To close all windows except the frontmost window, run: osascript -e 'tell app "Google Chrome" to close (windows 2 thru -1)' To close all windows except the window opened first, run a script like this in AppleScript Editor: tell application "Google Chrome" if number of windows < 2 then return set min to id of window 1 repeat with w in windows 2 thru -1 if id of w < min then set min to id of w end repeat close (windows where id is not min) end tell "Instances" are usually called windows in OS X, and windows are not separate instances of a process like the instances opened by `open -n`.