How to Use Safari Profiles on iPadOS to Separate Work and Personal Browsing

Safari Profiles in iPadOS allow you to separate your browsing data — including history, cookies, extensions, Tab Groups, and favourites — into distinct workspaces. Instead of mixing your work research, personal shopping, and school assignments in one cluttered browser environment, you can create a dedicated Profile for each.

This means you can be logged into the same website with different accounts simultaneously (e.g., your personal Gmail in a “Personal” profile and your corporate Gmail in a “Work” profile) without having to constantly log in and out or use Private Browsing mode.

Requirements

To use Safari Profiles on your iPad, you must be running iPadOS 17 or later. If your device is running an older version, the Profiles option will not appear in settings.

How to Create a Safari Profile

Profiles are created and managed in the iPadOS Settings app, not directly within Safari.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Scroll down the left sidebar and tap Safari.
3. Scroll down to the Profiles section and tap New Profile.
4. Enter a Name for the profile (e.g., “Work”, “School”, “Finance”).
5. Choose an Icon and a Colour. The colour will tint the Safari address bar, helping you easily identify which profile you are currently using.
6. Under Settings, choose which Favourites folder should appear when you open a new tab in this profile. You can create a new dedicated folder or use an existing one.
7. Tap Done in the top-right corner.

How to Switch Between Safari Profiles

Once you have created at least one custom profile, you can switch between them directly in the Safari app.

1. Open Safari.
2. Tap the Sidebar button (the square icon with a sidebar on the left) in the top-left corner of the screen.
3. Tap the Profile button at the bottom of the sidebar. (By default, this will say “Personal” or show the icon of your current profile).
4. A menu will appear listing your available profiles. Tap the profile you want to switch to.

The Safari interface will update to reflect the colour theme of the selected profile, and your tabs and history will instantly swap to that profile’s data.

Managing Extensions per Profile

One of the most powerful features of Safari Profiles is the ability to enable or disable browser extensions on a per-profile basis. For example, you might want an ad blocker active in your Personal profile, but disabled in your Work profile to prevent compatibility issues with internal company portals.

1. Open Settings > Safari.
2. Tap the profile you want to modify under the Profiles section.
3. Tap Extensions.
4. Toggle individual extensions on or off for this specific profile.

How Profiles Sync Across Devices

If you use iCloud and have Safari syncing enabled, any profile you create on your iPad will automatically sync to your iPhone (running iOS 17+) and Mac (running macOS Sonoma+). Your tabs, history, and bookmarks within that profile will remain synchronised across all your Apple devices.

Deleting a Safari Profile

If you no longer need a profile, you can delete it. Be aware that deleting a profile will permanently erase its browsing history, cookies, and any Tab Groups associated with it. Bookmarks and downloaded files will remain.

1. Open Settings > Safari.
2. Tap the profile you wish to delete.
3. Scroll to the bottom and tap Delete Profile.
4. Confirm your choice.

Safari Profiles transform the iPad browser from a single-user space into a versatile productivity tool. By isolating your data, you reduce tab clutter, maintain focus, and easily manage multiple online identities without the friction of constantly signing in and out of web services.