Everything you need to set up automatic profiles on your Mac, from the first launch to every trigger and action.
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How do I set up Profiles Switcher?
Open the app, follow the short setup guide, then create your first profile from the menu bar. It takes about five minutes.
Open Profiles Switcher. Its icon appears in the menu bar. On first launch a setup guide asks for the permissions your profiles can use; you can skip any step and turn it on later in Settings, under General.
Create a profile. Choose Preferences from the menu bar icon, click Add new profile and give it a name such as Home, Office or Studio.
Add rules. Under Rules, click Add Rule and choose a trigger: a Wi-Fi network, a place, a display, a device, a time and more. Choose whether any rule or all rules must match.
Add actions. Under Actions, click Add Action and pick what should happen: switch the sound, set the wallpaper, open apps, run a shortcut and more.
Let it run. That is it. The profile switches on by itself whenever its rules match, and the menu bar shows which profile is active.
Turn on Start at Login (offered in the setup guide and in Settings) so your profiles keep switching after you restart your Mac.
Which permissions does it need?
Only the ones your profiles use, and everything stays on your Mac.
Location: For Wi-Fi network rules and location rules. macOS shares the name of your Wi-Fi network only with apps that have Location access. Choose "Always" so rules keep working in the background.
Bluetooth: For Bluetooth device rules.
Notifications: For the Show a notification action.
Declined a permission earlier? macOS shows each permission dialog only once and remembers the answer, even after reinstalling, so the dialog cannot appear again. Turn the permission on in System Settings > Privacy & Security instead; the setup guide and Settings have a button that opens the right page.
After you change a permission in System Settings, macOS may ask to restart Profiles Switcher before the change takes effect.
Which triggers can a profile use?
A trigger (rule) is a condition Profiles Switcher watches. There are 19 of them.
Wi-Fi networkActive while your Mac is on this Wi-Fi network. The name is the one you see in the Wi-Fi menu.Needs Location permission.
Geofence (location)Active while your Mac is near a place you pick on a map. Location comes from Location Services, not your IP address, so a VPN does not affect it. It re-checks when the Mac wakes.Needs Location permission ("Always"). Use a radius of 100 m or more; positioning is approximate.
IP address / rangeMatch your local IP (your network, or a VPN tunnel) or your public IP, inside or outside a range. "Use my current range" fills it in for you.A public IP rule asks api.ipify.org for your address. A "NOT in this range" rule only matches while you have an address of that type, so going offline does not trigger it.
Network service activeActive while a network connection or VPN is up and has an IP address: Thunderbolt Ethernet, a dock, iPhone USB, or a VPN such as Tailscale or Tunnelblick. VPNs added in System Settings are listed even before they connect, and VPN apps appear under "Tunnels" as soon as they connect.The rule follows a service even if you rename it in System Settings. For a VPN app, an IP address / range rule on the VPN's address range is another good match.
Ethernet cable connectedFires the moment a cable is plugged in, before the connection is fully set up. Use Network service active to wait for an IP address.
Time zoneActive while your Mac is in one of the time zones you select. Ideal for travel profiles.Follows automatic time zone updates live.
External displayThree rules: Any external display, No external display (your Mac on its own screen), or a Named display matched by hardware ID, so renaming it does not break the rule.
Bluetooth deviceActive while a specific Bluetooth device is connected. Pick it by name or by address (stable across renames).Needs Bluetooth permission.
USB deviceActive while a USB device is attached: any device of that make and model, or only the exact unit you have (by serial number, when the device reports one).Every iPhone shares one USB ID, so "any iPhone" matches all models; use "Only this exact device" for a single phone.
Volume mountedActive while a drive, SD card or network share with this name is mounted. The name is the one in the Finder sidebar.
Audio output deviceActive while this device is the default sound output.
Headphone jack (3.5 mm)Active while something is plugged in to the built-in headphone jack, or while it is empty.Macs without a 3.5 mm jack never match this rule.
Laptop lidActive while the lid is open, or while it is closed.A "closed" rule stays active only while the Mac stays awake with the lid shut (clamshell mode with a display and charger). On its own, a closed laptop sleeps, so the rule fires once just before sleep.
AC power (charger)Active while your Mac is on the charger, or while it runs on battery.
Battery levelActive while the battery is below a level you set, or at or above it. Use "below" for low-battery actions and "at or above" to go back to normal.Matches the percentage macOS shows in the menu bar.
Low Power ModeActive while Low Power Mode is on, or while it is off.
Time of dayActive during a time window each day. Windows that cross midnight, such as 22:00 to 07:00, work.
Day of the weekActive on the days you pick: weekdays, weekends or any set of days. Combine with Time of day and "all rules match" for things like Tuesday evenings.Uses your Mac’s current time zone, so it follows you when you travel.
System appearance (Dark / Light)Active while macOS is in Dark mode, or in Light mode. It updates the moment the appearance changes.
Which actions can a profile run?
An action is what a profile does when it switches on. A profile can run as many as you like, all together. There are 18.
Set audio output deviceSends sound to a speaker, headset, interface or TV from your Output list.
Set system volumeSets the volume of the current output to an exact level.
Mute / unmute audioMutes or unmutes the sound, like the mute control in the menu bar.
Set microphone inputChooses the default microphone, such as your desk USB mic or headset.
Mute / unmute microphoneMutes the microphone for the whole system, not just one app.
Play a system soundPlays one of the macOS alert sounds as a quiet cue that the profile switched.
Speak text aloudSays a line of text in any installed voice, in any language.Add more voices in System Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content.
Set desktop wallpaperSets the wallpaper on every display: Apple wallpapers, ones you downloaded in System Settings (including dynamic day and night ones), aerial wallpapers as high-quality stills, or your own images.For downloaded and aerial wallpapers, the picker asks once for access to the folder where macOS keeps them.
Set keyboard input sourceSwitches the keyboard layout or input method.Add layouts first in System Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources.
Launch an appOpens an app, or brings it to the front if it is already open.
Hide an appHides an app’s windows, like Command-H. The app keeps running.
Open a URLOpens a web page or an app link (such as a Zoom or Slack link), in your default browser or one you choose.
Open a file or folderOpens a file or folder, or reveals it in Finder.
Run a ShortcutRuns any shortcut from the Shortcuts app by name. Use it for Focus modes, HomeKit scenes, brightness, media, messages and anything else Shortcuts can do.Type the shortcut’s exact name (capital letters count).
Set default printerChooses the default printer for every app’s Print dialog.Add the printer in System Settings > Printers & Scanners first.
Mount a network shareConnects a network share, such as smb://server.local/share (also AFP, NFS and WebDAV).macOS asks for the user name and password the first time and remembers them.
Prevent sleep"Keep display awake" keeps the screen on; "Keep system awake" lets the screen sleep but keeps the Mac running, for backups or downloads. It is released when another profile takes over.It prevents idle sleep. Closing a laptop lid still sleeps the Mac unless a display and charger are connected.
Show a notificationShows a notification with your own title and text, a visible sign that the right profile is on.Needs Notifications permission.
What happens when several profiles match?
One profile is active at a time, and priority decides which.
Each profile has a priority number. The lowest number wins: 1 is the highest priority.
If two matching profiles share a priority, the one you edited most recently wins.
Use this to layer a specific profile (Office meeting room) on top of a general one (Office).
Each profile matches when any of its rules is true, or only when all of them are true.
When a burst of changes arrives at once, such as docking your Mac, Profiles Switcher waits a moment for things to settle and then switches once.
How do I see or pause what is happening?
Click the menu bar icon.
The menu shows the active profile, the Wi-Fi network, and any other profiles that also match.
Choose Pause Automation to stop profiles from switching, for example while presenting. Choose Resume Automation to continue.
Choose Preferences to edit profiles, and Send Feedback to write to us.
Tips for specific situations
Laptop with the lid closed
Rules for a closed lid stay active only while the Mac stays awake, which on a laptop means clamshell mode with an external display and a charger. Without them the Mac sleeps, so the rule fires once just before sleep.
Sounds while the lid is closed
The built-in speakers cannot play while the lid is closed or the Mac is asleep. The app then reports that no audio output is available instead of failing silently.
Recognizing a place
Wi-Fi rules are the quickest and most reliable way to recognize home or the office. Add a location rule and set the profile to match any rule if you also want it to switch on without Wi-Fi.
Traveling
Day of the week and Time of day follow your Mac’s current time zone. With automatic time zone on, a Time zone rule can switch on a travel profile the moment your Mac changes zone.
Troubleshooting
A profile does not switch on.
Check that its rules match right now and that any permission it needs is on. A warning in Preferences lists missing permissions. If another matching profile has a higher priority (a lower number), that one wins.
The Wi-Fi rule never matches.
Wi-Fi rules need Location permission. Turn it on in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, then restart the app if macOS asks.
Two profiles keep taking turns.
Give the more specific profile a lower priority number so it wins while both match.
An action did nothing.
Check that the target still exists: the app, the audio device, the printer or the network share. For Run a Shortcut, the name must match exactly.
A permission dialog does not appear.
macOS shows each dialog only once. If you declined it before, turn the permission on in System Settings instead.
Still need help?
Send us a message from the contact page, or use Send Feedback in the menu bar menu.
Profiles Switcher