Incognito mode: what private browsing really hides, and what it doesn't

Every major browser has a private mode under its own name: Incognito in Chrome, Private Browsing in Safari and Firefox, and InPrivate in Edge. The idea is the same in all of them. A private window keeps a browsing session from being saved on your device, then forgets it when you close the window. That's useful, but it isn't invisibility: Google says Incognito "doesn't make you invisible," and Mozilla says Private Browsing doesn't make you anonymous.

What private browsing hides

The protection is about what stays behind on the device once the session ends. Here's what the browser makers say isn't kept:

• Your local browsing history. Chrome keeps no record of the sites you visited once the session ends. Firefox leaves those pages out of its history lists and address bar drop-down, and Safari and Edge don't save them either.
• Cookies and site data, after you close the window. A private session still uses cookies so sites work, but they don't last. Chrome removes them when the session ends, and Edge deletes them when you close all InPrivate windows. Firefox holds them in memory, apart from your regular cookies, and throws them out when the last private window closes. Safari doesn't save changes to cookies and website data.
• Forms and searches. Edge doesn't save form entries, and Firefox doesn't save what you type into web forms or its Search bar. Safari doesn't save AutoFill information and leaves recent searches out of its Smart Search results.
• Your regular sign-ins. Chrome doesn't automatically sign you in to your Google Account or other sites in Incognito. When you close your last private window, Firefox signs you out of the sites you signed in to during that session.
• Your other devices. Safari's private tabs aren't shared with your other Apple devices, even if they use the same Apple Account.

Does private browsing stop tracking?

Partly, and the extras differ by browser. Google says third-party cookies are blocked by default in Incognito. In a private window, Firefox blocks known trackers and hides more of the details that make a device easy to recognize. Apple says Safari's Private Browsing blocks known trackers, strips tracking used to identify individuals from URLs and adds protection against advanced fingerprinting. Microsoft describes InPrivate more narrowly, as limiting local tracking.

None of this removes ads or ends tracking altogether. Asked whether private browsing in Firefox for iOS blocks all tracking, Mozilla's answer is a plain no. It also notes that Firefox blocks trackers rather than ads, and that a site you're signed in to can draw on your account to decide which ads you see.

What private browsing doesn't hide

Closing a private window only changes what the browser keeps from that session. It doesn't reach anything that has already left your device, and it doesn't cover these:

• The websites you visit. Google says sites, including its own, may be able to observe what you do in Incognito, and that Incognito doesn't change how sites and the services they use collect data. Sites may gather information about you even when you aren't signed in, and those that use Google services share activity on their sites with Google, including for advertising.
• Your network, employer or school. Google says organizations that manage your network, such as a school or employer, may be able to see your Incognito activity. Mozilla gives the same warning for a work or school network or computer, and Microsoft says a school or workplace may still see InPrivate browsing.
• Your internet provider. Google, Microsoft and Mozilla all list internet service providers among those who may still see or gather information about your browsing.
• Anything you sign in to. Signing in tells a site who you are, Mozilla points out, and what you do while signed in is tied to your account in a private window just as in a regular one.
• Your IP address and location. Mozilla says a private window hides neither.
• Downloads and bookmarks. Downloaded files stay on your device in all four browsers, and Chrome, Edge and Firefox keep the bookmarks or favorites you save. Firefox on a computer also keeps any new passwords you save during the session.
• Anyone who picks up the device while tabs are open. Google warns that anyone using your Android device can get to Incognito tabs left open. Apple suggests closing any other private windows on a Mac so others can't see or use those pages.
• Malware. Mozilla says Private Browsing doesn't protect you from keyloggers or spyware already on your computer. Our guide to keyloggers explains how they work.

Google, Microsoft and Mozilla spell out these limits. Microsoft's Edge privacy documentation says your school, workplace or internet provider may still be able to see your InPrivate activity. The Apple pages we read focus on what isn't saved on the device and make no promise about what your network or internet provider can see, so in our view it's safest to assume the same limits apply in Safari.

Does incognito hide your searches from Google?

Only in a limited way. Google says searches you run in Incognito aren't saved to your Google Account as search history. But Google's own sites can still observe what you do there, and if you sign in to your Google Account in a private window, your search activity may be stored in that account. To remove searches that are already saved, see our guide to clearing your browsing history, cache and cookies.

What happened with the Google Incognito lawsuit?

In June 2020, plaintiffs filed a proposed federal class action, Brown v. Google, alleging that Google improperly collected and misused data from people using Incognito in Chrome. The Ninth Circuit summarized the case in an April 2026 opinion. The trial court certified a class seeking a court order rather than money, but declined to certify one seeking damages. The parties then agreed to settle. According to the opinion, Google promised policy changes, including clearer disclosures about how data is used and remediation of certain data it retained, and the named plaintiffs could seek their own damages in arbitration. Other class members didn't give up their damages claims.

The 2026 opinion itself decided a narrower question. A separate group of Chrome users had asked to join the case, and the appeals court upheld the trial judge's finding that they had waited too long. It didn't rule on the underlying privacy claims.

How to open an incognito tab or private window

Private browsing in Safari

On a Mac, a private window has a dark Smart Search field with white text. On iPhone, Apple's support article uses the More button, then New Private Tab, and the address bar turns black or dark. On iOS 17 and earlier, tap the Tabs button instead, swipe to the Private tab group button and tap the tab you want to open.

Apple's iPhone User Guide also describes a route through the tab view. On iOS 27, tap the Tabs button, swipe right on the tab bar until Private Browsing opens, then tap Unlock. On iOS 26, tap the More button and then All Tabs first, or the Tabs button if your Tabs layout is Bottom or Top. If your iPhone has a passcode, Private Browsing locks when it's not in use, though Apple says that may not happen immediately.

Incognito mode on iPhone

In Chrome, tap More, then New Incognito Tab. To check which kind of tab you're on, tap Switch tabs and swipe between Incognito and regular tabs. By default, Chrome hides Incognito tabs when you leave the app for a while. Under More > Settings > Privacy and security > Hide Incognito tabs, you can require Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode instead.

Incognito mode on Android

In Chrome, tap More, then Open in a new Incognito window (Google says Android tablets may show New Incognito window instead). To open one link privately, touch and hold it and pick Open link in new Incognito window. To keep tabs hidden from other people using the device, go to More > Settings > Privacy and security and turn on Lock Incognito windows when you leave Chrome. On a Pixel, Google says some of the lock steps need Android 11 or later. Firefox for Android can also add a home screen shortcut that goes straight to private browsing.

How to turn off private browsing or close it

In most browsers there's no switch to flip. You leave private mode by closing its windows or tabs, and Google, Microsoft and Mozilla all tie the end of the session to the last one closing. In Chrome, opening another Incognito window just continues the same session.

How to turn off private browsing on iPhone

In Safari, tap the More button and choose New Tab. On iOS 17 and earlier, tap the Tabs button, swipe to the [number] Tabs group button and tap a tab. The address bar goes back to white or gray.

Switching away doesn't close your private pages. Apple says they stay open and Private Browsing locks. To close one, open Private Browsing, tap the Tabs button, then tap the Close button in the upper-right corner of the tab. To close them all, touch and hold the Done button and tap Close All [number of] Tabs.

If your browser keeps opening in private mode

• Safari on a Mac: choose Safari > Settings, click General and change the "Safari opens with" pop-up menu from "A new private window" to another option.
• Firefox on a computer: in Settings, go to Privacy and security and find the History section. Uncheck Always use private browsing mode or select Remember history, then restart Firefox. In this mode, Mozilla notes, you won't see the purple mask that normally marks a private window.
• Firefox on Android: tap the three-dot menu, then Settings > Private browsing, and turn off Open links in a private tab.
• Chrome on iPhone: tap More, then Settings > Privacy and security, and turn off Ask to open links from other apps in Incognito.

Can you remove private mode from a child's device?

Sometimes. Google says Incognito isn't available when a child uses Chrome signed in with a Family Link account, though on a Windows, Mac or Linux computer, iPhone or iPad the child can sign out of Chrome, and may have other browsers those settings don't cover. Microsoft says InPrivate isn't available in Edge when web filtering or activity reporting is on in a family group. Our guide to parental controls covers these tools.

When a VPN changes the picture, and when it doesn't

Private mode and a VPN solve different problems. Private mode deals with what's left on your device. A VPN deals with the route your traffic takes. Neither makes you anonymous: Mozilla says so about private windows, and EFF says a VPN isn't a tool for anonymity.

What a VPN changes

• Your internet provider and the local network owner, such as a coffee shop or hotel. EFF says a VPN hides your outgoing traffic from them.
• The IP address websites see. EFF says a site sees the VPN server's location rather than yours.
• Who can see your browsing. EFF notes that what's hidden from your internet provider is all visible to the VPN provider, so in effect you're moving that trust rather than removing it.

What a VPN doesn't change

• What's saved on your device or in your accounts. A VPN does nothing about your browser history or the search history in an account you're signed in to. EFF makes this point about law enforcement requests, and the same holds for anyone with access to the device or account, in our view.
• Sign-ins and tracking. EFF lists cookies, tracking pixels and fingerprinting among the other ways companies may track you.
• A company VPN. EFF says whoever runs the corporate network will see your traffic.

Do you need one alongside private mode?

Not just because you use private mode, in our view. EFF says most web traffic is now encrypted with HTTPS, so others along the path can usually see which domains you visit and when, but not the specific pages, your login name or your messages. It suggests a VPN may be useful on a public network you don't trust, if you have a VPN you do trust.

Some browsers offer their own options too. Apple says iCloud Private Relay, part of an iCloud+ subscription and not available in every country or region, keeps websites from seeing your IP address and network providers from collecting your Safari browsing. Mozilla points to Firefox's built-in VPN as a way to make your location harder to trace. For the full picture, including when you can skip a VPN, see our guide to what a VPN protects.

When private browsing is actually useful

• On a shared or borrowed computer, so your session doesn't stay behind. Google and Mozilla both give this example.
• When you're shopping for a gift, as Google suggests, so it doesn't appear in your history.
• To sign in to a second account without signing out of your main one, as Mozilla suggests.
• To start fresh with a site, since Mozilla says a new private session carries over no cookies or site data from the previous one.

Private mode only works going forward. If you forgot to use it, see our guide to clearing your browsing history, cache and cookies.

Other settings that improve browsing privacy

These apply to regular browsing, so you don't have to remember to open a private window:

• Chrome on a computer: More > Settings > Privacy and security > Third-party cookies > Block third-party cookies.
• Safari on iPhone: Settings > Apps > Safari, where Prevent Cross-Site Tracking limits third-party cookies and data by default. On a Mac, Apple says you can also turn on its advanced tracking and fingerprinting protection for all browsing.
• Edge on a computer: Settings and more > Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies, then turn on Block third-party cookies.
• Firefox: Mozilla suggests switching Enhanced Tracking Protection to Strict for stronger protection in every window.

Microsoft, Google and Apple all warn that blocking cookies can stop some sites from working as expected, so if a page misbehaves, it's worth checking that setting.