Incognito mode (also known as Private browsing or Privacy mode) in Google Chrome is a special feature that allows Chrome users to access any website without saving their browsing history, cookies and web cache on their computer. In simple words, if you want to browse privately, and don’t want google chrome to store your web activity then Incognito mode is for you. To enter Incognito Mode, open the Chrome browser and press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + N. Also, you can click the Chrome wrench icon and then select New Incognito Window.
Well, this is a useful feature but sometimes users may prefer to disable incognito mode in chrome to keep track kid’s browsing history, or for any other reason. If you are one of them here how to Disable Incognito Mode in Chrome Windows 10 and macOS.
Disable Incognito Mode in Chrome Windows 10
Disable incognito mode on Google chrome for windows 10 users is super easy. And it can be done with a simple registry tweak here how.
- Press Windows + R, type regedit and ok,
- This will open the Windows registry editor,
- First backup the registry database, then navigate the following key.
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Policies > Google > Chrome
Note:
If you didn’t find Google and Chrome folders under Policies then you have to create them manually. To do this
- Right click on policies, New > Key and name the folder Google,
- Next right click on Google, New > Key and name the folder chrome
- And finally, right-click on Chrome, New > DWORD 32-bit value
- Rename the New Value as IncognitoModeAvailability.
- Now double-click on IncognitoModeAvailability and set the value data to 1
- Then click on the OK button.
- Close the windows registry and restart your PC.
- Now again open the chrome browser and check there is no option for Incognito mode.
If you want to revert this setting and enable Incognito Mode again in the future, you have to perform the exact same steps, only change the Value data from “1” to a “0“. That’s it!
Disable Incognito Mode in Chrome on macOS
Like Windows macOS didn’t offer registry editor, If you are MacOS user follow the steps below to disable Google Chrome incognito feature
- Click on Go and then select Utilities from the finder.
- Here select and open the Terminal application.
- Now enter the following command then press Enter key
defaults write com.google.chrome IncognitoModeAvailability -integer 1
That’s all Now restart your Mac, Open your chrome browser and check Incognito mode option no longer be available on your browser.
Disable incognito mode in Chrome Android
If you are an Android Phone user looking to disable incognito mode in chrome There is a free app DisableIncognitoMode that helps block Incognito mode from starting up.
- Download the DisableIncognitoMode app from the Google Play Store
- Launch the app, and then tap Open Settings.
- Here turn on the slider next to DisableIncognitoMode
While the incognito mode is useful in some situations, there are times when you may want to disable Incognito mode in Google Chrome and i hope the above tips help to do that. Let us know if you face any difficulty performing the above steps.