

Once you've got Private Browsing active, the orange Firefox button will turn purple, and the address bar will be marked with an icon of a mask. Go ahead and check that box to avoid getting the same message every time. If this is the first time you've used Private Browsing, you'll get the following message. Open up the bright orange Firefox menu in the top-left corner of your browser window. Each set of instructions has a few handy screenshots to help you along. I'm going to show you how to fly under the radar with Firefox 4, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer 9.

But as far as the average Joe is concerned, your private online activities will remain shrouded in mystery.Īs with most browser-related things, enabling private browsing is all a matter of knowing where to look.

Private browsing won't protect you from keyloggers, tracking programs, nasty viruses after your personal info, or government surveillance efforts. Now, while private browsing is useful, it's not all powerful. Whatever your reason for going undercover, private browsing will help keep other people from being nosy. Or perhaps you just have concerns about someone sneaking into your top-secret bunker and finding out about your search history ("time travel," "building wormholes," "how to + global domination"). Perhaps you're on a computer at the office and don't want your co-workers poking around in your business. Perhaps you're planning a surprise party for the family member that you share a computer with. Your bookmarks and non-private history? Preserved for when you come back to the surface.Įven if you've got a clean conscience, there are advantages in keeping your online activities to yourself. Once you go into private browsing mode, you can traverse the internet without leaving a trail. Private browsing is all the rage with browsers these days.
