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Profiles in Nook provide complete data isolation, allowing you to maintain separate browsing identities with their own cookies, history, and tabs.

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What are profiles?

Profiles are independent browsing contexts that keep your data completely separated:
  • Isolated data - Each profile has its own cookies, cache, and storage
  • Separate sessions - Stay logged in to different accounts simultaneously
  • Independent history - Browsing history is profile-specific
  • Profile-specific tabs - Pinned tabs and spaces can be assigned to profiles

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Common use cases

Work and personal separation

Keep work browsing separate from personal browsing. Stay logged into your work Google account in one profile and your personal account in another.

Client projects

Create a profile for each client, keeping their credentials, tabs, and browsing data isolated.

Testing

Test web applications with different user accounts or permission levels simultaneously.

Privacy tiers

Maintain different privacy levels - one profile for logged-in services, another for anonymous browsing.

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Creating profiles

1

Open profile settings

Click the menu button at the bottom of the sidebar, then select Profiles.
2

Create new profile

Click the + button to create a new profile.
3

Configure profile

  • Name - Give your profile a descriptive name (e.g., “Work”, “Personal”)
  • Icon - Choose an SF Symbol icon to identify the profile
4

Save profile

Click Create to save your new profile.
The profile is created with its own persistent data store, ensuring complete isolation from other profiles.

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Switching profiles

1

Open profile menu

Click the menu button at the bottom of the sidebar, then select Profiles.
2

Select profile

Click the profile you want to switch to.
3

Wait for transition

Nook will transition to the selected profile, loading its spaces and tabs.
Switching profiles reloads the browser interface to use the new profile’s data store. This ensures complete data isolation.

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Data isolation

Each profile maintains completely separate:

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Browser data

  • Cookies - Session cookies, persistent cookies, authentication tokens
  • Local storage - Website data stored in localStorage and sessionStorage
  • Cache - Disk cache and memory cache for web resources
  • IndexedDB - Client-side databases used by web applications
  • Service workers - Background scripts registered by websites

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Browsing state

  • History - Browsing history is profile-specific
  • Pinned tabs - Each profile has its own set of global pinned tabs (Essentials)
  • Profile assignment - Spaces can be assigned to specific profiles

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Extensions (macOS 15.5+)

  • Extension storage - Each profile has isolated extension data
  • Extension state - Extension settings and preferences are separate
  • API access - Extensions interact with the profile’s data store
Profiles use persistent data stores on disk. Your data survives app restarts and is stored in ~/Library/Application Support/Nook/Profiles/.

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Profile-specific spaces

You can assign spaces to specific profiles:
  1. Right-click a space indicator
  2. Select Edit Space
  3. Choose a profile from the dropdown
  4. Click Save
When you switch profiles:
  • Assigned spaces - Only spaces assigned to that profile are visible
  • Unassigned spaces - Spaces without a profile assignment are visible in all profiles
Assigning spaces to profiles helps organize your workspaces. For example, keep all work spaces in your “Work” profile.

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Default profile

Nook automatically creates a “Default” profile on first launch:
  • Used when no other profile is selected
  • Cannot be deleted (must have at least one profile)
  • Can be renamed and customized
The default profile is your primary browsing context if you don’t use multiple profiles.

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Incognito mode vs profiles

Profiles and incognito mode serve different purposes:

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Profiles

  • Persistent - Data is saved to disk
  • Isolated - Complete separation between profiles
  • Multiple identities - Stay logged in to different accounts
  • Long-term - Maintain separate browsing contexts over time

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Incognito mode

  • Ephemeral - No data is saved when the window closes
  • Private - Browsing history and cookies are temporary
  • Single session - Data exists only for the window’s lifetime
  • No tracking - Ideal for one-time sessions

Combining both

You can use incognito mode within a profile context. This gives you temporary browsing without affecting the profile’s saved data.

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Profile management

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Deleting profiles

1

Open profile settings

Navigate to Settings → Profiles.
2

Select profile

Click the profile you want to delete.
3

Delete profile

Click the Delete button.
4

Confirm deletion

Confirm the deletion in the dialog.
Deleting a profile permanently removes all its data:
  • Cookies and cache
  • Browsing history
  • Local storage
  • Profile-assigned spaces (spaces themselves are preserved, but lose profile assignment)
This action cannot be undone.

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Editing profiles

Edit profile details:
  1. Open Settings → Profiles
  2. Click the profile to edit
  3. Update the name or icon
  4. Click Save
Changes take effect immediately.

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Profile data size

View how much data each profile is using:
  1. Open Settings → Profiles
  2. Select a profile
  3. View the Data Size section
This shows:
  • Cookie count - Number of cookies stored
  • Cache records - Number of cached resources
  • Estimated size - Approximate disk space used

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Technical implementation

Profiles use WebKit’s WKWebsiteDataStore API for data isolation:
  • Each profile gets a unique UUID identifier
  • Data stores are persistent and deterministic
  • Profile data is stored in ~/Library/Application Support/Nook/Profiles/{UUID}/
  • WebViews are configured with the profile’s data store
Profiles require macOS 15.4+ for full functionality. On older systems, Nook falls back to a shared data store.

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Best practices

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Profile naming

Use clear, descriptive names:
  • Work - For work-related browsing
  • Personal - For personal accounts
  • Client: Acme Corp - For specific clients
  • Testing - For development and testing

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Profile organization

Organize your workflow:
  1. Create a profile for each major context
  2. Assign spaces to profiles for organization
  3. Use global pinned tabs for apps you need in every profile
  4. Use incognito mode for temporary sessions within a profile

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Data management

Periodically review and clean up:
  • Check profile data sizes
  • Delete unused profiles
  • Clear cookies and cache for profiles you no longer use

Keyboard shortcuts

  • Cmd+Shift+P - Switch profiles
  • Cmd+, then Profiles - Open profile settings

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