How To Go Incognito in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari

Remember that joke – ‘If I die, delete my browser history’. Well, most people have this fear of getting their browser history found out by others which invade their privacy. No one wants others to find out what they’ve been surfing on the internet. This is where ‘Incognito mode’ comes. It is created to help you use the internet in a sneaky way, without letting anyone find past traces of your browser footprints. In this article, we’ll explain how to turn on Incognito Mode in Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox. 

What is Incognito Mode?

Incognito mode, also known as private browsing, is a feature available in most web browsers that allows you to browse the internet without storing any of your browsing data on your device. This means that any websites you visit, files you download, and search terms you enter will not be saved to your browser’s history, cookies, or cache. Incognito mode is useful for a variety of reasons, such as protecting your privacy when using a public or shared computer or keeping your browsing activity hidden from others who may have access to your device. 

Incognito mode does not make you completely anonymous on the internet, as your internet service provider and any websites you visit can still see your IP address and other information. However, it does provide a measure of privacy and can help prevent your browsing activity from being tracked. Today, all browsers provide an incognito mode. The concept is the same in each browser, although it is called differently and behaves differently in each browser. 

We’ll show you how to use incognito mode in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft’s Chromium-based Edge, and Apple’s Safari today.

How to go incognito in Google Chrome

Opening incognito mode in Chrome is a great way to browse the internet without leaving traces of your activity. It is pretty easy to open incognito mode in Chrome. 

Steps to turn on incognito in Google Chrome:

Step 1. Open the Chrome browser on your computer. 

Step 2. Tap on the three dots in the top right corner of the window. 

Step 3. Select “New Incognito Window” from the dropdown menu.

Step 4. A new window will open in incognito mode. You will see a dark grey window with a message that reads “You’ve gone incognito” at the top of the window. 

Step 5. You can now begin browsing the internet in incognito mode. To close the incognito window, simply click the “X” in the top right corner. 

Shortcut to Open Incognito in Chrome: 

The easiest way to open an Incognito window tab is with the keyboard shortcut command –

Ctrl+Shift+N (Windows, Linux, or Chrome OS)  

Command+Shift+N (macOS)

You can use a keyboard shortcut to open an Incognito window or, you can just click on the menu on the upper right – it’s the three vertical dots – and select ‘New Incognito Window’ from the list.

It is important to remember that while your browsing history will not be stored while in incognito mode, your activity is still visible to your internet service provider, employer, school, or any other organization that provides you with internet access. Additionally, websites may still store information about your visits, so it is important to be aware of their privacy policies before using incognito mode.

How to go incognito in Apple’s Safari

Incognito mode in Safari prevents websites from storing cookies and browsing history and also prevents your passwords from being saved. Additionally, it prevents any downloads from being stored in the browser history. This makes it an ideal tool for browsing privately and securely.

Steps to use Private Browsing in Safari: 

Here are five easy steps to open incognito mode in Safari: 

Step 1. Open up the Safari browser. 

Step 2. Click on the “Safari” menu in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. 

Step 3. Select “Private Browsing” from the drop-down list. 

Step 4. A new window will appear. Click the “OK” button to confirm that you want to enter incognito mode. 

Step 5. You are now in incognito mode and can browse the web privately. 

Shortcut to Open Private Browsing in Safari:

With Safari open and active, press Shift + Command + N on your keyboard.

Keyboard shortcut - Shift + Command + N

When you are finished browsing, simply close the private window. You can open a new window to exit incognito mode and return to regular browsing. Incognito mode is best used for quick, private browsing and should not be relied upon for complete anonymity.

How to go incognito in Microsoft Edge

InPrivate windows are also useful if you have multiple users on the same device, as all browsing data will be kept separate. This way, you can browse without the risk of someone else accessing your history or data. 

Steps to browse InPrivate in Microsoft Edge:

Here is how you can access incognito mode in Microsoft Edge:

Step 1. Open the Microsoft Edge

Step 2. To open an incognito window in Microsoft Edge, start by clicking the three dots in the top right corner of the browser window. 

Step 3. Select “New InPrivate window” from the drop-down menu. This will open a new window that is marked with a blue “InPrivate” label in the upper left corner. The blue label indicates that this window is in private browsing mode. This means that any browsing history, cookies, site data, and other private information will not be stored on your device. 

Shortcut to open Microsoft Edge in InPrivate mode:

Keyboard Shortcut – In Microsoft Edge, you can enter Shift + CTRL + N to open incognito mode.

Shift + CTRL + N

You can also use InPrivate windows for security purposes, as all activity within the window will not be tracked or stored. To close an InPrivate window, simply click the “X” in the top right corner. This will close the window and all associated data will be deleted from your device. 

It’s important to remember that any downloads or bookmarks created in an InPrivate window will still exist after the window is closed. To ensure that all data is permanently deleted, you should manually delete any files or bookmarks before closing the window.

How to go incognito in Mozilla Firefox

Using an incognito window in Firefox is a great way to browse the web without leaving any data of your activity on your computer. It also prevents any data that you enter into websites (such as passwords and credit card numbers) from being stored on your computer.

Steps to open Private Window in Mozilla Firefox:

Here are five easy steps to open an incognito window in Firefox: 

Step 1. Click the menu button (three horizontal lines) in the upper-right corner of the window.

Step 2. Click on “New Private Window”! 

Step 3. A new window will open with a grey mask icon in the upper-right corner. 

Step 4. You are now in private browsing mode. 

Step 5. To exit the private window, click the mask icon in the upper-right corner and then select “Close Private Window”.

Shortcut to open Private Window in Firefox:

You can also use the keyboard shortcut Shift + ⌘ + P (on macOS) or Shift + CTRL + P (on Windows/Linux).

Shift + ⌘ + P (on macOS) or Shift + CTRL + P (on Windows/Linux)

Using an incognito window in Firefox allows you to browse the web without leaving any trace of your activity on your computer. As a result, you can search for sensitive topics without worrying about your browsing history being stored on your computer. 

Parting Words:

By now, you must have understood the importance of incognito mode and how to access it on different platforms. For those who are still unsure of what it does and when its use is required, here’s a quick guide: Incognito mode stops your browsing history from getting saved on Google’s servers by hiding the tabs you visit in this mode. And for good measure, it also deletes your history after five minutes or when you close the browser.

Use incognito mode more often if possible so that no one can accidentally access the information they shouldn’t have accessed. Confidentiality comes first!

FAQ’s on Incognito Mode:

Q1. How to disable Incognito Mode in Chrome?

Ans. You can disable Chrome Incognito mode in Windows OS by editing the registry. The process is shown below:

• Open the ‘Start’ menu.
• Type ‘regedit’ in the search bar.
• Click on ‘regedit.exe’, then ‘yes’ on the warning message.
• Navigate to the Policies key.
• Double click on ‘Computer’.
• Double click on ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE’.
• Next, double click on ‘SOFTWARE’.
• Double click on ‘Policies’.

The following will be to create the new registry entry ‘IncognitoModeAvailability’ as follows:

• Right-click on ‘Policies’, then select New >> Key.
• Enter ‘Google’ (just the word) as the key name.
• Right-click on “Google”, then select New >> Key.
• Enter ‘Chrome’ (just the word) as the name of the key.
• Right-click on ‘Chrome’ and select New >> DWORD (32-bit) Value.
• Enter ‘IncognitoModeAvailability'(just the word) as the name.
• Right-click on “IncognitoModeAvailability”, then select “Modify…”.
• Type a 1 in the “Value Data” text box.
• Click OK and exit the Registry Editor program.
• Restart Google Chrome.

After doing this, you’ll see that the ‘New incognito window’ option disappears from the Chrome settings menu.

Q2. How to see incognito history & how to delete it?

Ans. With incognito mode, you can definitely browse privately but don’t think that you’re totally safe as the digital footprints in terms of IP address which is visible to your internet provider. To be safe, you need to delete your incognito history, and you can do by running some commands. Check our article – How to Check Incognito History and Delete it in Google Chrome? – to know more about the procedure. 

Q3. How to see incognito history on Linux?

Ans. Browsing safely without losing important data isn’t a farfetched dream now as it becomes easy to see your incognito history. Read more in this article – How To See Incognito History On Linux? – to find out what website you were browsing while running incognito.