Customizing Safari Profiles with Icons and Color Themes

This article provides a step-by-step guide on how to customize your Safari browser Profiles using unique icons and color themes. By assigning distinct visual identifiers to your work, school, and personal profiles, you can easily tell them apart at a glance and keep your browsing sessions organized across your Apple devices.

Prerequisites

To use and customize Safari Profiles, ensure your device is running the correct software version. You will need macOS Sonoma (or later), iOS 17 (or later), or iPadOS 17 (or later), or the latest version of Safari 17 installed on macOS Ventura or Monterey.

Customizing Profiles on a Mac

Assigning an icon and color to a new or existing profile on macOS takes just a few clicks in the browser settings.

  1. Open the Safari browser on your Mac.
  2. In the top menu bar, click Safari and select Settings (or press Command + ,).
  3. Click the Profiles tab at the top of the settings window.
  4. To create a new profile, click Start Using Profiles (if it is your first one) or click the + (plus) button at the bottom of the profile list. To edit an existing profile, simply select it from the left-hand column.
  5. Under the Symbol section, click the icon you want to represent your profile (such as a briefcase for work or a graduation cap for school). If you want more options, click the … (three dots) button to open a full menu of symbols.
  6. Under the Color section, click one of the color swatches to set the theme for that specific profile.
  7. Close the settings window. Your changes are saved automatically.

Customizing Profiles on iPhone and iPad

On mobile devices, Safari Profiles are managed through the main system settings rather than inside the Safari app itself.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Scroll down and tap Safari.
  3. Scroll down to the Profiles section.
  4. Tap New Profile to create a fresh one, or tap the name of an existing profile you wish to modify.
  5. Tap one of the icons directly below the profile name field to assign a symbol. Swipe left on the icons to reveal more options.
  6. Tap one of the colored circles below the icons to assign a color theme.
  7. Tap Done in the top right corner (if creating a new profile) or simply navigate back to save your changes.

Where Your Customizations Appear

Once you have assigned an icon and a color to a profile, Safari uses these elements to give you immediate visual feedback about which profile you are currently using:

  • The Toolbar and Tab Bar: On a Mac, the profile button in the top-left of the Safari toolbar displays your chosen icon, name, and color. On an iPhone or iPad, the icon appears in the bottom tab bar menu.
  • The Start Page: If you do not use a custom background image for your Safari Start Page, the background will automatically take on a shaded tint of your chosen profile color.
  • Profile Switching: When switching between profiles via the Safari menu, each profile will be clearly listed alongside its respective custom icon.