What is meant by "User Profile" in Google Chrome?

Question

Is there some way to create a new profile?

Can I backup my profile?

Answer 1

If you're not the only Google Chrome user on your computer - even for the same Windows user (common on PCs at home, shared among family members for example) - you can keep your private data, like the surfing history, separate from each other using Chrome user profiles.

There is a command line switch for the Chrome application that allows specifying the user data folder:

chrome.exe --user-data-dir="..\User Data\Your_Name" -first-run

Here is a good tutorial how to create these different user folders in Google Chrome.

You can backup these profiles by simply copying the content of your folder(s). The default folder for Windows are:

• Windows Vista:
  C:\Users\<WINDOWS-USER-NAME>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome

• Windows XP:
  C:\Documents and Settings\<WINDOWS-USER-NAME>\Local Settings\Applications\Google\Chrome

Answer 2

Since the other answer was written (2009), Chrome has implemented an easy-to-use interface for creating user profiles:

1. Click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar and select Settings.
2. In the “Users” section, click Add new user.
3. A confirmation dialog appears, choose a picture and enter a name for the new Chrome user. Note: When you add a new Chrome user a desktop shortcut is created by default. If you don’t want a desktop shortcut uncheck the “Add desktop shortcut” checkbox. Creating a desktop shortcut for new users allows each Chrome user on your computer to quickly access their profile. Different profiles are easily differentiated on the desktop by the different names and pictures associated with each profile.
4. Click Create.
5. A new window for the user appears, with a picture you've chosen for the user in the top corner. Here, you can sign in to Chrome with a Google Account to associate the account with the user. Once signed in, all the bookmarks, apps, extensions, theme, and browser settings for the user will be synced to the account. Learn more about signing in to Chrome If you prefer, you can also choose to skip this step and not sign in. Settings for the user will be saved only on your computer instead.

Creating a new profile, in effect, creates a new directory in Chrome's data directory (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\ in Windows 7/8).