What Private Browsing Really Hides (and What It Doesn't)
Incognito and private windows forget your history when you close them. They don't make you invisible. Here's exactly what they hide, what they don't, and what to use instead.
Incognito in Chrome, InPrivate in Edge, Private Browsing in Firefox and Safari: every browser has a mode that sounds like a cloak of invisibility. It's useful, but it does much less than most people think.
What a private window does
- Forgets your history once you close the window: the pages you visited, what you searched and what you typed into forms.
- Starts with no cookies, so sites don't see you as logged in, and throws the new cookies away when you close it.
- Keeps it off this device, which is perfect for shopping for a surprise gift on a shared computer or signing into a second account.
What it doesn't hide
- Your IP address and rough location. Every site you visit still sees them.
- Your internet provider, school or employer network. They can still see which sites you connect to.
- Your browser fingerprint. Your screen, fonts, graphics card and dozens of other details look the same in a private window, so sites can often recognize you anyway.
- Anything you sign into. Log into your email or a social account and that service knows exactly who you are.
- Downloads and bookmarks. Files you save stay on your device after the window closes.
Want to see this for yourself? Open What Does My Browser Reveal? in a normal window and then in a private one. Most of what it shows stays the same.
What to use instead, depending on what you want
- Hide your browsing from people who share your device: a private window is exactly right.
- Hide your location and IP from websites: a trustworthy VPN or Tor Browser.
- Stop sites recognizing you: a browser that resists fingerprinting, such as Firefox with Strict tracking protection, Brave or Tor Browser, plus a content blocker.
- Keep a message or file private: lock it with a password. Secret Message and the File Locker do that on your own device.
The short version
Private browsing protects you from the next person who uses your computer. It doesn't protect you from websites, networks or the services you log into. Use it for what it's good at, and add the right tool for the rest.
