Arc workspaces, and where they leave you now

Arc does not have a feature literally called "workspaces." What people mean by Arc browser workspaces is the combination of two features: Spaces, which separate sets of tabs, and Profiles, which separate logins, cookies and history. A Space on its own changes what you see in the sidebar. A Space attached to its own Profile changes who you are signed in as. Getting that distinction right solves most of the confusion in forum threads about Arc, and it also decides how hard it will be to move the setup elsewhere, which matters now that The Browser Company has said it is no longer actively building new features for Arc. This page is published by the maker of SpaceDeck, one of the alternatives discussed below.

What a Space is, according to Arc's own documentation

Arc's help article on Spaces opens with a short definition.

Spaces are distinct browsing areas in Arc, created to separate different contexts. Each Space has its own Pinned section, Unpinned section, Theme, and Icon. Source: Arc Help, "Spaces: Distinct Browsing Areas"

The article positions Spaces as a way to group tabs and files for big areas of life, such as a project, work, or personal browsing.

Creating one is a single step: click the Plus (+) icon at the bottom of the sidebar. Switching has four routes listed in the same article:

• Click the Space's icon at the bottom of the sidebar.
• Swipe left or right with two fingers in the sidebar.
• Press Control and the Space number on macOS (Alt on Windows).
• Press Command-T and type the Space name.

Two further features sit on top of Spaces. Shared Spaces let a Space be sent as a permalink, which other Arc users can add to their sidebar and non-Arc users can view in a browser. Air Traffic Control, on macOS, routes links to a chosen Space, so that every Google Sheets link, for example, opens in a Work Space regardless of where it was clicked. Routes are set up under Arc, then Settings, then Links, then the "Air Traffic Control" button.

What the Spaces article does not say is that a Space separates sign-ins. It does not, on its own. Two Spaces that share a Profile share one cookie jar, so the same Gmail account is signed in to both. That is the job of the second feature.

What a Profile adds, and how to attach one

Arc's help article on Profiles states that Profiles scope Logins, Cookies, Browsing History, Archive timing and other settings to one or more Spaces, and that a common use is separating work data from personal data (Arc Help: Profiles, Separate Work and Personal Browsing). The article lists what a Profile contains:

• Archive settings
• Authentication (logins, passwords, autofill)
• Browser history
• Cache and cookies
• Default browser selection
• Favorites
• Extensions
• Settings in arc://settings, such as language and download preferences

To attach a Profile on macOS, hover over the Space title, click the "..." menu, hover over "Profile," and either pick an existing Profile or create a new one. New Profiles are empty containers with no logins or history. Removing a Profile from a Space means setting it back to Default. A Profile can only be deleted, from Arc, then Settings, then Profiles, once it has been removed from every Space that uses it.

One limitation in the same article is easy to miss: Profiles do not sync across devices. Spaces and tabs do sync, even when they belong to a Profile, but the logins and cookies inside a Profile stay on the machine where they were created. Setting up a second Mac means signing in again in every Profile.

Space versus Profile, side by side

The practical difference shows up as soon as two accounts on the same service are involved.

Question	Space only	Space with its own Profile
Separate set of pinned tabs	Yes	Yes
Separate theme and icon	Yes	Yes
Separate logins and cookies	No	Yes
Separate history and extensions	No	Yes
Two accounts of one service open at once	No	Yes, one per Profile
Syncs to another Mac	Yes	Spaces and tabs yes, Profile data no

The common Arc setup that works well is one Profile per identity, not one Profile per Space. A freelancer with two clients and a personal life typically needs three Profiles, and may still want five or six Spaces, because several Spaces can share the "Personal" Profile while each client gets its own. Creating a Profile for every Space multiplies the number of times every service has to be signed in to, without adding any separation that matters.

The other pattern that causes trouble is the reverse: many accounts living inside one Profile, separated only by Spaces. It looks organized in the sidebar, but because the Spaces share one set of cookies, two accounts on the same service cannot stay signed in side by side, and signing out in one Space signs out in all of them.

Where Arc stands in 2026

In a letter to Arc members dated May 26, 2025, The Browser Company wrote that it had stopped actively building new features for Arc, while continuing to maintain it with regular Chromium upgrades and fixes for security vulnerabilities and related bugs. The same letter states that the core product experience is no longer being actively developed the way it once was, and that the company's focus had moved to a new browser, Dia (The Browser Company: Letter to Arc members 2025). The letter also explains why open-sourcing Arc is complicated: Arc is not just a Chromium fork but runs on internal infrastructure the company calls ADK, the Arc Development Kit. On September 4, 2025, Atlassian announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire The Browser Company, describing it as "the team behind the incredible Dia and Arc browsers," with a stated plan to make Dia a browser for knowledge workers (Atlassian: Welcoming The Browser Company to Atlassian).

For someone running their work on Arc Spaces, the honest reading of those two sources is this. Arc still receives Chromium upgrades and security fixes according to its maker, so it is not an unsafe browser to keep using today. What has changed is the outlook for new features, including the long-requested Profile sync. A setup that depends on Arc gaining something it lacks is unlikely to get it. A setup that works today can keep working, with the understanding that the maker's attention is elsewhere.

Alternatives that keep the same separation on a Mac

If the decision is to move, the useful question is not "which browser looks most like Arc" but "which tool separates the same two things: sets of tabs, and sign-in identities."

Chrome profiles

Arc is built on Chromium, so its Profile model maps directly onto Chrome's. Google's help page says profiles keep bookmarks, history, passwords and other settings separate, and lists keeping work and personal accounts apart as a main use (Chrome Help: Manage Chrome with multiple profiles). Tab groups take the place of Spaces. The difference is that each Chrome profile opens in its own window, so switching identity means switching windows rather than swiping in a sidebar.

Safari profiles

Apple's support page states that starting with Safari 17, each profile has separate history, cookies, website data, extensions, Tab Groups and favorites. A profile is created from the Safari menu with "Create Profile," or from Settings, then Profiles, then "Start Using Profiles." The first time, the existing data becomes a default profile named Personal (Apple Support: Use profiles in Safari on Mac). Tab Groups inside each profile play roughly the role of Spaces.

Vivaldi workspaces

Vivaldi has a feature actually named Workspaces. Its help page describes workspaces as a way to group tabs for different topics, such as work, research or shopping, in the same window, created from the Workspaces button on the left side of the tab bar (Vivaldi Help: Workspaces). That makes them closest to Arc's Spaces without Profiles attached. Sign-in separation is a separate question.

App aggregation browsers

A different kind of tool fits the case where most Spaces are really collections of web apps: mail, chat, calendar, a project tracker. An app aggregation browser keeps each web app in its own window with its own sign-in state, and groups those apps into workspaces that switch from a sidebar. How that grouping works is described on the Workspaces page. One example offers a free plan of one workspace with up to three apps, and paid plans from $5 per month billed yearly or a one-time license, as listed on its Pricing page. How it differs from similar tools is laid out in the comparison with Wavebox.

Choosing based on how the Spaces are actually used

The right replacement depends on what the existing Spaces contain, so it is worth opening each one and asking what it holds.

• Spaces full of reading and research tabs. These need tab organization, not identity separation. Tab groups in Chrome or Safari, or Vivaldi's workspaces, cover this.
• Spaces that exist to keep two accounts apart. These need profile-level separation. Chrome or Safari profiles cover it, at the cost of one window per identity.
• Spaces that are really app launchers. If a Space mostly holds pinned tabs for email, chat and a calendar that stay open all day, a tool that treats each one as an app with its own session is a closer fit than any tab-based browser.

An Arc setup that has grown over a year or two is often a mix of all three. Splitting them is usually where the setup gets simpler: research moves to tab groups, identities move to profiles, and the always-open apps get a home of their own.

A migration checklist that loses nothing

Moving out of Arc goes more smoothly in a fixed order, because the parts that do not sync are the ones most easily lost.

1. List every Profile and the accounts inside it. Profile data does not sync, so this list exists only on the current Mac. Note which services need two-factor codes, since each one will ask again in the new tool.
2. Export or record pinned tabs per Space. Pinned tabs are the closest thing in Arc to a saved layout. Copy their addresses into a plain note, grouped by Space, before touching anything.
3. Check Air Traffic Control routes. Any route that sends certain links to a certain Space is behaviour that will silently disappear. Write each one down so it can be rebuilt as a profile rule, a default browser choice, or simply a habit.
4. Move one identity at a time. Recreate a single Profile in the new tool, sign in to its services, and use it for a few days before moving the next. Keeping Arc installed during this period costs nothing and gives a fallback.
5. Delete Arc Profiles last. Arc only allows a Profile to be deleted after it has been removed from every Space, which is a useful final check that nothing still depends on it.

What to change first

Before moving anything, open each Arc Space and write down which Profile it uses and which accounts are signed in there. That list is the real setup, and it is what any replacement has to reproduce. If most entries turn out to be always-open web apps, try putting those apps into SpaceDeck first and leave research tabs where they are.