When to use incognito browsing (Chrome, Firefox, Edger, Safari)?

There are many people who have not clearly understood what the incognito mode is and what it is used for, often confusing it with encrypted navigation or with secret navigation (which has other purposes and requires other additional tools than the simple browser).
Since confusion reigns supreme, in this guide we will show you what incognito navigation is and when we can (or must) use it, so that the next time we find ourselves in one of the scenarios described below, we will immediately know how to protect the our privacy or avoid spoiling surprises or relationships because of our carelessness.
In addition to showing you the usage scenarios, we will also show you how to activate incognito browsing on all major browsers both from PC and from smartphone / tablet.
READ ALSO: How to always use private web browsing on PC

When to use incognito navigation ">
With the incognito mode we can open any web page to surf without leaving traces on the computer and, at the same time, to visit certain sites without loading any personalization, login and password possibly stored. However, private browsing is not secret : this mode does not cover or disguise the IP address of the computer used on the Internet and does not hide information such as the origin, the operating system used, the browser and other things from the sites visited or the provider of Internet connectivity. .
To navigate anonymously and secretly, we will have to add other tools such as a VPN, a proxy or the TOR network to the incognito mode of the browser.

When to use incognito browsing

Even if we can use incognito mode whenever we want it or we consider it necessary, incognito browsing is useful and should be used when :

1. We want to access multiple accounts on the same site : if you have two Facebook accounts, instead of logging out and logging in with the second account we can open private browsing, which is performed in an instance independent of the browser (and without any active cookie); since cookies are not stored, all accesses stored on the browser are reset when the incognito window is closed.
2. Control a site as a new user : thanks to cookies, websites can identify visitors to know where they come from, which computers they use and, sometimes, also to know their interests, based on tracking cookies and history; opening the same incognito site will allow you to upload it as if it were the first time and as if we were new users, which is useful to compare prices on an e-commerce site, to search the Internet more independently, to avoid limits access to certain sites or to lower the price of tickets for trains and planes (which often rely on tracking cookies).
3. Surfing on shared or public computers (or smartphones) : if we have to check Facebook, mail or our private profiles on a friend's computer or lend our computer or smartphone to a friend of ours to see his things, it is worth using the incognito browsing. In this mode all the passwords entered are not stored and we can rest assured that we will not leave (or leave behind) traces of the activities carried out.
4. Make surprise online gifts : if we buy an online gift it is better to use private browsing, so as not to memorize the pages visited; obviously remember to log out of the e-commerce site also from our "normal" profile, to avoid ruining everything with a notification or with an unwanted page opening.

These are the scenarios where it is advisable to use the incognito mode compared to the normal mode, but obviously everything also depends on our habits and our needs.

How to activate incognito browsing

To open an incognito tab on the main browsers, all we have to do is go to the options menu (present on each browser) and press on the item that activates the mode (on Firefox it is New anonymous window ).

In addition to the menu items, we can also activate anonymous mode through keyboard shortcuts, so as to immediately have the anonymous window available; below we have collected shortcuts valid for all major browsers:

1. Mozilla Firefox : press CTRL + SHIFT + P together to launch a new anonymous browsing window.
2. Google Chrome : press CTRL + SHIFT + N together to open a new incognito window.
3. Opera : same combination of Chrome keys ( CTRL + SHIFT + N ), to open the reserved window.
4. Microsoft Edge : press CTRL + SHIFT + P together to launch the InPrivate window.
5. Safari on Mac : press the Command + Shift + N keys together to start a card in private mode

If instead we use a smartphone or tablet, we can browse incognito by opening a new browser tab with these features (usually by opening the settings menu and pressing on the relevant item), as seen in our guide How to browse privately on the internet .

Conclusions

Incognito (or anonymous) browsing is very useful in all scenarios in which we do not want to leave traces on the device in use or in scenarios in which we want to try accessing a site with a new account, different from the one already used in the mode normal. For many of the purposes described here it may also be sufficient to open a different browser than the main one or even a second profile, creating a new user on Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer .
Alternatively, we can choose to clear the browser's browsing data each time it is closed (on Firefox there is also the "Forget" button to clear the most recent history).
If, on the other hand, we particularly care about our privacy and do not want to be identified or traced, we recommend you read our guide on how to surf anonymously on the internet with proxy, vpn and fake IP address .