setups. Add a third only when a second context needs its own history and logins. If you want to check where a setting lives, open Apple's Safari User Guide for your version.