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Two apps might be better than one app, just like two heads are better than one. The only thing that could be better than a good app is maybe two good apps. If you already have a great app for a certain task and want to run multiple copies of it, But the app doesn’t support that, you might have your work Open Multiple Instances of an App on Mac.
It might sound hard, but running multiple copies of any app on a Mac is surprisingly easy. You can run as many copies of an app as you want with just a simple script. The different instances run separately from each other, and each one is shown in the Dock by the app’s icon. you can visit Apple support center for further help.
How To Open Multiple Instances of an App on Mac
Running Multiple Instances in Terminal
- In order to run multiples, you’ll have to open up Terminal and type in:
- open -n /Applications/ApplicationName.app
- Change “ApplicationName” to whichever application you want to open. Type it in several times, corresponding to how many duplicates you would like. In this case, I opened two instances of Safari.
Running Multiple Instances with AppleScript Editor
- While using Terminal does the job of opening several instances, it doesn’t save them anywhere. If you would like to save multiple instances of the application, you’ll have to open AppleScript Editor and type in:
- do shell script “open -n /Applications/ApplicationName.app”
- Type it in as many times as you need, and then go to File and Save it. Be sure to change the File Format to Application. This will now save icons that you can open whenever you want to run multiple copies of Safari (or any other app) without having to go through the whole process again.
Why You May Want to Open Multiple Instances of an App on Mac
There are many reasons why you might want to run more than one session of an app at the same time. This lets you use your work and personal accounts in different windows at the same time. Since you don’t have to make a new user on your computer, switching between your two profiles is easy.
Also, these methods aren’t always made to handle multiple accounts at the same time. They can also be useful when you want to work on multiple parts or files of an app at the same time, for example. In these cases, you can log in twice with the same profile and have as many app windows open as you want.
FAQ
How do I switch between two instances of the same app on a Mac?
Hold Command +'(the tilde key, which is to the left of the 1 key on your keyboard) to switch between windows of the same app. If you hold Command and keep clicking the’key, you can move from one open window to the next. When you get to the one you want, just let go of your keys.
Can you have two of the same app on Mac?
You might use different accounts for different apps to keep your personal and professional lives separate. But macOS still can’t run multiple copies of the same app. To switch profiles in an app, you have to sign in and out all the time.
How do I open multiple terminals on a Mac?
On a Mac, open the Terminal app.
If you press Command+N twice, you’ll open two new Terminal windows (they can be with different colour profiles, text size, etc)
Choose “Tile Window to Left of Screen” from the “Window” menu.