how to turn off incognito mode

To turn off or exit incognito mode, the steps depend on whether you want to simply leave incognito mode or disable it permanently.

How to Turn Off Incognito Mode (Exit Private Browsing)

• On desktop or mobile browsers, simply close all incognito/private browsing tabs or exit the browser entirely. When you reopen the browser, it will start in normal mode, not incognito

• For example, on iPhone Safari, tap the Tabs button (two overlapping squares), then close all Private Browsing tabs to exit incognito mode

How to Disable Incognito Mode Permanently (Prevent Use)

If you want to prevent incognito mode from being used at all (e.g., for parental controls or organizational policy), it requires system or browser configuration changes:

For Google Chrome on Windows:

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
2. Run this command to disable incognito mode:

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

3. Restart Chrome. The option to open an incognito window will be grayed out and unavailable

To re-enable incognito mode, run the same command but change the last number from 1 to 0.

For Chrome via Registry Editor:

• Open regedit.
• Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome.
• Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value named IncognitoModeAvailability.
• Set its value to 1 to disable incognito mode.
• Restart Chrome to apply changes

For Safari on iPhone:

• Use Screen Time settings to limit adult websites, which disables private browsing

Summary

Action| Method| Notes
---|---|---
Exit incognito mode| Close all incognito tabs or browser| Simple, temporary exit
Disable incognito mode| Use registry or command line (Windows)| Permanently disables incognito option in Chrome
Disable private browsing| Use Screen Time on iPhone| Disables Safari private browsing

This covers turning off incognito mode temporarily by exiting it, and disabling it permanently via system/browser settings depending on your device and browser