Ability to use multiple profiles in one window via workspaces

[mauro-balades]

What feature would you like to see?

One of the killer features for me in the Arc Browser is the ability to associate a profile with the workspace, which allows to isolate workspaces from each other and have different sets of configurations, extensions, history, favorites, cookies, etc in every workspace. Unlike vanilla Chrome or Firefox, switching between workspaces with different profiles happens without creating a new window, seamlessly and transparently, which allows me to not even care about extra window management.

I have 3 different Microsoft and Google accounts which I use for different purposes (two for work and one for own business), and I have 3 different workspaces, each one has exactly one logged in MS account. I also have different sets of extensions necessary for every workspace, and in some cases I have same extensions with different configurations, e.g. Bitwarden that uses different accounts based on the workspace I am currently in.

Currently in Zen browser I can use workspaces only as an organizational feature, where every workspace is like a container with different sets of tabs, but the sessions, cookies, extensions and browser preferences, etc. are shared between all of them.

I would like to have an ability to associate a workspace with different profile in the same way as it is done in Arc, to be able to use my workspaces as fully isolated (or not, if there are sibling workspaces associated with the same profile) environments and have a better browsing experience, and switch these workspaces in the same browser window.

What platform are you seeing the problem on?

Windows

Additional context

No response

~ Created automatically from issue: #500

[dshan12]

This is the only thing that is stopping me from switching from arc to the zen browser. The second this is implemented I will definitely switch.

[japboy]

Firefox containers are incomplete-sandbox. It shares search histories etc between different containers. There is a unfinished discussion on Github (here and there) and Firefox Bugzilla (I forgot the address though) and they are untouched for years. I personally feel Firefox won't solve the issues about the containers anymore.

So, I personally think the workspaces functionality which is the abstraction of the containers might not a good idea for long-time use. And, yes, the profiles may be a good abstraction for the workspaces.

[Malagutte]

I feel the same way, I want to get out of Chromium-based browsers

[judehunter]

This is such a killer feature in Arc. So killer that it's the only thing preventing me from switching @mauro-balades

[Evthestrike]

Completely agree. This is what I've searched for in every browser I've tried on linux.

[manojm-dev]

firefox has it by default and you can use simple tab group extension to create tab groups and assign it any specific containers, temp container or we can leave it to default.

[manojm-dev]

Here is my take/use-case that would require about feature to be implemented

What’s the Idea?

In Firefox, there’s this feature called Multi-Account Containers that lets you keep different browsing activities separate. You can have containers for things like shopping, work, social media, etc., which helps with privacy and organization. They also have a neat extension called Simple Tab Groups that lets you group tabs and assign specific containers to these groups.

Here’s my suggestion:

What if Zen Browser had something similar? Imagine if we could:

• Create Workspaces with Containers: Like, have a “Shopping” workspace that uses a “Shopping” container, or a “Work” workspace that uses a “Work” container. This way, you can easily switch between different tasks with all your tabs and sessions neatly organized.

• Better Privacy and Organization: This could keep things separated and tidy, making it easier to manage different activities and keeping your data safe.

Why It’d Be Awesome

Organized Browsing: Keep different tasks and tabs neatly separated.
Enhanced Privacy: Prevents cross-session tracking and keeps your data isolated.
Increased Productivity: Easy to switch between different tasks without losing context.

What do you all think? Would this be a cool feature to add? Let’s discuss!

[Evthestrike]

This is a great idea. The biggest problem with this solution I see is if you have to do extra things like enable the multi-account container tabs extensions to get it to work.

My current solution is to manually add things to container tabs that are already in workspaces, or set some sites to always open in certain containers. This requires a lot of work when it really should be 1 click to enable workspaces and have them include the features of multi-account containers.

[suamai]

This would be fantastic, if possible!

I'm currently using Multi-Account Containers to separate my work session from my personal one, and also trying to have a Workspace for each - but, without being able to link a workspace to a container, keeping them organized is kinda awkward.

[jean]

I added the Multi-Account Containers to Zen. It seems to be working ("Always open this in a Container" shows up in the location bar, but the "New tab +" button does not prompt for a container the way it does in Firefox.)

You can open container tabs via the extension's menu.

[fskaeh]

+1 on this feature request. Like most other people in this thread, I'm coming from Arc, and the way they do profile management over there is really great. Especially tying workspaces to profiles, allowing me to keep everything in one window and knowing that switching to my "work" workspace means I'm also switching to my work profile without extra manual intervention on my part. It's all very seamless and convenient.
I know multi-account containers exist on Firefox, and I dabbled with them some, but they are frankly restrictive and cumbersome to use.

[mauro-balades]

Workspaces now have builtin containers, thanks!

[digiaust]

This is really handy, but the next step would be the ability to link containers or workspaces to profiles.

As @mauro-balades describes, Arc (who after the recent updates on basically the death of the project, I'd imagine you will have a TON of users start to migrate (look at google trends, you will see a big boost in zen adoption)) Arc has the ability to tie workspaces and containers to a specific profile. This is SUPER handy to be able to seamlessly switch between accounts in the same window instead of opening a separate window. (I have dabbled in firefox and know that their profile implementation is absolute donkey sh*t so I know this isn't an easy ask)

But the ability to seamlessly switch between profiles with different passwords, bookmarks, history, etc (like in arc) I think would be a HUGE feature for new salty users hurt by Arc to come to. I know this would make my life 100x easier and make Zen my default for life.

This keeps browser data separate, and gives access to all profile settings inside one window with a simple switch.
This would be huge.

[jeanlucthumm]

What about separating extensions? That way I can have a separate instance of Bitwarden for my Work workspace, which works on Arc

[kamalhm]

Hey folks, not sure on what's the current status of this. I tired switching profile but it created a new window. Did I do something wrong or we can't switch profile in one window yet?