Separate Browser Profiles for Several ArtStation Accounts: Setup, Naming and Hand-Over

Can separate browser profiles keep your ArtStation accounts apart? #

Yes, for what the browser stores on your computer. Chrome Help describes profiles as separate sets of bookmarks, history, passwords and settings, and gives keeping work and personal accounts apart as a reason to use them. Chromium's documentation puts profile data such as cookies in the user data directory, with each profile in its own subfolder. Two ArtStation accounts in two profiles therefore do not share a signed-in session on your PC.

What a profile does not do is just as important. It does not change your internet connection or ArtStation's rules, and it cannot make a doubtful account acceptable. Each account must still be one you own or are authorised to manage.

What does a browser profile separate, and what does it leave alone? #

How do you set up one profile per ArtStation account? #

Chrome, following Chrome Help:

1. Open Chrome, click the Profile icon at the top right and choose Add Chrome profile.
2. Give the profile a name, a photo and a colour scheme. Signing in to Chrome with a Google Account is optional.
3. In the new window, open ArtStation and sign in with the one account that belongs to this profile.
4. To switch later, click the Profile icon again and pick the profile you want.
5. Repeat for each account. Do not sign in to a second ArtStation account inside a profile that already holds one.

Edge, following Microsoft Support: click the Profile icon at the upper right, choose Set up a new profile, pick Personal or Work or school, decide whether to sign in to sync your data or start without it, then confirm. To switch, click the Profile icon and choose the profile you want.

Firefox: Mozilla's Containers give each container its own slice of cookies and storage, and the wiki says logged-in sessions do not carry over to a new container. Open ArtStation in one container per account. Whichever browser you use, make sure cookies can be saved for ArtStation: the Help Center's Firefox article reports that some privacy settings stop cookies being saved, and sign-in then fails.

How should you name and label the profiles? #

If an account's username changes, the Help Center says the URLs of its profile and website change too, so rename the browser profile to match.

How do you hand a profile over, back it up or delete it? #

Hand-over. Prefer each person signing in with their own authorised access; for team features see managing ArtStation for a studio or team. The Account collection has no article on transferring an account to someone else, so check the Terms of Service before passing an individual account to anyone. When a person who knew a login leaves, change the password (Avatar menu, Settings, Password) and review the email address on the account (Settings, then the Account tab).

Backing up. The Chromium documentation describes the user data directory as the home of profile data such as history, bookmarks and cookies, with each profile in a subdirectory (often Default), and gives the default location as %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data on Windows or ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome on macOS. A copy of that folder includes cookies, which means signed-in sessions, so store it like a password and keep it off shared drives. A backup is no substitute for knowing each account's email address and password.

Deleting. Chrome Help says removing a profile wipes its stored bookmarks, history, passwords and settings from the computer. Check that you can still sign in to the ArtStation account by email and password first. Deleting the browser profile does not delete the ArtStation account; that is a separate, permanent step in Settings that asks for your password.

What if it goes wrong? #

• You are signed out all the time. Check for a private window, an expired Facebook sign-in or blocked cookies; see ArtStation login not working or keeps signing you out.
• You posted from the wrong account. Rename and recolour the profiles so they cannot be mistaken, and sign out of the account you did not mean to use.
• Two accounts appeared by accident. Follow the Help Center's duplicate-account steps in staying signed in to two ArtStation accounts.
• You are unsure what is allowed. Read ArtStation's rules for multiple accounts.

When do ordinary profiles stop being enough? #

With two or three accounts, ordinary profiles are enough. The strain shows when you look after a dozen or more: windows to keep track of, names to keep consistent, sets of profiles to hand to colleagues, and many profiles to open or close one at a time. Chrome Help describes switching one profile at a time. That is where a profile manager saves effort. The basics are in what a browser profile is, and the setup of one such tool is in installing ADSSPEED on Windows.

Where ADSSPEED fits #

ADSSPEED is a desktop app for Windows and macOS that manages many browser profiles. Each profile keeps its own cookies, local data and browser settings, so ArtStation accounts you own or are authorised to manage stay signed in side by side. A proxy can be set per profile or assigned to many profiles in bulk, and profiles can be opened, stopped and organised in bulk. Profile data stays on your own computer. It does not change ArtStation's rules. ADSSPEED is not affiliated with ArtStation.