Venn’s Blue Border™ separates and secures your company’s data from everything else on the same computer. You can continue to use your Mac for personal use—or for your work for other clients or organizations—while keeping your company’s apps and files secure inside Blue Border.

Launch Apps Inside and Outside Blue Border

For the company that uses Venn, always launch your apps from Venn’s Workplace app. They will open in Blue Border.

Whenever you're using your Mac for any reason not related to the company that uses Venn (personal use, work for another organization, etc.), open apps outside of Blue Border from your Mac’s Apps panel or Launchpad.

macOS "Single Instance" Limitation

In order to enable you to easily switch contexts between work and personal app use, Venn provides seamless switching between using apps inside and outside of Blue Border.

If you try to open an app in Blue Border (from the Workplace app or a window with a blue border) that is already open outside of Blue Border, you will be asked if you would like Venn to close the personal instance to open the app in Blue Border.

If you try to open an app outside of Blue Border (from the Dock, Apps panel, Launchpad, Finder, or from a window without a blue border) that is already open inside Blue Border, you will be asked if you would like Venn to close the Blue Border instance to open the app outside of Blue Border.

Options for Using Tools in Both Environments

Because macOS limits each app to a single environment at a time, you can only have an app open either inside or outside of Blue Border—not both at once. 

There are two different approaches our users take to using tools in both environments:

1. Switch back and forth
2. Use alternatives

1. Switch Back and Forth

Most of our users switch back and forth between using apps inside and outside of Blue Border as needed. If you use your computer for work during the day and for personal browsing and projects on nights and weekends, this approach typically works well.

2. Use Alternatives

There may be some times when you need to do similar things inside and outside of Blue Border at the same time instead of switching back and forth. 

Here are some tips based on what we've seen work well for our users for the following types of apps:

• Browsers
• Microsoft apps
• Other desktop apps

Browsers

This comes up most frequently for our users with web browsers. Many users like to have a browser open outside of Blue Border that they can use to check their personal email or calendar while they are working.

We recommend that you use one browser for work inside Blue Border and another outside of Blue Border.

Venn supports Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge inside Blue Border. On a Mac, people often use:

• Chrome inside Blue Border and Safari outside, or
• Edge inside Blue Border and Chrome outside.

Microsoft Apps

macOS treats all Microsoft desktop tools as one app. That means you can’t have Microsoft desktop apps open inside and outside Blue Border at the same time.

Depending on what they are using Microsoft tools for our users, often use Microsoft desktop apps in one environment and alternatives the other. For example:

• Use Microsoft desktop apps inside Blue Border.
• Use one of the following outside Blue Border:
  • Native Mac Office Suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote)
  • Google Docs in Safari or Chrome
  • Microsoft Online in Safari or Chrome

Other Desktop Apps

For other desktop apps, use similar tools inside and outside Blue Border. For example, for note-taking:

• Use the Notion desktop app inside Blue Border and
• Use the Evernote desktop app outside Blue Border.

When you need to use the exact same app, use the desktop version in one environment and the web version in the other. For example:

• Use the Slack desktop app inside Blue Border and
• Use the Slack web app in Safari or Chrome outside Blue Border.