Installing multiple Opera instances with separate profiles on Mac

June 10, 2009 · by Andreas Bovens

Update 2011-01-28: From Opera 11.01 and onward, the -csp command line hook should be used instead of the PrefsSuffix method described below. See Daniel Aleksandersen's multi-installation blog entry for full details.

If you're an avid Opera snapshot downloader, you've probably bumped into a situation where you want to install an Opera build with a clean profile, rather than having it reuse an already existing profile.

At first sight, there's no easy way to do so, but luckily enough, there's a handy command line hook that helps you out. A quick step-by-step guide to explain how you can install 2 Opera instances with separate profiles:

Install the first Opera instance in the Applications folder
Rename it to Opera_xxx
Install the second Opera instance in the Applications folder
Rename it to Opera_yyy
Open up Terminal (can be found in the Utilities folder)
Type cd /Applications/Opera_yyy.app/Contents/Resources/ and hit enter
Then type echo "Opera_yyy" >> PrefsSuffix and close the terminal
Done!

If you launch Opera_xxx and Opera_yyy now, they will each run with their own profile. Of course, you can adjust the file name and profile strings to your liking :-)

Readers' comments 9

Left under the original article, as archived.

Charles SchlossFriday, June 12, 2009 4:42:27 PM
http://files.myopera.com/Tamil/Smilies/Happy.gif -
Zi Bin CheahTuesday, June 30, 2009 1:31:18 PM
http://files.myopera.com/Tamil/Smilies/Happy.gif -

FWIW, the specific profiles are later stored in

/Users/"username"/Library/Caches/"Profile Name"
Non-TroppoSaturday, July 4, 2009 2:06:01 PM
I have an automagic profile builder for OS X - drop a snapshot and it will do all this for you (and update to nice icons too!):

http://my.opera.com/non-troppo/blog/2009/06/13/multiplying-mac-opera-operiply-the-automated-profile-maker
Unregistered userMonday, March 8, 2010 6:41:42 AM
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Unregistered userFriday, June 4, 2010 9:44:53 AM
Anonymous writes: What's the windows way to do this? The instructions here (http://operawiki.info/OperaProfiles) are outdated.
Unregistered userFriday, June 4, 2010 9:45:37 AM
Anonymous writes: What is the Windows way to do this? The instructions here: http://operawiki.info/OperaProfiles are outdated.
Unregistered userSaturday, September 4, 2010 1:09:25 PM
Anonymous writes: This was a really great tip, worked perfectly for two instances.. What if I would like to have 4 instances? did not work following the same instructions. In any case a great help! Thanks! Brian
Andreas BovensSunday, September 5, 2010 12:23:17 AM
Hmm, Brian. It should work with 4 instances as well. You have to adjust the naming of course (e.g. Opera_zzz). If it doesn't work, check inside /Applications/Opera_zzz.app/Contents/Resources/ and remove any PrefsSuffix file you find in there. Then do the terminal command again (step 6+7) and try starting that Opera instance. Normally, this should work.
Daniel AleksandersenTuesday, July 26, 2011 7:00:55 AM
This tip is deprecated since Opera 11.01. For newer versions see these instructions instead.