How to Keep Several Substack Accounts Apart on One PC With Browser Profiles

Can browser profiles keep two Substack accounts signed in side by side? #

Yes, because each profile keeps its own cookies and Substack says cookies are what remember a website login. Chrome Help says profiles "keep all your Chrome info separate", including bookmarks, history, passwords and other settings, and Chromium's documentation lists cookies among the data stored in each profile folder. A second account in a second profile therefore holds its own sign-in. According to Substack's Help Center (read 3 October 2026), it recommends the most recent version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Microsoft Edge for the website, so any of them can host the profiles.

What does a profile separate, and what stays shared? #

What a browser profile is explains the idea in more depth, and the comparison guide covers private windows and VPNs.

How do you set up one Chrome profile per Substack account? #

1. Open Chrome. At the top right, select Profile, then Add Chrome profile.
2. Choose a name, photo and color scheme (naming ideas are below).
3. In the new window, go to substack.com/sign-in. Choose an emailed verification code or your password, and copy the code from that account's mailbox into the same window.
4. If two-factor authentication is on, enter the current code from the authenticator app; the Help Center says it changes every 30 seconds.
5. Click your profile icon, choose Settings and look under Publications. It lists the publications this account writes or contributes to, which confirms you are in the right account.
6. Repeat for each account. Switch later from the Profile menu, and rename a profile through Manage Chrome profiles > More > Edit.

Firefox users can get similar separation with Containers (see the table above); with Edge or another browser, check that browser's own help for how it handles profiles. Whichever you pick, keep one profile or container per account and never sign two accounts into the same one.

How should you name profiles and keep them tidy? #

Put together, a profile might be called Substack - yourname - owner. Keep the sign-in email in your password manager rather than in the name, review the list monthly, and delete profiles for accounts you no longer manage.

How do you hand a profile over, and what should you back up? #

• Do not hand over your own sign-in. The Terms of Use list sharing your account or password as a security risk. Add the person to the publication's Team (see the team access guide) and let them sign in with their own account in their own profile.
• Change of owner. In the publication's Settings, Danger Zone, use Transfer ownership. Both people confirm by email, and the Help Center says the recipient's confirmation expires after 6 hours.
• Change of email. It works on the website only, both addresses must confirm, and you are signed out of the website and the app. Entering the address of an existing account moves all subscriptions, publications and data to that account.
• What deleting a profile costs. Chrome Help says its bookmarks, history, passwords and other settings are erased. Your Substack account and publications are not stored in the profile, so you lose only that browser's saved sign-in.
• What to back up. Keep access to the account's email address, the authenticator app and the recovery questions. For the content, Settings > Exports > Create new export gives a zip with posts, subscriber list and related statistics.

What if sign-in fails in a new profile? #

• No code arrives. Check spam and Promotions, the spelling of the address and no-reply@substack.com in your contacts.
• The link opened in the wrong browser. If you read the email somewhere other than the profile you are signing in with, paste the code into the profile instead.
• You are signed out later. Read why Substack keeps logging you out.
• The site will not load. The Help Center points to your connection, a local firewall (allow substack.com) and Substack's status page.
• Still stuck. Use the chatbot at substack.com/support.

When do ordinary profiles stop being enough? #

Past a handful of accounts, ordinary profiles get slow and easy to get wrong: opening and closing them one by one, remembering which window is which account, keeping names in step with accounts, and moving a profile between people by hand. A written list of each account's email, owner, role and profile name helps, and a monthly review catches drift.

Where ADSSPEED fits #

ADSSPEED is a desktop app for Windows and macOS that manages many browser profiles. When a list of ordinary profiles gets long, you can open, stop and organise profiles in bulk, and each profile keeps its own cookies, local data and browser settings, so accounts you manage can stay signed in side by side. A proxy can be set per profile and assigned to many profiles in bulk, and profile data stays on your own computer. Android phone profiles, each with its own device configuration, cover mobile apps on a PC. Setup is in installing ADSSPEED on Windows. ADSSPEED is not affiliated with Substack.