Multi-account profiles

TL;DR: Multi-account profiles are named, encrypted cookie snapshots that you switch between in one click — work, personal, testing — inside a single browser window, with no logging out and no separate browser profiles. Free gives you 2 local profiles; Pro adds unlimited profiles plus encrypted cross-device sync.

A multi-account profile in CookieVault is a named, encrypted snapshot of the cookies for the domains you choose, which you can load back into the browser in a single click to instantly become a different logged-in identity. It is the modern, Manifest V3-compatible alternative to juggling separate Chrome profiles or Firefox containers: instead of opening a new browser window per identity, CookieVault swaps only the relevant cookies in your current window. The result is that one browser session can flip between your work email and your personal email — or between an admin test account and a free-tier test account — without ever visiting a logout screen.

How profiles work

In short: Each profile captures the cookies (plus localStorage and sessionStorage where allowed) for the domains you attach to it, encrypts the snapshot, and stores it under a name. Switching writes that snapshot back into the browser’s cookie store before the next page load, so the site sees a fresh, complete identity.

Cookies are the bearer tokens that tell a site who you are; MDN documents that session and authentication state is carried in cookies the browser sends with each request¹. CookieVault uses the official browser cookie API to read and restore those records², so a profile swap is a clean write to the same store the browser already reads from — not a hack or an injection.

Six things that make profiles practical day to day:

• Scoped to chosen domains — a profile only owns the sites you attach, so switching never disturbs unrelated logins
• One-click activation — pick a profile from the popup and the snapshot is restored before your next request
• Encrypted at rest — snapshots are stored encrypted, not as plaintext cookie files
• Includes more than cookies — localStorage and sessionStorage for chosen domains ride along where the browser allows
• Single-window operation — no new browser profile, no new window, no lost tab layout
• Re-save anytime — log in fresh, hit save, and the profile updates to the new valid session

A common principle in identity tooling is that the cleanest switch is the one that touches the least state. Profiles follow that: change only the cookies that define the identity, leave the rest of the browser alone.

How profiles compare

In short: Chrome profiles are heavyweight separate browsers; Firefox containers are tab-scoped but Firefox-only. CookieVault profiles are lightweight, cross-browser, encrypted snapshots that swap in your current window.

The trade-off is honest: Chrome profiles also isolate history, extensions, and bookmarks, which CookieVault deliberately does not touch. If you need full environment isolation, a Chrome profile is the right tool. If you need fast identity switching for the same set of sites without leaving your window, profiles win.

Who profiles are for

In short: Anyone who logs into the same sites as more than one identity — QA engineers cycling test personas, developers comparing logged-in versus anonymous views, and privacy-minded users keeping work and personal accounts apart.

Three core audiences:

• QA engineers keeping a profile per role (admin, paid, free, suspended) and flipping between them to verify role-specific behavior without re-authenticating each time
• Developers comparing logged-in versus anonymous experiences, or testing multi-tenant apps as different tenant accounts back to back
• Privacy-conscious users keeping a hard wall between a work identity and a personal identity on the same services, without trusting the site’s own account switcher

If you have ever opened an incognito window just to log into a second account, profiles replace that habit with something persistent and one-click.

Free vs Pro

In short: Free includes 2 local profiles — enough for a work-versus-personal split. Pro ($4/month or $36/year) unlocks unlimited profiles, end-to-end encrypted cross-device sync, and profile sharing for teams.

Pro is worth it when two profiles stop being enough — many client or test identities — or when you want the same profiles on every device. See the pricing page for the complete breakdown. Profile sync rides the same zero-knowledge crypto described on the encrypted cloud sync page.

How to create and switch profiles

1. Open the CookieVault popup on a site you want to capture
2. Click “New profile” and give it a clear name, such as “Work email” or “QA admin”
3. Choose the domains the profile should cover (the current site is pre-selected)
4. Log in as the identity you want to capture if you are not already
5. Click “Save snapshot” — CookieVault encrypts the current cookies for those domains under the profile name
6. Repeat to create your second identity, for example “Personal email,” capturing its own logged-in cookies
7. Switch anytime by opening the popup and selecting a profile; the snapshot is restored before your next request
8. Re-save after re-authenticating whenever a session expires, so the profile always holds a valid session cookie

The switch is instant because it only rewrites the cookies for the profile’s domains. Everything else in your browser stays exactly where it was.

See also

• CookieVault Editor — the cookie editor that hosts the profile switcher
• Encrypted cloud sync — how profile sync stays zero-knowledge
• Clear cookies but stay logged in — the complementary keep-some-cookies workflow
• Security — the encryption design that protects stored profiles
• Pricing — Free / Pro / Team breakdown
• Cookie whitelist — pair profiles with whitelisting for clean identity hygiene