How to Access the Incognito Browsing Feature in Popular Web Browsers

Browsing the Internet is one of the common activities that each user does in their smartphones, tablets or PCs. In fact, it would be a boring experience owning such devices if browsing wasn’t invented. Just imagine just being able to use these devices for calling and texting or encoding files in the office, everything in the world would be different if browsers didn’t come into existence.

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But no matter how good it feels to be able to connect to the Internet and visit sites that has good contents like WindowsTechies for instance, there are also some risks that come with browsing that is why you need to learn a method of surfing through all your favorite sites that leaves no traces whatsoever. Yes! There is actually a way for you to enjoy browsing the web while staying private. This means that you will not be leaving any browsing history or even auto-fill information in any box that requires you input something such as your username, email and password in certain websites.

It sounds really good right? If you’ve been browsing the normal way all these years then now is the time that you learn a new method of visiting all your favorite sites the “incognito” way and be more safer than ever. This feature has been around for a long time already but only a few fraction of the billions of Internet users are actually using it so in this tutorial, we will be showing the ways in how you can activate this browsing feature on all of the major web browsers that are available at present so be sure to get your Windows machine ready and follow the steps as we show them below.

Accessing Microsoft Edge’s InPrivate Browsing

Let’s start with the web browser that is bundled with your Windows operating system. In Windows 10, it is known as Microsoft Edge which is the new browser that took the place of the old Internet Explorer although the latter is still available for use in Microsoft’s latest operating system version.

In order to use the “InPrivate” browsing feature of Microsoft Edge, you must first launch the browser and you can do so by clicking on its quick launch icon that is pinned on the Taskbar as shown on the screenshot below.

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If you can’t find the Microsoft Edge quick launch icon on the Taskbar, it means that it has already been unpinned from this section so you will need to launch it by clicking on its shortcut that is found in the “All apps” list section of the Start Menu. To access this list, just launch the Start Menu by clicking on the Start Button or pressing the Windows key and once it appears on the left hand portion of the screen, just scroll down towards the “M” apps group of the All apps list then click the “Microsoft Edge” shortcut that lies under it as shown below.

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Once the Microsoft Edge browser opens, all you need to do is click on the Settings button that is located at the top-right portion of the Window just under the exit button as you can see on the screenshot below. Doing this will open an options box which shows different links leading to the tweaks that you can do with Microsoft Edge and many other options. On the top portion of the list, you should be able to see an option that says “New InPrivate window” which you need to click in order to launch the browser in InPrivate/Incognito mode.

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So that’s exactly how it is done in Microsoft Edge.If you are fond of using keyboard shortcuts then you can also launch the InPrivate browsing mode of Microsoft Edge simply by pressing the CTRL+Shift+P keys. To check whether you are on “InPrivate” browsing mode or not, just look to the top-left corner of the Microsoft Edge Window and you should be able to see an “InPrivate” label on it as shown below.

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One browser down, let’s now move on the the next popular browser that millions of users around the world are using and it is made by the tech giant Google known as the Google Chrome web browser.

Launching Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode

Google Chrome is undoubtedly one of the browsers that lead the list of the most popular ones and if you are part of the millions of users that enjoy this tool for surfing the web, you also need to be aware of its “Incognito” browsing mode and learn the steps in how you can launch it. Doing this is as simple as how it is actually done in Microsoft Edge.

First, you need to launch Google Chrome on your Windows 10 machine and once it launches, all you need to do is click on the “Settings” button that is found on the same location as the settings button in Microsoft Edge– at the upper-right portion of the Window just below the exit button as you can see on the screenshot below. After clicking on the button, an options box will appear and from here, just click on the item or link that says “New incognito window”.

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After clicking on the link, a new Google Chrome Window should launch and you should be able to notice that it has a grayish-black background. This is how the “Incognito” mode actually looks like so don’t panic, this is actually its normal appearance. If you wish to launch Google Chrome’s “Incognito” mode quickly using a keyboard shortcut combination just like Microsoft Edge, all you need to do is press the CTRL+Shift+N keys and voila! A new Incognito Google Chrome Window should launch right away!

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Two browsers down, let’s move on to the others and if you haven’t installed any of these browsers that we’re going to show next then it would be okay if you stop on the first two that we’ve given above.

Launching InPrivate Browsing on Internet Explorer 11

Internet Explorer has already been phased-out by Microsoft but it continues to be a built-in accessory in Windows 10. If you’re used to using this browser then you can still use it by accessing the “Windows Accessories” folder from the “All apps” list of the Start Menu as you can see below.

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Once the Internet Explorer browser launches, you will simply need to click on the “Settings” button that is found at the top-right portion of the Window just below the “Minimize”, “Maximize/Restore” and the “Exit” buttons as shown below. After you do so, a set of options will then appear inside a box and from here, you will need to click on the one that says “Safety” then on the other box that would appear which shows the items under “Safety”, just click on the link that says “InPrivate Browsing”.

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After clicking on “InPrivate Browsing” a new Window should launch with a label that says “InPrivate” located at the left portion of the URL input box at the top as you can see on the screenshot below. If you wish to launch this mode of Internet Explorer 11 instantly without pressing or clicking anything, just launch a normal Internet Explorer Window on your Windows 10 machine then once it opens, simply press the CTRL+Shift+P keys and a new InPrivate browsing Window should open instantly!

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That’s how easy it is to start browsing safely in these three popular browsers that most of us use but the list does not end there because there are still two more coming up so let’s go to the fourth one which is Mozilla Firefox.

How to Launch a Private Browsing Window in Mozilla Firefox

Most geeky and techie users prefer Mozilla Firefox as their default browser. This is because it works smoothly with Linux based applications and software. If you are using Firefox on your Windows 10 machine then you must learn how to launch its Private browsing mode so you can be safer online.

To start, you will first need to launch the browser and once it opens on your computer screen, simply click on the “Menu” button that is found at the top-right portion of the Window in order to launch a menu box that contains some options and items that are available for the Mozilla Firefox browser. From this menu, just click on the item that says “New Private Window” as you can see on the screenshot below.

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A new Private Window will then launch with a short explanation on what this mode does when you use it. You will know that you are using the “Private” browsing mode of Mozilla Firefox because there is a mask icon that appears at the top-right portion of the Window as shown below.

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For quicker access to the Private Browsing mode of Mozilla Firefox, you can simply press the CTRL+Shift+N keys on your machine’s keyboard and you should be able to launch a new Private Browsing Window in an instant.

How to Launch Private Browsing Window in Opera Browser

Now, we come to the last one on the list of popular browsers that are available at present. The browser is called Opera and accessing the Private Browsing option in it is quite different from the other ones that we’ve shown above. To start, you first need to launch the browser on your computer and once it opens, simply click on the button that is found at the top-left portion of the browser Window which is labeled “Opera”. After doing this, a menu box will appear and from here, simply click on the item that is the third on the list which says “New private window” as shown on the screenshot below.

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After clicking this item link, you should be able to see a notification that explains what the “Private browsing” mode would do to the information that are normally saved and stored whenever you do normal browsing with Opera. You can choose to disable this notification from showing again the next time you open Private browsing simply by clicking inside the checkbox that is found at the bottom-left portion of the notification box which is labeled “Do not show again” as you can see on below.

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If you want learn more about this mode of browsing in Opera, yo can also click on the “Learn more” link that is found at the end of the short description that appears on the notification box. Also, you must remember the sunglasses that appears at the background of the notification box because it is the same icon that will tell you that an Opera browser Window is in Private browsing mode as you can see on the screenshot below.

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For those who want to keep things short and sweet. There is a keyboard shortcut for launching the Private browsing mode of the Opera browser. Just press the CTRL+Shift+N keys and you should be able to open the Private browsing mode on this browser in an instant!

Incognito/InPrivate Browsing: The Easiest Way to Stay Safe and Secured Online

Private browsing is a very useful mode that is found in each major browser that will help you stay safe even when browsing the  web on a public computer or device. With this mode, you can prevent the browser from storing cookies, browsing histories and many more which can be used by people who have dark intentions for different cyber crimes and purposes which will not benefit you.

Have you ever used Incognito/InPrivate browsing before? Which browser did very well in meeting your needs? We want to hear from you. If you have some reactions, article topic suggestions or you just loved this tutorial and want to say something about it, please feel free to post them as comments below. You can also browse though our collection of articles and tutorials about the Windows operating system and we hope that you would enjoy them as well. Together we will become experts in Windows and we’ll always be here to guide you all the way!