Turn Off Private or Incognito Browsing
This article teaches you how to disable the "Private" or "Incognito" feature for certain browsers. As of April 2017, the only browser that natively supports disabling private browsing is Safari iOS, though there is a plugin one can install to limit private browsing in Firefox and you can use the Group Policy Editor to disable Incognito and InPrivate browsing in Chrome and Microsoft Edge, respectively.
Contents
Steps
Chrome (Windows)
- Consider backing up your PC. Since this method involves editing sensitive components of your computer's operating system, backing up your information before continuing will prevent you from losing your data if your computer crashes.
- Go to Google's Chrome policies page. It's located at https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/187202?hl=en. From here, you can download files that allow you to tweak the Group Policy Editor settings.
- If your computer is running Windows Home edition, you will not be able to use this method since the Home edition does not support the Group Policy Editor.
- Click the Windows and Linux tab. You'll see this option near the top of the page.
- Click the "Zip file" link. This link's full text says "Zip file of Google Chrome templates and documentation"--you'll find it below the chunk of text at the top of the "Windows and Linux" window. Clicking this link prompts the corresponding file to download to your computer.
- You may first need to select a save location (e.g., your desktop) and then click OK to begin downloading.
- Double-click the policy_templates folder. It will be in your browser's default save location (or the location to which you saved it).
- Double-click the Windows folder. It's inside of the policy folder you just opened, below the Common folder.
- Double-click admx. This folder is near the top of the window.
- Scroll down and right-click the "chrome.admx" file. It's at the bottom of the window. Right-clicking it will prompt a pop-up menu to appear.
- Click Copy. This will copy your file; you'll now need to paste it into the proper directory.
- Open This PC. You can do so by typing "This PC" into the Start menu's search bar, or you can double-click the "This PC" icon on the desktop if you have it.
- On some computers, "This PC" is called "My Computer".
- Double-click your hard drive's icon. It's in the bottom-half of the "This PC" window; typically, the hard drive's designation is "C:" (e.g., "OS (C:)").
- Double-click Windows. This folder is near the middle of the window.
- Scroll down and double-click Policy Definitions. The folders in this section are alphabetically organized, so just scroll to the "P" section to find this folder.
- Right-click an empty space in this folder, then click Paste. Doing so will paste the "chrome.admx" file into the Policy Definitions folder.
- Switch back to the policy_templates folder. There is one other file you'll need to copy and paste into a This PC directory.
- Scroll up and double-click en-US. It's toward the top of the page.
- Copy the "chrome.adml" file. This file is at the top of the page.
- Switch back to This PC. It should still be open to the Policy Definitions folder to which you copied the "chrome.admx" file.
- Double-click en-US. This folder is at the top of the page.
- Paste the "chrome.adml" file into en-US. You're now ready to disable incognito mode in Google Chrome.
- Press ⊞ Win+R. This will open the Run program.
- You can also right-click the Start icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen and then click Run to do this.
- Type gpedit.msc into Run. This command opens the Group Policy Editor program.
- Press ↵ Enter or click OK. As long as your computer has the Group Policy Editor program installed, doing so will open the program.
- Click the arrow left of Computer Configuration. This option is on the left side of the page.
- Click the arrow left of Administrative Templates. It's on the left side of the page, below Computer Configuration.
- Click Google Chrome. It's below the Administrative Templates folder on the left side of the page. Doing so will display the Google Chrome values in the window on the right side of the page.
- Double-click Incognito mode availability. This is an option near the middle of the page. Doing so will invoke a new window with various options.
- Click the drop-down menu under "Options" and select Incognito mode disabled.
- Be sure to click the radio button next to "Enabled" above the "Options" section if it isn't already selected.
- Click OK. At long last, incognito mode should now be disabled on your computer's version of Chrome.
- You may have to restart Chrome for these changes to take place. If that doesn't work, try restarting your computer and then re-opening Chrome.
Safari (Mobile)
- Open your iPhone's/iPad's Settings. It's a grey app with gears that you'll likely find on the Home Screen.
- Scroll down and tap General. This option has a picture of a gear to its left.
- Scroll down and tap Restrictions. If Restrictions are already enabled on your iPhone or iPad, you'll be prompted to enter a passcode.
- If you haven't enabled Restrictions, tap Enable Restrictions and create a passcode, then skip the next step.
- Enter your Restrictions passcode. This passcode may be different than the passcode with which you lock your iPhone or iPad.
- Scroll down and tap Websites. It's in the "ALLOWED CONTENT" group of options just below the groups of switches on this page.
- Tap Limit Adult Content. This option is near the top of the page. When you tap it, you should see a blue checkmark appear to the right of it.
- Tap the "Back" button. It's in the top-left corner of the screen. Doing so will save your changes; private browsing will no longer be an option in Safari.
- If you're trying to limit another user's access to incognito mode, consider also sliding the Installing Apps switch left to the "Off" position. This option, which is in the second group of switches on the "Restrictions" page, will prevent other users from downloading different browsers (as well as any other apps).
Microsoft Edge
- Press ⊞ Win+R. Doing so will open the Run utility, from which you can run the program that allows you to disable Microsoft Edge's InPrivate Browsing.
- You will not be able to disable InPrivate Browsing on Windows 10 Home edition.
- You can also right-click the Start icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen and then select Run from the ensuing pop-up menu.
- Type gpedit.msc into the search bar. Make sure you spell it correctly and don't add any spaces.
- Click OK. Doing so will open the Local Group Policy Editor.
- If you aren't on an Administrator account, you may not have this option.
- Click the arrow left of the Computer Configuration folder. This folder is in the left-hand pane of the Local Group Policy Editor window.
- Click the arrow left of the Administrative Templates folder. You may first have to scroll down to find it.
- Click the arrow left of the Windows Components folder. You may need to scroll down before doing so.
- Click the Microsoft Edge folder. Doing this will display the folder's contents in the pane on the right-hand side of the window.
- Double-click the Microsoft Edge folder on the right. This will open the folder.
- Click Turn off InPrivate browsing. It's near the top of the folder's contents.
- Click the radio button next to "Enabled". This enables the "Turn off InPrivate browsing" setting, which--counterintuitively, perhaps--disables InPrivate Browsing.
- Click OK. Doing so will save your changes. Now anyone using Microsoft Edge on this computer or any networked computers won't be able to activate InPrivate Browsing.
Firefox (Desktop)
- Open the Firefox browser. Firefox is a blue app with an orange fox encircling it.
- Go to the "Disable Private Browsing Plus" plugin page. You can find it at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/disable-private-browsing-pl/.
- Click Add to Firefox. Doing so will prompt a pop-up menu in the top-left corner of the page.
- Click Install. It's in the pop-up menu.
- Click Restart Now. Firefox will install the plugin, close, and then restart; once this process is complete, you will no longer be able to access private browsing.
- You will first need to click Start in Safe Mode if prompted to do so.
- This plugin disables history deleting.
- You also won't be able to delete bookmarks with this plugin active.
Tips
- To remove the Firefox plugin, delete and re-install Firefox on your computer.
Warnings
- Most browsers don't support disabling of private or incognito browsing. Your best course of action when attempting to prevent unauthorized private access is to install a set of parental controls that can monitor Internet use while in incognito/private mode.
