How to Use Chrome Profiles to Keep Work and Personal Extensions Separate

A Chrome profile is a separate browser inside Chrome, with its own extensions, bookmarks, history, passwords, cookies and settings. One profile for work and one for personal use keeps your extensions, and everything else, apart.

Create a second profile

1. Click your profile picture at the top right of Chrome.
2. Click Add (or Add Chrome profile).
3. Sign in with the account you want for that profile, such as your work Google account, or continue without an account.
4. Pick a name and color so you can tell the windows apart.

The new profile opens in its own window with no extensions. Install the ones you want there; they won't appear in your other profile.

What's separate in each profile

• Extensions and their settings
• Bookmarks, history and open tabs
• Saved passwords and autofill
• Cookies, so you're signed in to different accounts in each
• Sync, if you sign each profile in to a different Google account

Switching between profiles

• Click the profile picture and choose the other profile. It opens in a new window, and both can be open at once.
• Create a desktop shortcut for each: in Settings → You and Google → Customize your Chrome profile, turn on Create desktop shortcut (Windows).

Work profiles managed by your employer

If you sign in with a work account, your company may manage that profile: it can install required extensions, block others and set policies. That management applies to the work profile, not your personal one. It's one more reason to keep personal browsing in its own profile.

Which extensions go where

• Work: the tools your job needs, such as your company password manager, meeting and CRM tools.
• Personal: shopping, entertainment, and anything you don't want your employer's policies to touch.
• Both: install comfort and privacy tools, like dark mode or an ad blocker, in each profile separately.

Profiles vs Incognito vs Guest

• A profile keeps everything long term.
• Incognito forgets your session when you close it and runs without extensions unless you allow them.
• Guest mode is a blank, temporary browser for someone else using your computer, with no extensions at all.

For more on managing extensions, see how to turn extensions off without uninstalling them.