Claude Switcher
A make become project.
Several Claude Desktop accounts side by side on one Mac or Windows PC, one Dock or taskbar icon each.
Unofficial. Not made, endorsed or supported by Anthropic. It never modifies Claude Desktop; it only starts it.
Page: https://make-become.github.io/claude-switcher/ · Details (what a profile is on disk, everything it puts on your Mac): https://make-become.github.io/claude-switcher/details.html
Install
Mac:
curl -fsSL https://make-become.github.io/claude-switcher/install.sh | sh
It downloads the latest release into /Applications (where Finder and Spotlight look; ~/Applications if that is not writable), clears the download quarantine (the app is not notarised) and opens it. Read it first: docs/install.sh.
Windows 10 or 11 (PowerShell):
irm https://make-become.github.io/claude-switcher/install.ps1 | iex
It downloads the latest release into %LOCALAPPDATA%ProgramsClaude Switcher (your user only, no administrator rights), clears the downloaded-from-the-internet mark (the program is not signed) and opens it. It is then listed in Settings → Apps, where it uninstalls. Read it first: docs/install.ps1.
What it does
- Profiles. Each profile is one Claude Desktop with its own data folder, so its own login. All can be open at once.
- A Dock icon per profile with a coloured letter; the dot under it means that profile is open.
- Never two copies of one profile: an open profile is brought forward, not started again.
- Menu where the mouse is, in the Dock (right-click) and in the menu bar (one dot per profile).
- ⌥⌘1…9 bring a profile forward from any app.
- Safe login closes the other profiles while you sign in, so the browser's login callback reaches the right one.
- Languages: English, Italiano, Español, Français, Deutsch (from the Mac's settings).
On Windows
The same, in Windows' terms:
- A taskbar icon per profile, with the same coloured letter: each profile's Claude windows get their own taskbar group, so they never stack under one Claude icon. Right-click it and Pin to taskbar to keep it there (Windows lets only you pin). "Own taskbar icon" turns it off per profile; the default profile starts without one, so your usual Claude icon is unchanged.
- Start menu: a Claude Switcher folder with the Switcher and one entry per profile. Opening the Switcher again pops its menu where the mouse is.
- Notification area instead of the menu bar: one dot per profile, filled when it is open.
- Ctrl+Alt+Shift+1…9 bring a profile forward from any app (plain Ctrl+Alt is AltGr on many keyboards).
- Safe login closes nothing. On Windows a sign-in coming back from the browser (
claude://) always starts the default profile's Claude. While one profile signs in, the Switcher catches that and hands the sign-in to the profile that asked, so the other profiles stay open.
- Languages: from Windows' display language.
What a profile is on disk
| Where | What |
|---|
~/Library/Application Support/Claude | Claude's own folder: your first profile. Never touched. |
~/Library/Application Support/Claude-<Name> | Each extra profile's data, created by Claude Desktop on first launch. |
~/Applications/Claude <Name>.app | The profile's launcher (its Dock icon). |
/Applications/Claude Switcher.app | The app itself. |
~/Library/Application Support/Claude Switcher/profiles.json | The profile list. |
~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.makebecome.claude-switcher.profile.<id>.plist | Only with "Open when the Mac starts". |
On Windows:
| Where | What |
|---|
%APPDATA%Claude | Claude's own folder: your first profile. Never touched. |
%APPDATA%Claude-<Name> | Each extra profile's data, created by Claude Desktop on first launch. Claude from the Microsoft Store keeps it in its own copy of that folder, %LOCALAPPDATA%PackagesClaude_pzs8sxrjxfjjcLocalCacheRoamingClaude-<Name>. |
%LOCALAPPDATA%ProgramsClaude SwitcherClaudeSwitcher.exe | The app itself. |
%APPDATA%Claude Switcherprofiles.json | The profile list (same format as on the Mac). |
%APPDATA%Claude Switchericons | Each profile's icon. |
Start MenuProgramsClaude Switcher | The Switcher and one shortcut per profile. |
HKCU…CurrentVersionRun, values Claude Switcher… | Only with "Open when Windows starts" / "Start Claude Switcher at login". |
HKCUSoftwareMakeBecomeClaude Switcher, HKCU…UninstallMakeBecome.ClaudeSwitcher | One setting; the Settings → Apps entry. |
Deleting a profile removes its icon and launcher, not its data folder. Uninstalling (Settings → Apps, or ClaudeSwitcher.exe --uninstall) removes everything above except the profiles' data.
Build
./build.sh # → build/Claude Switcher.app (universal, ad-hoc signed)
Needs macOS 13+ and the Xcode command line tools. swift tools/make-icon.swift regenerates the app icon;
ClaudeSwitcher --snapshot <dir> renders the screenshots used on the page (with CLAUDE_SWITCHER_PROFILES
pointing at demo profiles and CLAUDE_SWITCHER_LANG choosing the language).
ClaudeSwitcher --dock <profile id> on|off pins or unpins a profile's Dock icon from a script.
Windows:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File windowsuild.ps1 # → buildwindowsClaudeSwitcher.exe, buildClaude-Switcher-Windows.zip
Needs nothing beyond Windows 10 or 11: it compiles with the C# compiler of .NET Framework 4.8, which Windows ships, and takes the version from Sources/main.swift.
ClaudeSwitcher.exe --open <id>, --login <id> (Safe login), --icon <id> on|off, --quiet, --snapshot <dir> (profile icons as PNG) and --uninstall script it.
How it works
Extra profiles are started as open -n -a /Applications/Claude.app --args --user-data-dir=<folder>.
Claude Desktop has no per-profile single-instance lock, so the switcher checks the running processes and
focuses an open profile instead of launching it twice. Each launcher is a copy of the same binary with
ClaudeAccount set in its Info.plist.
On Windows, profiles are started as claude-desktop.exe --user-data-dir=<folder> (the Store app's own alias). There Claude Desktop
does keep one instance per folder, so starting an open profile again brings it forward. The taskbar groups windows by
AppUserModelID: the Switcher gives each profile's windows its own, and a Start-menu shortcut with that id gives the group its
name and icon. Claude Desktop is never modified. The code is in windows/, what was measured about Claude on Windows
at the top of windows/Sources/Claude.cs.
Licence
MIT · make become, an artware studio. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic; this project is not affiliated with Anthropic.
