Burly

Supported browsers

Every browser. Every profile.

Burly discovers the browsers and profiles already on your Mac and puts each one a keystroke away. Here's what it works with today.

By Matt Senter, who builds Burly

Matt Senter is an independent Mac developer who designs, builds, and ships small native apps end to end. He built Burly to send every link on his own Mac to the right browser profile, including Safari profiles that other routers cannot reach, and he writes these pages from that first-hand use.

Updated

Burly's radial picker ringed with browser-profile destinations across Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Brave, Edge, Arc, Vivaldi, Opera, and more, each on its own keyboard shortcut.
One picker, every browser profile on your Mac.
How Burly routes links in each browser family, as of Burly 1.5.0.
Browser familyProfile routingHow the link is deliveredNeeds
Chromium browsersGoogle Chrome, Chrome Canary, Chromium, Brave, Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, Comet, OperaYes, any profileLaunches the browser with its profile directoryNothing
SafariSafariYes, any profileOpens a new window in the chosen profile through the Accessibility API, then hands it the linkAccessibility permission and Safari already running
Firefox browsersFirefox, Firefox Developer Edition, Zen BrowserYes, any named profileLaunches the browser with the named profileNothing
Detected, opens in the current profileArc, Dia, ChatGPT AtlasNo, uses whichever profile is activeHands the link to the running app as-isArc only: Accessibility permission, to wait for a real window

Chromium browsers

Burly opens links straight into the exact profile you pick, launching the browser by its profile directory.

  • Google Chrome logoGoogle Chrome
  • Chrome Canary logoChrome Canary
  • Chromium logoChromium
  • Brave logoBrave
  • Microsoft Edge logoMicrosoft Edge
  • Vivaldi logoVivaldi
  • Comet logoComet
  • Opera logoOpera

Safari

Burly routes links into the right Safari profile.

  • Safari logoSafari

Firefox browsers

Burly targets the named profile you choose for each link.

  • Firefox logoFirefox
  • Firefox Developer Edition logoFirefox Developer Edition
  • Zen Browser logoZen Browser

Detected, opens in the current profile

These browsers lock links to whatever profile is active, so Burly hands the link off as-is instead of switching profiles for you. With Arc, Burly also waits for a real browser window before handing the link over, and opens one if Arc was quit, so the link is not silently swallowed.

  • Arc logoArc
  • Dia logoDia
  • ChatGPT Atlas logoChatGPT Atlas

Does Burly work with Chrome profiles?

Yes. Burly reads your Chrome profiles directly and opens links in the exact one you pick, launching Chrome by its profile directory. The same works for every Chromium browser, including Brave, Edge, Vivaldi, Opera, and Chrome Canary. New profiles you add in Chrome appear in Burly automatically, with nothing to configure. The manual version of the same trick, and why Chrome wants a folder name rather than the profile name, is in how to open links in a specific Chrome profile.

How does Burly open links in Safari profiles?

macOS gives no public way to launch a specific Safari profile, so Burly uses the macOS Accessibility API to open a new window in the Safari profile you choose, then hands it the link. The result is that Safari profiles become real destinations in the picker, something most other link routers cannot do. Safari needs to be running, and Burly needs Accessibility permission, which it walks you through on first launch. The Safari profile switcher guide covers every built-in way to switch profiles too, and why Safari's own profile link setting misfires.

Does Burly work with Arc?

Yes. Arc appears in the picker as a destination and links open in whichever Arc profile is active, because Arc runs a single instance and cannot be launched into a named profile. Arc also throws a link away when it has no browser window open, which is the state right after you quit it, so Burly waits for a real window before handing the link over and presses New Window itself if none appears. That wait uses the macOS Accessibility permission; without it Burly still hands the link off the old way.

Which browsers can Burly route to by profile?

Burly routes to a specific profile in every Chromium browser, in Safari, and in Firefox and its variants (Firefox Developer Edition and Zen). A few browsers, like Arc, Dia, and ChatGPT Atlas, lock links to whatever profile is active (Arc allows only one running instance, so it cannot be launched into a profile), so Burly detects them and hands the link off as-is rather than switching profiles for you. The browser-by-browser detail lives in Brave, Edge, and Arc profiles on a Mac, opening external links in a Firefox profile, and the complete guide to browser profiles on a Mac.

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