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I have been trying to open Google Chrome from command line but with no luck! I have tried How do I start Chrome using a specified "user profile"?

My goal is to open Google Chrome with a specific profile such as "profile 1", "profile 2", or "Default" from the command line, using bash to be specific, on my Mac.

UPDATE: 6/3/14 Got this to work BUT only works when opening chrome for the first time

open -a Google\ Chrome --args --"profile-directory"="Profile 1"

So How do you get --args to be accepted AFTER google chrome as already been launched??

Community
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gradedcatfood
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  • What parts of the linked question did you try and what didn't work about them? – Jason Aller May 28 '14 at 04:26
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    'open -a "Google Chrome" --args --profile-directory=Default' Which in the same thread says this no longer works as of Nov 2014

    Also tried 'com.google.Chrome --args --profile-directory=Default' After following his comment, tried it with it it hanging on that exact line, no erros, no chrome opening

     – gradedcatfood May 28 '14 at 04:32

5 Answers5

10

To force a new profile window after Chrome has been launched:

open -n -a "Google Chrome" --args --profile-directory="<your profile>"

(where <your profile> is one of the Profile nn folder names found in ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/)

According to the manpage for open, the -n flag forces "a new instance of the application even if one is already running." You'll see second Chrome icon flash open briefly in the dock while the window loads but everything runs normal after that.

rymo
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  • What's the point of --args? – Pacerier Sep 08 '17 at 14:31
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    @Pacerier per the man page for open: "--args: All remaining arguments are passed to the opened application in the argv parameter to main(). These arguments are not opened or interpreted by the open tool." In other words, we're specifying that --profile-directory is a switch for Chrome and not for open itself. – rymo Sep 08 '17 at 15:59
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    Seems to open a new profile even when the name is right. Also tried using the full path to the profile and still getting a brand-new profile each time. Has something changed? – tgf Apr 24 '19 at 16:17
8

You could try the following:

/Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --args --profile-directory=Default

Referred from this answer.

Community
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Chirag Bhatia - chirag64
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2

To additionally pass a URL to open:

open -n -a "Google Chrome" --args https://example.com --profile-directory="Profile 5"

Fer
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  • @communityBot As it’s currently written, your comment is unclear. Please edit to add additional details that will help me to understand what parts of my answer are unclear to you :P – Fer Mar 11 '22 at 06:30
1

Try: open -a "Google Chrome" --args --profile-directory=<your profile name> Works every time for me.

Alan Tweedie
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0

chrome profile names in the browser UI and their profile folder names are different.

# eg: default profile name in UI might be "Abc", but its profile name is Default
# eg: another profile name in UI might be "Test Account", but its profile name might be "Profile 1"
# so identify the profiles names properly at ~/Library/Application\ Support/Google/Chrome

open -n -a "Google Chrome.app" --args --profile-directory="Profile 2"
Venu
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  • As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Community Jun 15 '23 at 19:56