Chrome profiles are one of the best ways to separate work from personal browsing — or to keep client projects isolated from each other. The problem: Chrome extensions can't access profile names, so your time tracker has no idea which profile you're using. The latest Rize Chrome extension update fixes this with custom keywords — a lightweight tagging system that feeds directly into Rize's autocategorization engine.
How It Works
The extension adds an optional custom keyword setting to each Chrome profile where Rize is installed. When enabled, your keyword is inserted into the browser window title alongside the current URL. Rize's desktop app reads window titles to track activity, so the keyword gives it the context it needs to categorize time by profile automatically.
Here's what the window title looks like with and without a custom keyword:
| Setting | Window Title |
|---|---|
| Keyword off | Gmail - https://mail.google.com |
| Keyword: Work | Gmail - Work - https://mail.google.com |
| Keyword: Acme Corp | Gmail - Acme Corp - https://mail.google.com |
The keyword sits between the page name and URL, making it easy to set up autocategorization rules in Rize that match on the keyword. Time spent in each profile is automatically tagged without any manual entry.
Setup
Configuration takes under a minute per profile:
- Open the Rize extension popup in your Chrome profile
- Toggle on Include custom name in window title
- Type a keyword (e.g., "Work", "Personal", or a client name)
- Repeat in each Chrome profile with a different keyword
Settings sync across devices via Chrome's built-in storage, so if you use the same profile on multiple machines, you only need to configure once.
Autocategorization Rules
Custom keywords become most powerful when paired with Rize's categorization engine. Create rules that match your keywords to automatically sort time into the right projects, clients, or categories.
Example setup for an agency managing three clients:
| Chrome Profile | Custom Keyword | Rize Category Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Client A | Acme Corp | Title contains "Acme Corp" → Project: Acme |
| Client B | Globex | Title contains "Globex" → Project: Globex |
| Internal | Internal | Title contains "Internal" → Category: Admin |
This means every tab opened in the "Client A" profile — whether it's their Figma board, Slack workspace, or project docs — automatically gets tracked under the right project. No manual tagging, no missed hours. For agencies tracking billable time, this level of automatic segmentation directly improves billing accuracy.
Use Cases
Work vs. personal separation. Assign "Work" and "Personal" keywords to your two main profiles. Rize categorizes accordingly, giving you a clear picture of work-life boundaries in your daily analytics.
Multi-client agencies. One Chrome profile per client. Each keyword maps to a project in Rize. Time allocation, utilization reports, and client invoices all flow from the same automatic data. See how agencies like Momentum Studio use automated tracking to improve billing accuracy.
Project-based teams. Developers, designers, or PMs who context-switch between projects throughout the day can use profile keywords to keep time accurately allocated without touching a timer.
Technical Details
The extension modifies the document.title of each tab via a content script, triggered by the background service worker. Title updates are rate-limited (max 5 updates per 5-second window per tab) to prevent performance issues, and all input is sanitized against XSS. The feature uses chrome.storage.sync, so settings persist across Chrome restarts and sync to any device where you're signed into the same Chrome profile.
If you disable the toggle, the keyword is stripped from all window titles immediately — no leftover artifacts.
Get Started
Update your Rize Chrome extension to the latest version. If automatic updates haven't kicked in, visit chrome://extensions and click Update. Then open the extension popup in each profile you want to tag and set your keyword.
Combined with Rize's automatic time tracking and integrations, profile-based keywords give you accurate, zero-effort time segmentation across every context in your workday.
Macgill Davis is cofounder of Rize, an automatic time tracker that improves focus and builds better work habits.