Safari profiles
A Safari profile switcher for macOS that actually opens the profile you picked
Safari profiles keep work cookies out of personal windows, but a clicked link still ignores them. Burly is a Safari profile switcher: it becomes your default handler and sends each link to the named Safari profile you choose, using Safari's own menu rather than a brittle script.
What is a Safari profile switcher?
A Safari profile switcher is a small app that intercepts a link and opens it in a specific Safari profile (Work, Personal, a client) instead of whatever Safari window happens to be frontmost. Safari itself cannot do that. The default browser setting on macOS picks an application, not a profile, so every http click into Safari lands in the active window's profile.
That is why forum threads for "Safari profile switcher" are full of Keyboard Maestro palettes, URL-copy macros, and AppleScript that talks to System Events. People are not looking for another browser. They already use Safari profiles. They want the click to honor them.
Why Safari is harder than Chrome
Chrome, Brave, Edge, and Firefox all accept a launch argument that names a profile directory. A link router can start the right profile without touching the UI. Safari has no equivalent public flag. The only reliable mechanism is to press the per-profile "New Profile Window" item in Safari's File menu, then hand that window the URL.
AppleScript plus System Events looks like the obvious way to press a menu item, and it is the path most shortcuts take. It fails with error -1743 unless the app also has Automation consent, a separate grant from Accessibility, and that grant is unreliable for apps that are not in the App Store. On macOS 15 and later the profile items are nested under a New Window submenu, so a script that looked at the top-level File menu silently finds nothing.
Burly reads the menu through the Accessibility API, descends one level when the items are nested, and presses the matching "New <Profile> Window" title. That is why Safari profiles show up next to Chrome and Firefox profiles in the same picker, and why the supported browsers list treats Safari profiles as first-class destinations.
How to use Burly as your Safari profile switcher
- Download Burly and drag it to Applications. Grant Accessibility when macOS asks: that permission is how Burly reaches Safari's profile menu.
- Open Burly once so it can read the Safari profiles already on your Mac. Each one shows up as its own destination, the same way Chrome and Firefox profiles do.
- In System Settings, under Desktop & Dock, set Burly as your default web browser. Every http and https click now lands with Burly first.
- Click any link and pick the Safari profile it belongs in. Burly opens a window in that profile and hands it the URL. No copy-paste, no AppleScript.
If you have never changed the default handler, the default browser guide walks through Desktop & Dock. The broader category, including pickers that cannot reach Safari, is in the macOS browser picker guide.
How this compares to other routers
If Safari profiles are the reason you are shopping, most of the field is already out. Velja, Choosy, and Finicky can target Chromium and Firefox profiles and cannot target a Safari profile. OpenIn can, and it also routes mail and files, for $11.99. Burly is free and focused on web links. The comparison hub puts that in one table, and the 2026 roundup says who each app is for.
Safari profile switcher FAQ
- Does Safari have a built-in profile switcher for links?
- No. Safari on recent macOS lets you create named profiles with their own cookies, history, and extensions, but a clicked link still opens in whichever Safari window is in front. There is no public API to say "open this URL in my Work profile."
- Why do Keyboard Maestro and AppleScript workarounds fail?
- Safari has no command-line flag for a profile. AppleScript talking to System Events needs a separate Automation consent that ad-hoc and many indie apps cannot reliably get. Keyboard Maestro macros that click menu items break when Apple nests "New Profile Window" under a submenu, which is what macOS 15 and later do.
- How does Burly open a specific Safari profile?
- It uses the Accessibility API to read Safari's File menu, including the nested New Window submenu on recent macOS, and presses the "New <Profile> Window" item for the profile you picked. Then it hands the URL to that new window. Safari has to be running; Burly launches it if it is not.
- Which other macOS link routers can target Safari profiles?
- Almost none. Velja, Choosy, Finicky, Bumpr, and Browserosaurus stop at Chromium and Firefox profiles, or at the browser itself. OpenIn can reach Safari profiles too; Burly is the free option that does.
Send Safari links to the right profile
Free, native, and private. Safari profiles included, no AppleScript required.
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