How to Always Start Your Browser in Incognito or Private Mode

At a Glance

Incognito mode or private mode is one of the most important privacy-related features of today’s web browsers. The feature allows users to privately traverse the web, without the browser recording their usage history, retain cookies, and record other sensitive information. The browser does this by creating a temporary browsing session in a new window, isolating it from other tabs or windows and their session data.

I strongly recommend only browsing in an incognito or private mode. While it is easy to open a private or incognito browsing window once you’ve fired up your favorite browser, you may forget to do so from time to time, meaning you’re being tracked even though you wanted to browse privately. That’s why it is important to always start your browser in incognito or private browsing mode.

How Can I Ensure That I’m Browsing in Incognito or Private Mode?

The best way to ensure that your browser is in private/incognito mode is to set your browser to always open up in private mode by default. It only takes a minute or so to set your browser to default to private browsing and it’s also relatively easy to do so.

In this article, I’ll walk you through making the needed changes to open the following browsers up in incognito/private mode on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices (where available).

In many cases, it will require a bit of manual editing, but you’ll also find that it’s not that hard to give yourself a little extra privacy-related piece of mind.

Here’s my guide on how to set popular browsers to open up in private/incognito mode on popular Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS/iPadOS browsers.

A Note About Private/Incognito Browsing

Always keep in mind that while private/incognito mode in your browser prevents the browser from recording your usage history, retaining cookies, and recording other sensitive usage information, it does not prevent your ISP (or hackers) from tracking and logging your online activities. This is because private/incognito mode does not encrypt your internet connection, leaving it open to being monitored and logged.

To keep your web browsing and other online activities undercover, use a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN not only encrypts your internet connection, it also temporarily assigns a new IP address to your device, meaning no one can monitor your online travels and connect those activities to your real IP address.

Windows Browsers

The process of setting your Windows browsers to incognito/private browsing by default is the same across all of the browsers included in this article. So, I’ll only provide one set of screenshots. The only difference for each browser is the command you enter in step four.

Google Chrome

1. Locate the icon or shortcut you use to open the Chrome browser.
2. Right-click the icon and click on “Properties” in the right-click menu that appears.
3. In the Chrome Properties window that appears, click on the “Shortcut” tab, found near the top of the window.
4. In the Target text field, type “-incognito” (without the quotation marks) at the end of the text that is already there.
5. Click the “Apply” button.
6. Click “OK.”

Now, whenever you use that shortcut to open Chrome, the browser will open in incognito mode by default.

Microsoft Edge

1. Right-click the icon or shortcut you use to open the Edge browser.
2. Click on “Properties” in the right-click menu that appears.
3. In the Edge Properties window that appears, click on the “Shortcut” tab, found near the top of the window.
4. In the Target text field, type “-inprivate” (without the quotation marks) at the end of the text that is already there.
5. Click the “Apply” button.
6. Click “OK.”

From now on, when you use that icon to open Microsoft Edge, it will automatically open in InPrivate mode.

Firefox

1. Locate the icon or shortcut you use to open the Firefox browser.
2. Right-click the icon and click on “Properties” in the right-click menu that appears.
3. In the Firefox Properties window that appears, click on the “Shortcut” tab, found near the top of the window.
4. In the Target text field, type “-private-window” (without the quotation marks) at the end of the text that is already there.
5. Click the “Apply” button.
6. Click “OK.”

Now, whenever you use that shortcut to open Firefox, the browser will open in private browsing mode by default.

Opera

1. Locate the icon or shortcut you use to open the Opera browser.
2. Right-click the icon and click on “Properties” in the right-click menu that appears.
3. In the Opear Properties window that appears, click on the “Shortcut” tab, found near the top of the window.
4. In the Target text field, type “-private” (without the quotation marks) at the end of the text that is already there.
5. Click the “Apply” button.
6. Click “OK.”

Now, whenever you open Opera using that shortcut, the browser will open in private browsing mode by default.

Brave

1. Locate the icon or shortcut you use to open the Brave browser.
2. Right-click the icon and click on “Properties” in the right-click menu that appears.
3. In the Brave Properties window that appears, click on the “Shortcut” tab, found near the top of the window.
4. In the Target text field, type “–incognito” (without the quotation marks) at the end of the text that is already there.
5. Click the “Apply” button.
6. Click “OK.”

Now, whenever you open the Brave browser using that shortcut, it will open in incognito browsing mode by default.

Pro Tip

If you don’t want to always open your browser in a private window, make a new shortcut of the icon you usually use to open the browser, then make the above edits to the new icon, then rename the new icon to the browser’s name with “ – Incognito” or “ – Private” or something similar to set the icon apart from the icon that opens it in the normal mode.

Mac Browsers

Safari

1. Start the Safari browser by clicking the Safari icon, found in the dock.
2. Click the “Safari” menu (found In the upper-left corner of the screen, next to the Apple icon).
3. Click on “Preferences” in the drop-down menu that appears.
4. On the “General” tab, look for the “Safari opens with” option, click the drop-down and select “A new private window.”

From now on, every time you start Safari, it will open in a private window by default.

Google Chrome

If you’ve already opened the Google Chrome browser on your macOS machine you can easily click on “File,” then “New Incognito Window” to open a new Incognito Windows. However, starting Google Chrome in Incognito Mode takes a few more steps than that, although the steps are easy to follow.

1. Open AppleScript Editor and paste the following script in it: do shell script “open -a /Applications/Google\\ Chrome.app –args –incognito”
2. Save the script as an application. You can save it anywhere, in this example, I will save it to the Desktop. Name the file to something you’ll remember, like “Incognito Chrome.” You can save it to the Applications folder if you prefer to start apps using Spotlight search.
3. If you’re a Launchpad user, you can move it to Launchpad for easier access.

Now, whenever you use that shortcut to open Chrome, the browser will open in incognito mode by default.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge is based on Chromium, the same browser engine used for Google Chrome, so the instructions for Microsoft Edge are similar to those used for Chrome.

1. Open AppleScript Editor and paste the following script in it: do shell script “open -a /Applications/Microsoft\\ Edge.app –args –inprivate”

2. Save the script as an application. You can save it anywhere, in this example, I will save it to the Desktop. Name the file to something you’ll remember, like “Incognito MS Edge.”

3. You can save it to the Applications folder if you prefer to start apps using Spotlight search.
4. If you’re a Launchpad user, you can move it to Launchpad for easier access.

From now on, when you use that icon to open Microsoft Edge, it will automatically open in InPrivate mode.

Firefox

The instructions to have Firefox open in private browsing mode are a bit different from Chrome-powered browsers.

1. Open the Firefox browser.
2. Click the hamburger icon in the upper-right corner of the window. (The hamburger icon looks like three horizontal lines stacked on top of each other.
3. In the menu that appears, click on “Options.”
4. On the Options page, click on “Privacy & Security” in the left-hand sidebar of the browser window.
5. Once the “Privacy & Security” page loads, scroll down until you find the “History” section. Click the drop-down menu beside “Firefox will” and select “Use custom settings for history.”
6. After selecting “Custom Settings,” look just below the drop-down menu. Check the box labeled “Always use private browsing mode.”
7. Firefox will ask to restart the browser. Click “Restart Firefox now.”
8. Once Firefox restarts, private browsing mode will always be enabled.

Now, whenever you open Firefox, the browser will open in private browsing mode by default.

Opera

Opera is based on Chromium, the same open source browser engine used for Google Chrome, so the instructions for Opera are similar to those used for Chrome.

1. Open AppleScript Editor and paste the following script in it: do shell script “exec /Applications/Opera.app/Contents/MacOS/Opera -private”

2. Save the script as an application. You can save it anywhere, in this example, I will save it to the Desktop. Name the file to something you’ll remember, like “Private Opera.”

3. You can save it to the Applications folder if you prefer to start apps using Spotlight search.
4. If you’re a Launchpad user, you can move it to Launchpad for easier access.

From now on, when you use that icon to open Opera, it will automatically open in Private mode.

Brave

1. Open AppleScript Editor and paste the following script in it: if application “Brave Browser” is running then tell application “Brave Browser” to make new window with properties {mode:“incognito”} elsedo shell script “open -a ‘/Applications/Brave Browser.app’ –args –incognito” end if tell application “Brave Browser” to activate

2. Save the script as an application. You can save it anywhere, in this example, I will save it to the Desktop. Name the file to something you’ll remember, like “Brave Incognito.”

3. You can save it to the Applications folder if you prefer to start apps using Spotlight search.
4. If you’re a Launchpad user, you can move it to Launchpad for easier access.

Now, whenever you open the Brave browser using that icon, it will open in incognito browsing mode by default.

Android Browsers

Google Chrome, Brave, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Opera

Long press on the browser’s icon until you see the options menu pop up. Long press on the “New Incognito/Private/InPrivate Tab” option in this menu and drag it to the home screen. That’s all it takes! From now on, just select the new “Incognito/Private/InPrivate Tab” icon to open the browser in “Incognito/Private/InPrivate Mode” every time.

I created a folder on my Android Home Screen and named it “Incognito Browsers,” and put all of my browser icons in it. I then moved the folder right next to the Browsers folder. This allows me to quickly tap either group, depending on whether or not I want to start a private browsing session.

iOS and iPadOS Browsers

Google Chrome, Brave, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox

Long press on the browser’s icon until you see the options menu pop up. Tap the “New Incognito/Private/InPrivate Tab” option in this menu. While iOS and iPadOS do not allow making new shortcuts of the private versions of the browsers, you can long press on the browser’s icon to open the browser in Private Mode.

Opera

For some odd reason, Opera, which is a browser that bills itself as a private browser, doesn’t have an option to start up in Private Mode on iOS. However, it’s easy to open a private browser window once you have opened the browser. Just tap the “Hamburger” icon in the lower right-hand corner of the browser and then tap on the Private Mode icon to enable private browsing.

In Closing

If you want to keep your browser from recording your usage history, retaining cookies, and recording other sensitive information, you should definitely use your browser in incognito/private mode. By making just a few adjustments, you can ensure that your favorite browser will always open in private or incognito mode.