Browsers

Disable Incognito Mode and Private Browsing in Browsers

Ensure a transparent browsing experience by removing incognito mode in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.

Tech Lockdown Team

Updated November 1, 2024

Many people use incognito mode or private browsing features in their web browsers to hide their online activity from others. However, this can also pose a challenge for parents, employers, or anyone who wants to monitor or filter the content that is accessed on their devices. Fortunately, it is possible to disable incognito mode on most browsers.

Incognito mode is designed for privacy, so it makes sense that it can make monitoring websites difficult. Specifically:

Incognito mode (or private browsing in general) automatically deletes any browsing history from the device.
In many cases, private browsing uses a proxy, which usually bypasses content filtering.
Other privacy features can prevent browsing history from being properly saved.

In this article, you will learn how to disable incognito mode in popular browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, and Safari. By doing so, you can prevent users from bypassing your content filtering and traffic monitoring settings and ensure a safer and more transparent browsing experience.

Considering Other Privacy Features

In addition to incognito mode, we also recommend disabling other similar features that some browsers provide.

For example, some browsers, like Google Chrome, sync browser settings and browsing history to user profiles.

This means that a user can add a new profile and potentially gain access to something similar to incognito mode.

That's why we provided instruction to disable the following features:

Incognito Mode.
Guest Mode.
Adding new profiles.
The Ability to delete browsing history.
Tor Browsing (for the Brave browser).

How Do You View Browsing History When a Computer Uses Incognito Mode?

While browsing history will be deleted on a device using incognito mode, it's still possible to view which sites have been visited:

You can use your home router to monitor websites visited on your home's Wi-Fi .
Set a DNS content policy to monitor internet traffic on a device or your home's Wi-Fi.

In both cases, you are able to view the actual traffic that a computer uses to access a website. However, monitoring your traffic logs with your router only works if your devices are home. Instead, you can install DNS filtering on your devices to always monitor its internet traffic.

If you're using a DNS filter to view traffic logs, you also having the added ability to immediately make changes to your content policy. For example, you can add websites you don't want visited to your blocklist, which will deny access for that website on your computer:

You can also enable the filter on your home's router to monitor websites and block them across your entire home network.

Create a DNS Content Policy

Enforce content filtering rules on all your devices.

Disable Incognito Mode on Windows

If you are using a Windows computer, you may want to disable incognito mode for different browsers such as Chrome and Microsoft Edge. The easiest way to do this is by using the Command Prompt application and entering commands that customize your browsing experience.

In this section, we will show you how to disable incognito mode on Windows for each browser step by step.

How to disable incognito mode in Google Chrome on Windows 10/11

Open command prompt as an Administrator

In Command Prompt, copy/paste the following commands and press enter after each command:

Disable guest mode:

REG ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome /v BrowserGuestModeEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0

Disable adding new user profiles:

REG ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome /v BrowserAddPersonEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0

Disable incognito mode:

REG ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome /v IncognitoModeAvailability /t REG_DWORD /d 1

Prevent user from deleting browsing history:

REG ADD HKCU\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome /v AllowDeletingBrowserHistory /t REG_DWORD /d 1

Restart Chrome and open the profile section. Guest mode should no longer be an option:

You also shouldn't be able to add new profiles:

Incognito mode should no longer be an available option.

Note

If these changes aren't reflected in your browser, try restarting your computer.

How to disable private browsing in Microsoft Edge for Windows 10/11

Type “cmd” into the Windows Search Bar, and click “Run as administrator” under Command Prompt.

In Command Prompt, copy/paste and press enter for each of the commands below:

Disable guest mode:

reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge /v BrowserGuestModeEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Disable adding new profiles

reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge /v BrowserAddProfileEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Disable deleting of browser history:

reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge /v AllowDeletingBrowserHistory /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Disable InPrivate Window mode:

reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge /v InPrivateModeAvailability /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Restart Edge, and click the three dots at the top of the screen. InPrivate Mode should be grayed out.

It is also no longer possible to delete browsing history. You should see a History is managed by your organization message as well.

Note

The "Add new account" option will still display on the profile menu and can still be selected. However, it no longer works.

How to disable incognito mode on Brave browser for Windows 10/11

Brave browser is a bit interesting, because in addition to Incognito mode, we also recommend disabling Tor browsing.

Open Command Prompt as Administrator

In Command Prompt, enter the following commands and press enter:

Disable Incognito Mode:

reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser" /v IncognitoModeAvailability /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Disable Tor Browsing:

reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser" /v TorDisabled /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Disable Guest Mode:

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\BraveSoftware\Brave" /v GuestModeEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Disable adding new profiles:

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\BraveSoftware\Brave" /v ProfileEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Create a DNS Content Policy

Enforce content filtering rules on all your devices.

Disable Incognito mode on Mac

If you are using a Mac computer like a Macbook, you can disable incognito mode for popular browsers like Google Chrome, Safari, and Microsoft Edge. The fastest way to do this is using the Terminal application and entering commands that customize your browsing experience.

In this section, we will show you how to disable incognito mode on MacOS for each browser step by step.

How to disable incognito mode in Google Chrome for MacOS

Open the Terminal application

Copy/paste the following commands into terminal and press enter:

Disable guest mode:

defaults write com.google.Chrome BrowserGuestModeEnabled -bool false

Disable Incognito mode:

defaults write com.google.Chrome IncognitoModeAvailability -integer 1

Disable adding new user profiles:

defaults write com.google.Chrome BrowserAddPersonEnabled -bool false

Prevent deleting browsing history:

defaults write com.google.Chrome AllowDeletingBrowserHistory -bool false

Restart the Chrome browser, then click the user icon again. You should not see the option to switch to Guest Mode

When you open the "who's using Chrome" window, it shouldn't allow you to enter guest mode or add new profiles:

You also should not be able to open an incognito window or delete browsing history.

Note

You might need to restart your computer if you don't see these changes in your browser.

How to Disable Private Browsing in Safari

It's not possible to disable Apple's Safari browser private browsing features using Terminal like we did for Google Chrome and Edge.

There are two ways to disable private browsing in Safari:

Enabling Screen Time's web content filter
Using managed mode to disable private browsing in Safari

If you open Screen Time and go to Content & Privacy, you can select Limit Adult Websites, which will also turn off the private browsing feature in Safari.

Safari should no longer have an option to open private browsing mode.

Restart Safari

Afterwards, you will have to restart Safari for the changes to take effect.

If you set up your Mac as a managed device like we talked about earlier, you can configure Safari to disable private browsing in a more enforceable way.

Get the Guide to Managing MacOS Devices at Home

Become a Tech Lockdown member to access step-by-step guides.

Disable InPrivate Browsing in Microsoft Edge on MacOS

There are a few ways to disable private browsing features in Microsoft edge:

Using commands entered into terminal to remove the private browsing feature from Microsoft edge
Using device management to configure the Microsoft Edge browser without the possibility of selecting or re-enabling private browsing.

Let's start with the terminal commands.

For a Mac, start by opening the Terminal application.

Next, copy/paste the following commands into the terminal and press enter.

Disable guest mode:

defaults write com.microsoft.Edge.plist BrowserGuestModeEnabled -bool false

Disable InPrivate mode:

defaults write com.microsoft.Edge.plist InPrivateModeAvailability -int 1

Disable adding new user profiles:

defaults write com.microsoft.Edge.plist BrowserAddProfileEnabled -bool false

Prevent deleting browsing history

defaults write com.microsoft.Edge.plist AllowDeletingBrowserHistory -bool false

If you find that using terminal commands does not go far enough for your use case, consider setting your Mac up as a managed device.

Once you enable device management on your Mac, you can completely customize Microsoft edge to remove private browsing features.

We get it, making your own managed mac device can be difficult and confusing! Tech Lockdown members get access to premium guides that provide step-by-step instructions to enable managed mode, including how to use it to disable Safari. You also get access to our support team to get your questions answered!

This method is difficult to bypass and is the most restrictive setup you can achieve.

Once your Mac is managed, create a configuration for Microsoft Edge and go to the Misc tab to disable the ability to delete browser history

In the same tab, scroll down and disable guest mode and adding a person as a manager

In the same tab, scroll down to the Private mode availability option and choose an option from the drop down menu.

Scroll down even further and enable SafeSearch and YouTube restricted mode

There are many other options once you manage a Mac. You can completely control and lock down the microsoft edge browser to do other things like enforce or block browser extensions. You can even convert this into a dumb browser by blocking images everywhere or on specific websites.

Get the Guide to Managing MacOS Devices at Home

Become a Tech Lockdown member to access step-by-step guides.

How to Disable Incognito Mode on Brave browser for MacOS

For Brave browser, we also recommend disabling Tor browsing, since this can be used to also hide browsing history.

Open the Terminal application

Enter the following commands and press enter after each.

Disable Incognito Mode:

defaults write com.brave.Browser IncognitoModeAvailability -integer 1

Disable Tor Browsing:

defaults write com.brave.Browser TorDisabled -boolean true

Disable Guest Mode:

defaults write com.brave.Browser GuestModeEnabled -bool false

Disable adding new profiles:

defaults write com.brave.Browser ProfileEnabled -bool false

Create a DNS Content Policy

Enforce content filtering rules on all your devices.

Frequently Asked Questions

I entered the commands but I got an error.

These commands require you to run them as an administrator. When you open command prompt on windows, make sure you choose the option to "Run as Administrator".

On Mac devices, you should be prompted with the password when you enter the first sudo command.

I entered the commands successfully, but why isn't it working?

In rare cases, you might need to restart your computer in order to see the changes.

How do I stop inappropriate results from appearing in search results?

Most search engines have a SafeSearch option that you can toggle on to filter most inappropriate results. You can check your current SafeSearch setting for Google by visiting google.com/safesearch or by doing a Google search for "safesearch".

We have a dedicated guide for forcing safesearch that provides some more information about how this works.