What Does Private Browsing Do Exactly?

Hence why we decided to clarify things once and for all by looking at how the private modes of different browsers work and what they actually do.

Incognito mode or private browsing?

At first this seems like a trick question, but truth is that both terms are exactly the same: the only difference is that Incognito Mode is how Google Chrome calls private mode, while Firefox and Opera opted for ‘private browsing’. To make things even more confusing, Internet Explorer and Edge added a third name to the mix and decided to call private mode ‘InPrivate mode’.

Now that the naming madness is behind us, let’s talk about the most important thing, namely how such private mode works. To put it shortly, the term ‘private mode’ is a huge exaggeration and doesn’t even properly describe what this feature is capable of. Don’t get us wrong, having the option to enable private sessions for browsing is surely helpful, but it only provides a false sense of security.

Why is incognito mode a phony?

The situation is not better with other browsers either: in fact, Opera and Safari still keep all details of the private session, only deleting them when the browser is closed. With Firefox and Microsoft Edge, the case is the same as Chrome’s, but they save the markers created during the private session, as well as downloads. The only difference is that Edge does a bit more while InPrivate mode is turned on by disabling any third party toolbars installed during this session.

The worst thing, however, is that no matter how private mode is called and what it is capable of, ISPs and the owner of the network – whether it’s employers, schools, cafes etc. – will still be able to see the websites you visited.

Tweaks and VPNs

While they’re great for deleting temporary internet data, private browsing modes are simply not enough to make browsing sessions truly invisible. Thankfully some browsers can be configured to enhance this feature a bit more, particularly Firefox. In this browser there is an option to turn on tracking protection that, upon opening a new private tab, will prevent some websites from following you around to know your browsing patterns. Firefox is also capable of automatically deleting all of the current session’s details after closing it, which is, in fact, a perfect substitute for the private mode altogether. Sadly, other browsers like Chrome or Opera don’t have this feature, but at least the latter sports an in-built VPN.

But the biggest advantage of VPNs is that they can be fully trusted, and even bundle forces with the browser’s private mode to ensure the ultimate protection. And if that’s not convincing enough, VPNs allow access to geographically blocked content, meaning a super secure and truly unlimited browsing experience.