Frequently Asked Questions

• If using a Parall shortcut together with the original app, start the original app first, then launch the shortcut.
• To avoid any launch‑order dependency, create two shortcuts and use those exclusively - they can be started in any order and will run simultaneously.

Parall shortcuts are designed to be stable over time because they rely on standard macOS process launching behavior rather than private APIs, binary patching, code injection, or app modification.

The underlying principle is process inheritance: when a shortcut starts the target app, macOS passes the configured launch environment to that process. This behavior has existed in macOS for many years and is also used by many apps with multi-process architectures.

Because of that, macOS updates are very unlikely to break Parall shortcuts as a general mechanism. Parall is also built with native Objective-C and supports older macOS versions, which helps keep the app compatible across system releases.

App updates are usually safe as well because each shortcut points to the original app bundle. However, if the original app developer changes how that app stores profiles, handles command-line arguments, reads environment variables, or enforces single-instance behavior, that specific app may need an updated Parall compatibility profile.

If a supported app changes behavior after an update, please contact support. I test supported apps individually and update app-specific profiles when needed.

Yes. Because each shortcut points to the original app bundle, updates to the main app apply to every shortcut after the shortcut is restarted.

If the target app has its own built-in updater, I recommend choosing one instance to handle update checks and disabling automatic update checks in every other instance. To update the app, launch that chosen instance and let the target app update itself. After the app bundle is updated, the other Parall instances will use the updated version automatically the next time they are restarted.

For a Parall shortcut to use the target app’s internal updater, macOS may need to grant that shortcut App Management permission. macOS prompts for this once on the first run of the shortcut. Grant it for the shortcut instance you use for updates.

If a Parall shortcut is already running and you open it again from Raycast, Alfred, Spotlight, or the macOS “Open With” menu, macOS may show an extra phantom Dock icon. That phantom icon can be unresponsive. This is a known limitation and is expected to happen once per running app session.

To clear it, right-click the phantom Dock icon and choose Force Quit. Do this for the phantom icon only, not the real shortcut instance.

After that, the Parall shortcut should respond normally when opened again from Raycast, Alfred, Spotlight, or “Open With” while it is already running.

This limitation may be lifted in a future Parall version.

If several Parall instances are running at the same time and one of them sends a push notification, clicking that notification may bring a different running instance to the front instead of the one that sent it.

This is a known limitation. At the moment there is no workaround or complete solution, but it may be fixed in a future version of Parall.

Parall creates lightweight shortcuts for macOS apps, files, folders, and command-line tools that behave like separate apps. You can run multiple instances of the same app side by side, each with its own data, settings, permissions, and Dock icon (where supported).

For supported apps, Parall does more than simply open the same app twice. It applies the launch method that works for that specific target app, such as a separate data storage path, environment variables, command-line arguments, or a dedicated app-specific profile. This is what lets duplicated instances keep their own sessions, settings, and app data separately.

No. Parall never modifies system files or existing apps. It simply creates small shortcut bundles that link to your original apps.

No. Parall never injects, modifies, patches, or alters app binaries. It only launches the target app with supported launch options such as custom environment variables, command-line arguments, or app-specific profile settings.

Each supported app is tested individually. When an app needs a special launch configuration to keep data separated, Parall uses an app-specific compatibility profile for that target app instead of modifying the app itself.

No. By design, Parall shortcuts are not sandboxed or signed. This is necessary because they directly execute the target app’s bundle. macOS may sometimes show a warning saying the shortcut “tries to modify another app,” but this message appears for any access - not modification. Parall never modifies apps or system files.

On macOS 11 and older, automatic signing is not supported, so created shortcuts require manual signing before they can be used normally. This is a system limitation and may be improved in a future Parall update.

Parall itself works offline. It has no background daemons and no telemetry.

Normal Parall shortcuts do not act as network clients or proxies. A shortcut launches the original target app as-is with the configured environment variables, arguments, data path, HOME override, menu bar option and icon settings. If the target app needs internet access, that traffic belongs to the target app, not to Parall sending your data elsewhere.

Shortcuts that launch online services still need the network those services normally require. For example, a WhatsApp shortcut connects to WhatsApp Web because it runs web.whatsapp.com.

Yes. Once a shortcut is saved, simply drag it to the Dock. It behaves just like any other macOS app icon.

Parall custom Dock icons work as expected in normal usage, but there is a limitation: some target apps can overwrite their Dock icon at runtime.
For example, an app may draw its own download progress bar or status overlay into the Dock tile, which is common for browsers during downloads. When that happens, macOS replaces the shortcut’s custom Dock icon with the target app’s icon.
After the target app updates the Dock tile once, the custom icon will remain reverted until the shortcut is restarted.
At the moment, I do not have a complete fix for this behavior, but I am actively investigating it and will keep working on a solution.
Note: the Parall menu bar icon feature does not have this limitation. The menu bar icon is stable and will not be replaced by the target app.

If Dock effects are enabled but the shortcut’s Dock icon does not animate, remove the shortcut from the Dock, quit the app completely, then add the shortcut to the Dock again.

This can be required on the first launch of a newly created shortcut. Once the shortcut is re-added, macOS should start showing the animated Dock icon correctly.

If you use Parall to draw a text label on top of an icon, macOS always treats the final result as a full rectangular image.

If the label is drawn into the transparent area outside the icon’s visible shape, for example if the text is wider or lower than the icon itself, macOS will preserve that extra transparent space. The Dock may then scale the image down to fit, which makes the icon look smaller and can appear like it has transparent borders or extra padding.

To fix it, recreate the label so it stays inside the visible icon area:

• Reduce the font size.
• Move the text upward.
• Shorten the label so it does not extend past the icon edges.

macOS Tahoe expects Dock icons to contain transparent or semi-transparent areas. If Parall draws a text label onto the target app icon, or if you import a fully opaque custom icon, the resulting shortcut icon may no longer contain the semi-transparent pixels Tahoe needs for its dark Dock theme.

Parall cannot safely guess which parts of an icon should become semi-transparent, and it cannot always extract a Tahoe-ready icon from the target app. The workaround is to manually prepare an icon with the right near-transparent areas, then recreate the shortcut and import that icon with the Browse button on the icon name/label step. See the full guide: How to make custom Parall icons work with the macOS Tahoe dark Dock theme.

Yes. Each shortcut bundle has its own bundle identifier and macOS treats it as a separate app. Third-party tools such as 1Focus, Jomo, Little Snitch and similar utilities can target each shortcut individually, so you can limit, block, or filter them per shortcut just like you would with a separate app.

Unlike normal apps, when you override the language or region for a Parall-created shortcut bundle, it only affects the Parall helper and menu bar icon UI, not the target app itself. The target app continues to use its own language settings or the system default. To change the target app language, use the language or region settings inside the app or its own preferences. If the app supports separate data per profile and you configured a dedicated data folder for that shortcut, any language or region preference you set in the target app will be preserved independently for that shortcut.

Yes. During the Parall shortcut wizard, you can choose the shortcut appearance mode: Follow System, Light, or Dark. This lets you force a specific shortcut to open in Light or Dark mode regardless of the current macOS system appearance.

This setting applies to the shortcut when it launches the target app. Some apps may ignore the native macOS appearance setting if they implement their own theme system internally.

To change this later, recreate the shortcut with the same data storage path and choose a different appearance option in the wizard.

Apple app support is not guaranteed. Apps with bundle identifiers starting with com.apple. may behave differently depending on the macOS version, and not all Parall features may be available for them.

Yes, with one important difference from most Parall shortcuts: WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams are supported through lightweight web frames instead of launching the original native app bundle directly. This is an implementation exception for apps where the web version is the reliable supported target. WhatsApp uses the web.whatsapp.com version of WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams uses the web version of Teams. If a feature is not available in the corresponding web app, Parall has the same limitation.

Right now, web frame shortcuts support push notifications, Dock icon badges with unread counts, optional menu bar icons that also show unread counts, background mode when the menu bar icon is enabled, custom data storage paths for separate shortcuts, and view scaling for compatible web apps.

When background mode is enabled, closing the web frame shortcut window hides the window and Dock icon while the shortcut keeps running from the menu bar.

For web frame shortcuts such as WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams, Parall also supports view zoom control from the menu bar and with the Cmd + - and Cmd + = hotkeys. This changes the web view scale for that shortcut, and the selected scale is preserved after the app restarts.

For WhatsApp, voice and video calls are supported, but you need to enable WhatsApp beta inside WhatsApp Web after logging in. Open the WhatsApp Parall shortcut, click your avatar in the bottom-left corner, open Help and feedback, and turn on Join the beta.

If a future Parall update adds more web frame app features, you may need to recreate the affected shortcut to apply those changes. You can point the new shortcut to the same data storage path so it should reuse the existing authorization and synced history where the web app supports it.

No. Parall shortcuts are built specifically for macOS and do not use Electron or ship a bundled Chrome engine. Normal Parall shortcuts launch the installed macOS app directly.

WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams are the current web-based exceptions. They use the native Safari/WebKit engine provided by macOS, so web engine updates come through macOS updates and stay aligned with the system.

Limited support. On Apple silicon Macs, Parall can create shortcuts for iOS and iPadOS apps, but they cannot separate data and cannot provide a dedicated Dock icon. You can still override environment variables and pass arguments.

No. For sandboxed apps, including most Mac App Store apps, macOS forces data into the system container at ~/Library/Containers/<bundle-id>/Data. Parall detects sandboxed apps automatically and uses the container. You can still run multiple instances, but custom home/data-path redirection is not available.

Cloud mounting tools focus on exposing many cloud accounts as network drives in Finder. They usually connect to Dropbox and other services through public APIs or WebDAV and stream files through their own process. This is convenient for browsing many accounts at once, but it does not run the native Dropbox desktop sync engine or behave the same way as the official sync client.

Parall takes a different approach. Instead of mounting cloud storage, it lets you run multiple native Dropbox apps side by side, each in its own profile with separate data. Each instance is the official Dropbox client, with the same sync logic, protocol and optimizations that Dropbox ships on macOS.

With Parall you can run multiple Dropbox personal accounts on the same Mac, each using the normal Dropbox desktop sync, while keeping data for every account in its own separate profile.

Yes. After you sign in to a new Dropbox instance, Dropbox shows its initial setup wizard. On that wizard, do not skip the Advanced settings step. You must change the Dropbox storage location to a folder that is different from your other Dropbox instance.

If you leave the Dropbox folder the same as another instance, the shortcut may fail to work correctly or Dropbox may refuse to complete setup. In that case, you will usually need to either recreate the shortcut from the beginning or erase that shortcut’s separate data folder and repeat the setup flow.

If Dropbox still does not work correctly after using a separate storage location, open Dropbox settings and disable File Provider for secondary Dropbox instances, but keep it enabled in your main Dropbox instance. Keeping File Provider enabled in more than one instance may prevent multiple Dropbox shortcuts from working correctly at the same time.

Important: current Dropbox for macOS versions have a File Provider bug where, after File Provider is disabled, Dropbox may not be able to enable it again from settings. Do not disable File Provider in your main Dropbox instance unless you are ready to reinstall Dropbox. If you already disabled it and cannot enable it again, you may need to cleanly uninstall and reinstall Dropbox. See these clean uninstall instructions for Dropbox on macOS.

After File Provider is disabled, Dropbox may open and stay on a loading screen for a few minutes. Leave it running. Once Dropbox finishes loading, the instance should work as expected.

Recommendation: for every Parall Dropbox shortcut, choose a unique Dropbox sync folder and keep it matched to that shortcut’s unique data profile.

Badgeify is a background menu bar utility that runs as its own process and provides status bar icons for other apps. It keeps running independently in the background, and the icons it shows belong to Badgeify itself, not to the target apps.

Parall works in another way. Parall has no background services. Each shortcut bundle includes its own menu bar icon implementation that is tied to that shortcut. The menu bar icon appears only while that shortcut is running the target app and disappears when it quits. This is close to how it would behave if the original app developer had added a native menu bar icon directly to the app.

Fluid, Coherence X and Unite create standalone apps for websites. They wrap a browser engine and turn a URL into its own Mac app, usually with its own cookie storage and settings. This is ideal for running web apps like Slack, Notion or Gmail in separate windows with their own icons.

Parall usually works at a different level. It creates shortcuts that launch additional native macOS app instances from the real app bundle already installed on your Mac. Each shortcut can have its own data folder, environment variables, command-line arguments, Dock icon and optional menu bar icon.

WhatsApp is currently the exception: Parall supports it through a lightweight native web frame for web.whatsapp.com, using the Safari/WebKit engine built into macOS instead of Electron or a bundled Chrome engine.

If you already use a native Mac app, Parall lets you run multiple copies of that same app side by side with separate profiles, rather than turning a web version of the service into an app. In short, Fluid, Coherence X and Unite are mainly about turning websites into apps, while Parall is mainly about multiplying and isolating the native apps you already have.

Not every macOS app allows multiple instances. Some enforce a single-instance policy, ignore external launch configuration, or store data in a way that cannot be separated safely.

You can check the full compatibility table here: Parall compatibility. For additional technical notes, see this FAQ.

If you’re unsure whether your target app is supported, contact support@parall.app before purchasing — I’ll personally test it and confirm compatibility.

Yes, for supported apps. Automatic data-folder separation is supported for Electron-based, Firefox-based, Chromium-based and ToDesktop-based apps and browsers.

For other apps, Parall can use app-specific launch profiles, custom command-line arguments, environment variables, or HOME override to create separate profiles. The exact method depends on how the target app stores its data and what launch options it supports.

Each supported app is tested individually. Parall uses the supported method for that specific app so every shortcut can keep its own profile, settings, sessions, and storage where the target app allows it.

Note: sandboxed apps always use their system container at ~/Library/Containers/<bundle-id>/Data. Custom home/data redirection does not apply to sandboxed apps.

Yes. For many apps, simply launching the same executable twice will still result in a single instance or shared data. To make multi-instance launching work, Parall usually needs to redirect the app’s data into a separate location or pass a supported profile argument.

In practice, setting a unique Data Storage Path per shortcut is required for most apps. Once each shortcut has its own data location, the app can often run side by side as a truly separate instance.

Some apps do not use a visible data folder directly. In those cases, Parall may use environment variables, command-line arguments, or an app-specific compatibility profile to bind that shortcut to its own data.

No. The shortcut bundle and the data folder are separate.

If you created a shortcut with a custom Data Storage Path, that folder remains on disk even if you delete the shortcut app bundle.

You can always recreate the shortcut later and point it to the same data storage path. Once launched, the instance will use that existing folder and your profile, settings, and session data will come back.

Many untested apps work out of the box, but compatibility depends on how the target app launches and stores its data.

If an app does not launch as a separate instance, the most reliable fallback is to use Data Storage Mode: HOME path override. HOME override often works even when the app is not on the compatibility list, because it gives the app a separate HOME environment so it creates a separate profile and separate settings.

If you try HOME override, use a different HOME override folder per shortcut. If the app is sandboxed, HOME override will not separate its data because macOS forces sandboxed apps to use their system container.

If an app is important to your workflow and is not listed on the compatibility table, contact support before purchasing and I can test it directly.

Parall separates data by giving each shortcut its own browser data folder. It does not attach a shortcut directly to an existing browser “Profile X” folder. This is the same for Electron-based, Chromium-based browsers and Firefox-based browsers.

If you select a non-empty folder for the shortcut data location, Parall warns you because using an existing folder in place can alter that profile.

If you want a shortcut to start with an existing profile:

1. Quit the browser completely, including all instances.
2. Launch the Parall shortcut once and quit it.
3. Copy, but do not move, your existing profile data into the shortcut’s data folder.

Optional advanced option, symlinks:
You can replace a profile folder inside the shortcut data folder with a symlink to an existing profile on your real Home. This keeps one shared profile, but it is not separated. Do not run two instances against the same profile at the same time, it can corrupt browser data.

Yes, but treat this as an advanced setup. By default, a Parall-created Claude shortcut keeps its own data so the original Claude Desktop app and the shortcut stay separated. If you intentionally want both Claude instances to see the same Cowork projects, point the shortcut’s Cowork session folder at the original Claude session folder with a symlink.

Before changing anything:

1. Make sure the original Claude Desktop app already works with Cowork.
2. Open the Parall-created Claude shortcut once, open Cowork inside it, then quit that shortcut. This creates the expected session folder.
3. Quit both Claude instances.

Find the Cowork session folders:

find "$HOME/Library/Application Support" -name "local-agent-mode-sessions" 2>/dev/null

Look for the result inside your Parall shortcut data folder, usually something like:

~/Library/Application Support/Parall/Claude (Work)/local-agent-mode-sessions

The shortcut name may be different on your Mac. Use the folder that matches your Parall-created Claude shortcut.

Then move the shortcut’s separate Cowork session folder aside and create a symlink to the original Claude folder:

cd "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Parall/Claude (Work)"
mv local-agent-mode-sessions local-agent-mode-sessions.backup
ln -s "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude/local-agent-mode-sessions" local-agent-mode-sessions

Restart the Parall-created Claude shortcut. The Cowork projects from the original Claude instance should now appear there too.

To verify the link:

ls -la "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Parall/Claude (Work)" | grep local-agent

You should see local-agent-mode-sessions -> /Users/yourname/Library/Application Support/Claude/local-agent-mode-sessions.

Important notes:

• This intentionally shares Cowork session data. Cowork is no longer isolated between those two Claude instances.
• If you use different Anthropic accounts, visible projects may depend on which account/session Cowork is using.
• Do not delete the original ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/local-agent-mode-sessions folder. The symlink depends on it.
• If the Parall shortcut is not named Claude (Work), replace that folder name in the commands with the actual shortcut folder you found.
• If a Claude or Parall update recreates the shortcut’s session folder and Cowork projects disappear, repeat the symlink step.

Yes. Parall can set custom environment variables for each shortcut. You can also override the HOME directory to create a separate profile folder for many non-sandboxed apps. If the selected directory isn’t empty, Parall automatically creates a user-named subfolder and links key macOS folders to maintain compatibility.
When you use HOME override, Parall prepares a minimal home layout by creating empty folders and symlinks commonly required by macOS apps for profile separation. Parall is designed to separate the target app’s data, not your entire development environment. For that reason, common developer and shell configuration paths, for example Terminal and Docker related configs, are typically symlinked back to your real Home by default, so your tools keep working normally.

Tip for advanced setups: launch the shortcut once to let Parall create the initial structure. After that, you can remove any of those symlinks or add your own if you want a fully separated shell or tooling environment. Parall applies the default layout only when the override folder is empty, so you keep full control over what is visible to the target app.

Important: sandboxed apps ignore custom HOME/data overrides and always use their system-assigned container. Redirection is not supported for them.

macOS adds a “quarantine” attribute to newly created bundles. You can remove it using the provided Terminal command. On older macOS versions, 10.10-10.11, you also need to clear quarantine on the shortcut’s binary.

Yes. Parall can be deployed and managed through standard MDM systems. It doesn’t modify system files, and its behavior is fully transparent.

If you launch Cursor, VS Code, or any VS Code-based IDE through a Parall shortcut that redirects data folder, you may notice that some extensions do not appear in search.

This is often caused by the IDE starting with an empty “Marketplace service URL” inside the separate profile.

To fix it:

1. Open the IDE settings.
2. Search for “Marketplace service URL”.
3. Set it to: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/_apis/public/gallery
4. Restart the IDE.

Yes. You can deploy Parall using any standard MDM solution. To pre-authorize Accessibility permissions, push a configuration profile using the com.apple.TCC.configuration-profile-policy domain granting Accessibility access to app.parall.mac.

No. Parall apps operate fully offline and store no personal data. They do not initiate network connections or send telemetry.

For normal app-launching shortcuts, the shortcut bundle is only a launcher for the original app binary. It does not repack, patch, inject into or modify the target app, and it does not need to make its own network requests to keep profiles separated. You can verify a shortcut yourself by inspecting its Info.plist and launcher binary. See this technical walkthrough: How to Check Whether a Mac App Can Connect to the Internet.

On macOS 11 and older, Parall cannot automatically sign newly created shortcuts. As a result, exported shortcuts on those systems require manual signing before they can be launched normally.

This is a platform limitation rather than a change to your shortcut content. I may improve this behavior in a future Parall update.

This message appears when macOS detects that a Parall-created shortcut is launching another app directly using its command-line path.

Parall does not modify apps or system files.
Shortcuts are read-only bundles that launch the target app with optional arguments and environment variables defined in their Info.plist.

You can safely dismiss this message. It simply informs you that the shortcut is attempting to start another app, which is exactly how Parall works to launch separate instances.

On some systems, Parall-created shortcuts may appear in an “App Management” style permission screen with text similar to “Allow the applications below to update or delete other applications.” macOS shows this because the shortcut reads the contents of the original app bundle in order to launch it, so the system treats it as accessing another app.

Parall does not modify, update, or delete any other apps. Shortcuts only read the target app bundle and then launch it with the options you configured.

However, some apps use their own built-in self-update mechanisms. In those cases, the app may need App Management permission to replace or modify its own app bundle during an update.

For example, Viber may fail to install its updates when launched via a Parall shortcut unless this permission is enabled.

Recommendation: if the app you launch has a self-updater, choose one Parall shortcut instance for update checks and grant App Management permission to that shortcut when macOS prompts. In the target app’s own settings, disable automatic update checks for the other instances. After the update instance installs a new version, restart the other instances and they will use the updated app bundle automatically.

If a shortcut instance requires external OAuth authorization, such as for Cursor or Codex, the authorization may fail if any other instance of the same app is currently running. To complete authorization successfully:

1. Quit all other instances of that app.
2. If authorization still fails, temporarily set Safari as the default browser in macOS and try the authorization flow again.
3. After authorization succeeds, you can reopen and use multiple instances simultaneously afterward.

Note: If the app is sandboxed, custom home/data redirection will not apply during or after authorization. The app will continue to use its container.

If you created a Parall shortcut for an app that is listed as compatible but it still uses the same data as the original app, the shortcut is probably not using the expected data separation configuration. Check these settings first:

1. Open Parall and select the target app again.
2. Confirm that “Data Storage Mode” is set to “Automatic”.
3. Confirm that the shortcut has a unique “Data Storage Path”. Most apps require a unique data folder per shortcut to run as truly separate instances.
4. If the app has app-specific compatibility notes on the compatibility page, confirm that the shortcut follows those notes.

If the app is still not separated after confirming these settings, please do the following and contact support:

1. Quit the target app and the Parall shortcut.
2. Right-click the Parall shortcut app bundle and choose “Compress” to create a .zip file.
3. Email the .zip file to support@parall.app and include the target app name and a short description of what you expected vs what happened.