What does incognito mode do?
Incognito mode, or private browsing as most browsers call it, is a window that forgets. While it is open, websites work as usual, but when you close it, your browser throws away the history, cookies and form data from that session.
That makes it handy on a shared computer, or when you want to shop for a gift without the ads following you around afterwards. It keeps your browsing private from other people who use the same device.
What it does not do is hide you from anyone outside your device. The websites you visit, your Wi-Fi network, your ISP and your school or employer can still see what they could see before.
Here is the same visit in a normal window and in a private one. Only the bubble above your own browser changes.
In a normal window
In a private window
How incognito mode works
Step by step
You open a private window
A private window starts with a clean slate. It does not use the cookies or logins from your normal windows, so websites treat you like someone they have never met.
You browse as usual
While the window is open, sites can still set cookies and remember you, but only inside that window. Your Wi-Fi, your ISP and the sites themselves see your visits exactly as they would in a normal window.
You close the window, and it forgets
When you close the last private window, your browser deletes the history, cookies, site data and anything you typed into forms during that session. Files you downloaded and bookmarks you saved stay on your device.
Private from your device, not from the internet
Switching to a private window changes what is left behind on your computer. It barely changes what anyone else can see. Tap the laptop to compare.
What incognito mode does and does not do
Incognito mode does
- Forget your history, cookies and form data when you close it
- Keep your browsing private from others who use the same device
- Start each session signed out, with no cookies
Incognito mode does not
- Hide the sites you visit from your ISP, school or employer
- Hide your IP address from the websites you visit
- Stop sites from tracking you while the window is open
- Delete the files you downloaded
Incognito mode is a clean-up tool for your own device, not an invisibility cloak. It is great for a borrowed laptop, a surprise gift or keeping a search out of your history, but if you want to hide what you do from your network or the sites you visit, you need something like a VPN or a tracker blocker as well.
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