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

Go incognito to keep your surfing history private

Person standing in front of a big smart phone
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by Scott Orgera
Scott Orgera has been a tech journalist since 2007. He has 25+ years' experience as a programmer and QA leader and several Microsoft certifications.
Updated November 06, 2019

All web browsers save browsing data, search history, and cookies to speed up load times, auto-populate login credentials and text fields, and provide locally relevant content. In Chrome for iOS, you can remove this data at any time, or use Incognito Mode to automatically delete or prevent this kind of data from being cached.

What Is Incognito Mode?

When 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 only works on your end with your iOS device; it 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:

  1. Open the Chrome app and, if necessary, sign into your Google account.

  2. Tap the Chrome menu button, indicated by three horizontal dots in the lower-right corner.

  3. In the menu, select New Incognito Tab.

    Chrome iOS Incognito

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 pair of eyeglasses displays to the left of the address bar.

To exit Incognito Mode open a new tab. Go to the Chrome menu 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.