Privacy is an important consideration when it comes to online shopping and browsing the Internet, because we frequently disclose personal data and other sensitive information. For this reason, Google Chrome lets users launch a window (or even several) in incognito mode. When you’re browsing in incognito mode, Chrome doesn’t save private information and data such as your search history, browsing history, and cookies. However, you still have access to all the usual settings and your bookmarks.
Your Internet service provider and the owners of sites you visit can still see your activity even if you use incognito mode.
In the rest of this article, we explain how to go incognito in Chrome and how to configure Chrome if you want to use incognito mode regularly.
To enable incognito mode, open a normal browser window. Next, click on the menu icon (three dots) in the top right-hand corner, beside the address bar. From the menu that opens, click on “New incognito window”.
A new browser window will launch in incognito mode. It’s easy to tell that you’re browsing in incognito mode because a message will be displayed in the window. The incognito icon and label will also be displayed in the top right-hand corner, next to the address bar.
Alternatively, if you’ve got a normal Chrome window open, you can use a shortcut to open an incognito window. In Windows the shortcut is [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [N]. The Mac equivalent is [CMD] + [Shift] + [N].
You can open as many windows and tabs as you like in incognito mode. If you have multiple incognito windows open, Chrome displays the number next to the incognito symbol in the top right-hand corner.
Once you’ve finished browsing, to end your incognito session, simply close all of the windows you opened.
If you plan on using incognito mode regularly, it might be worth creating a shortcut on your desktop. That way, you can open an incognito window simply by double-clicking on the icon. Here’s how to create a desktop shortcut:
You’ll need administrator rights to set up an incognito shortcut.
Browsing the internet without leaving a trace – that’s the promise of incognito mode. In Safari, it goes by the name of “private browsing” and ensures that your browser history, cookies, and cache data aren’t saved locally. We’ll show you how to activate and deactivate private mode in Safari on various devices.
Surf the web without leaving a trail – that’s possible in Firefox using “private mode.” It’s quick to activate and can be used temporarily or permanently. Here’s a quick guide on Firefox’s incognito mode, explaining which data is actually concealed (and which data isn’t).
Google Chrome’s dark mode, also known as Chrome night mode, is available from Version 74 of the browser onwards and can be enabled on all devices. You can use Chrome dark mode on all computers running Windows or macOS operating systems, as well as on smartphones running iOS or Android. It can be enabled manually or automatically.
Trying to restore your tabs in Chrome? Accidentally closed your Chrome browser or individual tabs and simply can’t find those pages again? As a Google Chrome user, you can prevent this from happening, thanks to a built-in feature that lets you restore your most recently closed tabs. How do you restore tabs in Chrome, and does it make a difference if you want to restore individual or multiple tabs?...
All well-known browsers come with incognito mode which lets you “surf privately” on the web. Find out what private mode means in practice and how to activate it in in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Apple Safari. But beware that incognito mode on its own does not guarantee anonymity online.
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