Two GitHub Desktop accounts on one Mac
Keep work and personal GitHub accounts in two GitHub Desktops on the same Mac: both open at once, each signed in to its own account, with its own Dock icon. Parallex is free and open source.
How
- Install Parallex (below). Your GitHub Desktop isn't changed.
- Choose New Instance and pick GitHub Desktop. Name it for what it's for, like “GitHub Desktop Work”, and give it a color.
- Open it and sign in with the other account. Both run at once, each in its own windows, each with its own Dock icon.
What you get with GitHub Desktop
- Its own copy of GitHub Desktop, with its own Dock icon, name and color, its own notifications, and its own macOS permissions.
- Its own Library and keychain, so its sign-in, settings and caches are separate from your other GitHub Desktop, and it has its own encryption key in the keychain.
- Guard keeps the copy out of the original's data, and the isolation check shows what the copy has opened of yours.
- Kept up to date by Parallex: GitHub Desktop's own updater is turned off in the copy, and Parallex refreshes the copy when your GitHub Desktop updates.
Good to know
- A copy can't use iCloud sync, push notifications or Sign in with Apple, which belong to the original's signature. Apps that don't use them aren't affected.
- Git itself reads the same settings for both (your ~/.gitconfig and SSH keys), so commits are signed the way your Git is set up; set the author per repository where it matters.
Questions
Doesn't GitHub Desktop handle two accounts?
It signs in to one GitHub.com account at a time. A second GitHub Desktop keeps another account signed in beside it.
Do they share repositories?
They can both open the same folder on disk; each keeps its own list of repositories and its own sign-in.
Get Parallex
Free and open source, for macOS 14 and later. In Terminal:
curl -fsSL https://parallex.mandip.dev/install | shOr download it from GitHub, or with Homebrew: brew tap mandipadk/parallex https://github.com/mandipadk/parallex then brew install --cask parallex. Then choose New Instance, pick GitHub Desktop, and give it a name.
Already have Parallex?
This opens New Instance with GitHub Desktop picked; you name it and choose its color.
Make a second GitHub Desktop