Browse in Private with Chrome Incognito Mode
Background
Nasir is on his way to the office, but he wants to stop by at a friend’s office. He gets a text from Dolapo informing him to check his email immediately and perhaps copy some information from a website. This can be a problem because anyone else who will have access to the computer can check his browsing history and see what he did online. If he goes into incognito mode, then anybody checking what he has been doing online will not find anything. So, what is incognito mode all about?Whenever you use Google Chrome to browse the internet, all your browsing history from your search about a notorious criminal organization to the activities of militants are being logged and monitored on your browser. You might have good intentions when searching for this information or you might be searching and visiting these links for educational purposes but if care is not taken, this has the potential of getting you into trouble.
If you don’t want Google Chrome to save a record of what you visit and download, you can browse the web in incognito mode.
How to go incognito:
You can open an incognito window on your computer and mobile devices to prevent Chrome from saving your browsing history. You can switch between an incognito window and any regular windows you have open. You’ll only be in incognito mode when you’re using the incognito window.
Computer
- Open a Chrome window
- In the top right, click the icon you see: Menu or More .
- Select New Incognito Window.
- A new window will open with a gray incognito icon .
- To close incognito mode, go to the corner of each of your incognito windows and click the X.
Incognito mode isn’t available if the account is a part of Windows 10’s “Family Mode.”
Android device
- Open the Chrome app.
- Tap More .
- Tap New incognito tab.
- A new window will open with a gray incognito icon .
- To close incognito mode:
- If you have Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or later, swipe from the top and tap Chrome: Close all incognito windows.
- If you have an earlier version of Android, go to the corner of each of your incognito windows and tap the X.
iPhone or iPad
- Open the Chrome app.
- Tap More .
- Select New Incognito Tab.
- A new window will open with a gray incognito icon .
- To close incognito mode, tap the square button in the top right to open tab switcher. In the corner of each of your incognito windows, tap the X.
How incognito mode works
What you view
Incognito is a mode that opens a new window where you can browse the Internet in private without Chrome saving the sites you visit. You can switch between an incognito window and any regular Chrome browsing windows you have open. You’ll only be in incognito mode when you’re using the incognito window.
Be careful. Incognito mode only prevents Chrome from saving your site visit activity. It won’t stop other sources from seeing your browsing activity, including:
- Your internet service provider
- Your employer (if you’re using a work computer)
- The websites you visit themselves
What you’ve downloaded
Chrome won’t save a record of the files you download in incognito mode. However, the downloaded files will be saved to your computer’s Downloads folder, where you and any other users of your computer can see and open them, even after you close your incognito tabs.
For more information about what’s stored in incognito mode, visit the Chrome Privacy Policy.
Source Google
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