Using Browser Profiles at TAMU

Overview

Browser profiles allow users to customize and separate different browsing environments, facilitating personalized settings, bookmarks, and extensions for distinct tasks or identities within a single browser. At Texas A&M University (TAMU), creating browser profiles can enhance productivity and organization for students and staff by enabling them to efficiently manage academic and personal tasks, including their NetID, Secondary NetID, Ag account, their personal Google account, etc.  

Instructions 

Google Chrome 

Add a new profile: 

1. On your computer, open Chrome. 

2. At the top right, click the Profile icon.

3. Select Add a new Chrome profile. 

3. Sign in to sync your data and connect to your TAMU account. 

NOTE: If you choose to sync to your Google Account, your profile name will automatically be your Account name. 

4. Choose a name, photo, and color scheme. 

Switching to another profile

1. On your computer, open Chrome. 

2. At the top right, select the Profile icon.

3. Choose the profile you want to switch to. 

For official documentation on profiles: Manage Chrome with Multiple Profiles 

Microsoft Edge 

Add a new profile: 

1. On your computer, open Microsoft Edge.  

2. At the top right, select the icon that represents your current profile. Selecting this icon will open a drop-down menu. 

3. Select Manage profile settings. At the top of the drop-down menu, select the gear icon, and a new profile settings tab will open. 

4. Select Add profile. 

5. Choose Add. A new tab will open with the option to sync your data or create a new profile without your data. 

6. Sign in to sync your data and connect to your TAMU account. 

7. Select  Continue. 

8. Switch Sign in synchronization to Yes. 

9. Select Confirm. 

Switching to another profile 

1. On your computer, open Microsoft Edge. 

2. At the top right, select the profile icon. 

3. Choose the profile you want to switch to. 

For official documentation on profiles: Managing Profiles on Microsoft Edge 

Safari (Mac)  

Add a new profile: 

1. From the menu bar in Safari, choose Safari. (requires Safari 17 or later*) 

2. Click Start Using Profiles. Then set up your TAMU profile:

   • Name: The name will appear in the new Safari toolbar button for this profile.

   • Symbol: The symbol will appear in the Safari toolbar button for this profile, and in the default background of the profile's start page.

   • Color: The color will appear in the Safari toolbar button for this profile, and in the default background of the profile's start page.

   • Favorites: If you choose “Create new bookmarks folder,” the new folder will have the same name as this profile. Bookmarks saved to the favorites folder appear in the Favorites bar for this profile.
     

   3. Click on Create Profile. By default, Safari opens new windows and new tabs to your start page. 

Switching to another profile  

After you create a profile, the Safari toolbar shows a button with the name, symbol, and color of the currently used profile or Tab Group. Click the button to open a menu, then choose: 

• New [Profile] Window: Opens a new window in that profile. You can also open a new profile window from the menu bar: Choose File > New [Profile] Window.  

• Switch to [Profile] Window: Switches to another profile without opening a new window.  

  

   

NOTE: To keep your browsing history separate, this option is available only from a window that shows your start page or an empty page, before you visit another page. 

For official documentation on profiles: Using Profiles in Safari on Mac 

Firefox 

Add a new profile: 

1. Open Firefox to a new tab, and in the URL bar type about:profiles. This is the profile manager, here you can see all of the profiles you have available.
   

2.  At the top of the page, click Create a New Profile to open the profile wizard. 

3.  Click Next to name the profile. Make note of what you call this (including capitalization).
   

4. Click Finish.

5.  You can change the default profile by clicking Set as Default underneath.
   NOTE: The default profile will be the one launched by Firefox if you don't specify which you want. If you want this to be the profile named default, so make sure Set as Default is selected. 

Switching to another profile 

1. On your desktop, right-click and create a new shortcut. 

2.  In the dialogue, type the following "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -new-instance -P "name of the profile ", 

3. Replace the selected profile with whichever profile you want to use. 

4. Apply the changes and verify that the browser opens to your desired profile by going to about:profiles in the URL bar. 

For official documentation on profiles: Managing Profiles in Firefox