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Open your work apps when you arrive at the office
Create an Office profile that requires the office Wi-Fi and a weekday, and add Launch an app and Open a URL actions. Your work apps open when you arrive at work, not every time the Mac starts.
- When
- Office Wi-FiA weekday
- Then
- Open Slack and MailOpen the team dashboardHide Music
Last updated
How to set it up
- Create an Office profile. Add a profile named Office and set the match to "All are true".
- Add the rules. Add a Wi-Fi network rule with the office network and a Day of the week rule with Weekdays.
- Add the apps. Add Launch an app once per app. Add Open a URL for a dashboard or stand-up doc and choose the browser it should open in.
- Tidy up personal apps. Optionally add Hide an app for apps you do not want on screen at work. They keep running.
Get Profiles Switcher on the Mac App Store, for macOS 13 or later
Permission needed: Location (for the Wi-Fi rule). See permissions in the help guide.
Startup apps are the wrong tool for a laptop
Login Items open the same apps every time you log in, wherever you are. For a laptop that goes home in the evening, that means Slack and the office dashboard on the sofa, and the Mac rarely restarts anyway. What people actually want is “open my work apps when I start working”, and on a laptop the clearest signal for that is arriving at the office.
Why “All are true” matters here
With the match set to All are true, the Office profile needs both the office Wi-Fi and a weekday. Pop in on a Saturday to pick something up and nothing opens. Change the day rule to add a Time of day window, such as 08:00 to 11:00, if you only want the apps to open on the way in.
Home gets its own profile
The flip side is a Home profile on your home Wi-Fi that hides Slack, launches Music and sets a calmer wallpaper. Because only one profile is active at a time, walking out of the office and joining the home network switches the whole setup: work apps out of sight, personal ones in.
Ideas for the same profile
- Open a file or folder: your current project folder in Finder.
- Set keyboard input source: if you type in another language at work.
- Show a notification: “Office profile on” as a quiet confirmation.
Frequently asked questions
What if an app is already open?
Launch an app brings it to the front instead of starting it again.
Will the apps open again every time I reconnect to the Wi-Fi?
The actions run each time the profile switches on. If your Wi-Fi drops and returns, the profile switches on again and brings the apps to the front, which is harmless.
Can I open a Zoom or Teams meeting link?
Yes. Open a URL accepts app links such as zoommtg:// and msteams:// as well as web pages.
Related automations
Set it up in a few minutes
Profiles Switcher is a menu bar app for Mac (macOS 13 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel) that switches your Mac's setup automatically. You build profiles from 19 triggers, such as the Wi-Fi network you join, a place, headphones or a display, and 18 actions, including running any of your Shortcuts. Everything runs on your Mac; it is available on the Mac App Store.
Download on the Mac App Store