To launch a specific Chrome user profile from the taskbar, you need to pin that specific Chrome profile to the taskbar. Here’s how.
In the Google Chrome browser, you can create multiple profiles. These profiles are much like your Windows user accounts. Each profile is like a separate container where you can install extensions, customize the browser, and sync browser data with your Google account. The Chrome user profiles are very useful when you want to share the browser with multiple users. Even if you are not sharing your browser with other users, having multiple profiles is useful. Especially to separate browsing data, testing, etc.
Like any application, you can pin Google Chrome to the taskbar. When you do that, you are just pinning the generic Chrome shortcut. As such, launching Chrome from the taskbar will open the last opened profile rather than a specific profile you want. You can avoid that by pin a specific Chrome profile to the taskbar. Doing so ensures that no matter what profile you used earlier, Chrome will always launch the profile you pinned.
So, without further ado, let me show you the way to pin a specific Chrome user profile to the taskbar in Windows.
Note: The steps below can be followed in Windows 8 (& 7) too. Just make sure that you are using Chrome v70 or higher.
Steps to Pin Chrome Profile to Taskbar
To pin a Chrome profile to the taskbar, you first need to create the shortcut for that profile. In older Chrome versions, you have to manually change the shortcut properties and add the profile name. However, in recent versions, you don’t have to do that. Just toggle the switch and the shortcut will be created for you.
1. First, open the Chrome browser if it is not already opened.
2. Make sure that you are in the profile you want to pin. If you are in the target profile, ignore this step. Otherwise, click on the “Profile” icon appearing next to the address bar and select your profile.
3. The above action will launch the Chrome browser in the profile of your choosing. Here, type “chrome://settings/manageProfile” in the address bar and press “Enter“.
4. In the Edit person page, toggle the “Show desktop shortcut” switch to “On” position.
5. As soon as you do that, you will see a new profile-specific Chrome shortcut on the desktop.
6. Now, just drag and drop the shortcut on to your taskbar to pin the Chrome profile. Once pinned, you can even see the profile icon.
That is it. You’ve successfully pinned the Chrome profile to the taskbar. Whenever you launch Chrome using that pinned shortcut, it will be launched in that profile.
I hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible. If you like this, do check out how to remove the Chrome profile icon from the address bar.