Each profile uses its own data directory meaning that users can configure the web browser the way they want it to look like. This includes themes and extensions but also configuration settings, bookmarks and the browser history.

It is unfortunately not that easy to create Google Chrome profiles. Users who want to create a profile need to open the Chrome User Data folder. There they find the Default profile. They then need to create a copy of that Default profile, rename it and place it in the same User Data directory.

That’s the new user profile. The new profile can then be run by creating a shortcut on the computer desktop that points to it:

chrome.exe –user-data-dir="..\User Data\newProfile"

This procedure is not very handy. A far better way of creating and using Google Chrome profiles is offered by the free software program Google Chrome Backup.

It has been mainly designed as a backup software but it comes with the functionality to create and manage user profiles in Chrome.

Google Chrome Backup lists all existing user profiles in its main interface upon startup. A right-click on a profile in the list opens a context menu with options to backup and restore it, run it and create a shortcut to launch it more comfortably from another location.

New profiles are created by clicking on Profile and selecting the New Profile link.

Entering a new profile name is sufficient to create a new profile. Advanced users can select a custom location on the hard drive for the profile folder and define Chrome startup parameters under advanced options.

Google Chrome Backup offers a manageable and easy way to create and manage Google Chrome profiles. The Windows only software program can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

The jump to version 2 of the web browser backup software brings support for Opera 10 and Flock 2.5 (next to the already existing support for Internet Explorer 6 to Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 2.9 to Firefox 3.6, Google Chrome 1 to Google Chrome 4, Safari 3 and 4, Opera 9 and Flock 3). This should cover the most used web browsers in the Windows operating system.

One of the great additions in FavBackup 2 is support for portable web browsers. It is now possible to select a custom location for the user profile for Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome, Safari and Flock. It is furthermore possible to select any of the identified profiles of the supported web browsers directly.

Other changes in this release are the new ribbon interface, a progress bar, different themes for the backup program, 40% less computer memory usage and minor bug fixes. The new additions make FavBackup 2 a recommended program for web browser backups, especially if multiple different web browsers are installed and used in a computing environment.

Google Chrome Backup is a tool that can backup, create, restore and delete Google Chrome profiles. A profile contains all the personal information of a user like bookmarks, the browsing history and the layout of the browser.

It is actually no problem to backup Google Chrome profiles manually by copying all files stored in the Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Chromium\User Data folders to another location. Google Chrome Backup on the other hand provides an easier method of backing up the files with the click of a button in the program interface.

One interesting aspect of Google Chrome Backup is that it can also create profiles for the browser. Those profiles can be enhanced with startup parameters like starting the browser maximized, disabling the popup blocker or enabling file cookies.

Google Chrome Backup is a nice backup tool to create backups of Google Chrome profiles. For those wondering about the difference between Google Chrome and Chromium. That’s a bit confusing but it seems that Chromium is the Open Source version of Google Chrome.