How to Activate Incognito Mode in Chrome for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Go incognito to keep your surfing history private

By
Scott Orgera
Scott Orgera
Scott Orgera
Writer

Scott Orgera is a former Lifewire writer covering tech since 2007. He has 25+ years' experience as a programmer and QA leader, and holds several Microsoft certifications including MCSE, MCP+I, and MOUS. He is also A+ certified.

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Updated on September 11, 2020

Google Chrome saves data like your search history and web cookies to speed up load times, auto-populate login credentials, and provide locally relevant content. While you can clear the history in Chrome for iOS, you can prevent this kind of data from being stored if you know how to go incognito on iPhone.

Instructions in this article apply to the Chrome app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices with iOS 12 and later.

What Is Google Chrome Incognito Mode?

When the Chrome Incognito Mode is active, no record of the websites that you visit or the files that you download is created. Any cookies that are downloaded while surfing are cleared after closing the session. However, browser settings modified while in Incognito Mode are maintained, along with any bookmarks that were added or removed during the session.

Incognito Mode does not withhold data from your internet service provider (ISP) or the sites that you visit.

How to Enable Incognito Mode in Chrome for iOS

To enable the Chrome Incognito Mode on iOS devices:

  1. Open the Chrome app and sign in to your Google account if necessary.

  2. Tap the three dots in the lower-right corner.

  3. Tap New Incognito Tab in the menu.

  4. A status message and a brief explanation are provided in the main portion of the Chrome browser window. Use the address bar at the top of the screen to enter a URL. While you browse in Incognito Mode, the logo of a hat and a pair of eyeglasses displays to the left of the address bar.

    Open Incognito tab in Chrome on iOS

  5. To exit Incognito Mode, tap the three dots and select New Tab. To view all open tabs, including incognito and normal tabs, select the icon at the bottom of the screen represented by a number inside of a box.

    It's possible to change the default search engine in Chrome for iOS if you'd rather use something other than Google Search.

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