In iOS 17, Safari has gained a new feature called Profiles, which is designed to help separate your browsing sessions into things like Work, School, or Personal. Here's how to use it in the beta and when iOS 17 is released to the general public later this month.

iOS 17 General Safari Feature
In ‌iOS 17‌, Apple expands on Tab Groups with a Profile feature that is designed to let you separate your browsing for different use cases. You can create a "Work" profile and a "Personal" profile, for example, so all of your work-related browsing is kept separate from your personal browsing.

Each profile gets its own icon and silos your history, Tab Groups, Favorites, Private Browsing tabs, and cookies. You can even assign specific extensions to different profiles to optimize your browsing experience based on the task at hand.

How to Create a Safari Profile

To set up profiles on iPhones running iOS 17, simply follow these steps:

  1. Open the Settings app on you iPhone or iPad.
  2. Scroll down to Safari.
  3. Under the "Profiles" section, tap New Profile.
  4. Select an icon, name, and background color for the profile.

  5. Choose your settings for Favorites and New Tabs.
  6. Tap Done.

safari

When you create a new profile, your device will automatically generate a "Personal" profile to differentiate other browsing sessions conducted outside of the profile you created.

Both profiles and additional ones you create can be edited in the same section of the Settings app. When editing an existing profile, you can also opt to enable any Safari extensions you have installed on your device, as well as delete the profile if desired.

How to Switch Between Profiles in Safari

  1. In Safari, tap the Tabs icon with two overlapping squares.
  2. Tap the middle icon to bring up the active profile's menu.
  3. Tap the Profile option to change which profile is active.

safari

The Safari Profiles feature is available in iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma, as well as being part of Safari 17 for macOS Monterey and macOS Ventura. Any profiles you create will be synced across devices logged into the same Apple ID.

Tag: Safari
Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Top Rated Comments

Rygaard Avatar
17 months ago
how about Google maps 5 hours of driving with GPS dont count towards SCREENTIME ??
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Agent OrangeZ Avatar
17 months ago
Why not just give us user profiles for the WHOLE DEVICE? (because that would just make too much sense)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fwmireault Avatar
17 months ago
I am on the beta, the feature is nicely implemented! You can tie a profile to your focus mode, which is quite useful
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
17 months ago

how about Google maps 5 hours of driving with GPS dont count towards SCREENTIME ??
Yes! Let us exempt certain apps from Screentime. Waze for me.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheMacDaddy1 Avatar
17 months ago
I wish they would bring back Safari for Windows. I have to use Windows at work sometimes and because I do I use Chrome across Mac and Windows.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fatTribble Avatar
17 months ago
This looks like a really cool new feature!
I’m just not sure yet how I’ll use it. ?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...
Generic iOS 18

Apple Releases First Betas of iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3

Monday December 16, 2024 10:06 am PST by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2. iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software update. There's no word yet on what's included in iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, ...
Magic Mouse Next to Keyboard

Apple 'Working' on Redesigned Magic Mouse With a Long-Awaited 'Fix'

Sunday December 15, 2024 8:43 am PST by
Apple is working on a redesigned Magic Mouse that will address some "longstanding complaints," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said Apple in recent months has been working on a "full overhaul" of the Magic Mouse with a design that "better fits the modern era." However, he does not expect the new Magic Mouse to be released in the "next 12 to 18...
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

AirTag 2 Expected to Launch Next Year With 'Considerable' Upgrade to Item Tracking

Sunday December 15, 2024 2:57 pm PST by
Apple plans to release a second-generation AirTag next year with "considerably" longer range for item tracking, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new AirTag will use Apple's second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, or equivalent technology. The chip debuted last year in the iPhone 15 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and Apple said it offers up...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
Apple TV 4K hero 221018 feature

Here is Everything New for the Apple TV in the tvOS 18.3 Update So Far

Tuesday December 17, 2024 6:25 am PST by
Apple on Monday seeded the first tvOS 18.3 beta to developers for testing. The update will likely be released in January. So far, there are only minor changes for the Apple TV, with one new feature and a few code changes discovered. Below, we outline what is new in tvOS 18.3 so far. Robot Vacuum Support in Home App First, tvOS 18.3 will add robot vacuum support to the Home app on the...
iphone 17 pro concept render cameras

Major iPhone 17 Pro Redesign Backed by Supply Chain Info, Claims Leaker

Thursday December 12, 2024 4:36 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 17 Pro models will reportedly feature a major redesign, specifically centering around changes to the rear camera module, and now new supply chain information appears to confirm the striking change, according to a Chinese leaker. iPhone 17 Pro concept render Late last month, The Information's Wayne Ma claimed that the rear of the ‌iPhone 17‌ Pro and ‌iPhone 17‌ Pro...