Chromium

User Data Directory

The user data directory contains data specific to a given user. Some examples of this type of data are: history, bookmarks, and cookies.

Note that in Windows, the profile name is included in the directory hierarchy.

Default Location

Windows 10 / 8 / 7

  • Google Chrome: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
  • Chromium: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Chromium\User Data\Default

Mac OS X

  • Google Chrome: ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default
  • Chromium: ~/Library/Application Support/Chromium/Default

Linux

  • Google Chrome: ~/.config/google-chrome/Default
  • Chromium: ~/.config/chromium/Default

Chrome OS

  • /home/chronos/

Cache Directory

The cache directory follows the XDG specs:

  • Google Chrome: $XDG_CACHE_HOME/google-chrome, which defaults to ~/.cache/google-chrome
  • Chromium: $XDG_CACHE_HOME/chromium, which defaults to ~/.cache/chromium

If you pass --user-data-dir=/path/to/foo, the cache will be under /path/to/foo.

Running from a Custom Location

You can also start Chromium with a custom user data directory in order to run multiple instances at the same time.

Windows

To do this, add the --user-data-dir flag to chrome.exe, like this: chrome.exe --user-data-dir=c:\foo

Mac OS X

  1. Open AppleScript Script Editor (either in Applications/Utilities or Applications/AppleScript)
  2. Enter this:
    1. Chromium: do shell script “/Applications/Chromium.app/Contents/MacOS/Chromium --user-data-dir=/Users/$USER/Library/Application\\ Support/ChromiumPersonal > /dev/null 2>&1 &”
    2. Google Chrome: do shell script “/Applications/Google\\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\\ Chrome --user-data-dir=/Users/$USER/Library/Application\\ Support/Google/ChromePersonal > /dev/null 2>&1 &”
  3. If you did not install Chromium in the default location, modify the script as appropriate.
  4. Save the script in your Applications directory with the file format Application.
  5. Now close the Script Editor and find your newly created application and run it. Running this application will open another Chromium instance pointing to your new profile.
  6. If you want this application to have the same icon as Chromium, then select the Chromium application and type ***command+i ***to open the info dialog. Select the icon at the top left of the info dialog and you will see a blue highlight around the icon. Copy the icon using command+c. Now open the info dialog for the new script application using command+i. Select the icon at the top left and paste the copied icon using command+v.

Linux

To do this, add the --user-data-dir flag to chrome, like this: chrome --user-data-dir=/path/to/foo