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Chrome: Disable Incognito Mode

Chrome: Disable Incognito Mode

By Mitch Bartlett 67 Comments

If you want to prevent the use of Incognito Mode in the Google Chrome web browser, you can disable the feature using these steps.

Windows

  1. Hold down the Windows Key and press “R” to bring up the Run box.
  2. Type “regedit“, then press “Enter“.
  3. Navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” > “SOFTWARE” > “Policies” > “Google” > “Chrome“.
    Note: You may have to create the “Google” and “Chrome” folders.
  4. Right-click “Chrome” and select “New” > “DWORD 32-bit value“
  5. Give the value a name of “IncognitoModeAvailability“.
  6. Double-click on “IncognitoModeAvailability“. A box will appear where you can set the value data to “1“.
  7. Restart the computer, and the option to select “Incognito Mode” in Google Chrome will be gone.

Alternatively, you can download this registry import file and run it to set the changes for you.

MacOS

    1. From the Finder, select “Go” > “Utilities“.
    2. Open the “Terminal” application.
    3. Type the following, then press “Enter“:
      defaults write com.google.chrome IncognitoModeAvailability -integer 1
    4. Restart your Mac. The Incognito Mode option will no longer be available

If you want to revert this setting and allow Incognito Mode again, perform the same steps, only change the “1” to a “0”

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Filed Under: Software Tagged With: google chrome

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Adam says

    November 27, 2019 at 12:49 pm

    How do I do this on laptop? I cannot find google under the policies folder.

  2. Adam says

    November 27, 2019 at 12:46 pm

    I tried this but I didn’t find chrome under “Policies”, so I just went to the “google” folder instead. I restarted and I was still able to open Incognito mode.

  3. Bint-e-shabir says

    October 31, 2019 at 3:36 pm

    Hi
    I was in a shock when I saw incognito mode in my Android phone
    I tried to turn off this
    But after a while it was again turned on
    I don’t know it does
    Can anyone tell me what’s happening with me

  4. Deepak says

    September 15, 2019 at 12:33 pm

    Thanks Chief, this is helpful.

  5. May says

    September 3, 2019 at 9:07 am

    How can I disable incognito mode on Google chrome browser on iPhone 7

  6. David says

    August 3, 2019 at 8:37 am

    Awesome! Worked right away. Thank you so much!

  7. kbs says

    June 25, 2019 at 3:30 pm

    Hi! I was able to disable private browsing but am desperately trying to figure out how to prevent history deletion on Chrome (MacOS) as well. I have been trying to achieve this for a ridiculously long period of time. Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks so much in advance!

  8. Charlotte says

    June 14, 2019 at 11:06 pm

    It worked on the first try! Thank you

  9. Jesus Saves says

    June 6, 2019 at 12:07 pm

    Is there a similar way to disable guest mode as well?

  10. Alex Lucio says

    June 3, 2019 at 12:52 pm

    What about bing (safe search)

  11. Landry Chavez says

    May 28, 2019 at 5:56 am

    Thank You so much!!! Worked on the first try!! You are the best!!! No problems with my computer or nothing.

  12. Erwin says

    May 7, 2019 at 11:58 pm

    Thank you for the clear instructions.

    To anyone else who would be reading this post:
    If you follow the steps, slowly and closely, what you would be doing is creating a new instruction to tell the computer to disable incognito mode/ incognito window on Chrome. These instructions that are created in the computer cannot be exported/transferred/sent to any other devices. They are instructions pertaining to THAT particular computer.

    I don’t believe the steps listed here would work for mobile devices such as ipad, iphone, android phones etc.

    These steps look difficult because it is to prevent anyone from meddling with the already in-built instructions in the computer. But if you follow the steps, there shouldn’t be any problem.

    The only thing that is missing from the steps is how to create the “Google” and “Chrome” folders. You need to right-click on “Policies” and select New>Key and name it “Google” (Do the same on “Google” to create “Chrome”.)

  13. Cynthia Esquivel says

    April 29, 2019 at 2:06 am

    Hi. I would need to remove it from my phone. If I am logged in and disable incognito from a computer, will it transfer to not be available on my phone? Or is it a completely different operation to disable from phone? I tried to click on link but I am unable to extract the file. It will not open on my phone. Thank you in advance for any help.

  14. Luminda says

    April 18, 2019 at 1:21 pm

    How do I create a Google or Chrome Folder? Where should I create that? Please reply. Thank you

  15. jankins says

    April 9, 2019 at 6:22 pm

    how do i create the google and chrome folder please reply.

  16. Pragya says

    April 8, 2019 at 5:47 am

    Amazing!!!!

    Worked on the second try for me. Follow each and every step. You will for sure get rid of incognito.

    Thanks a lot, Mitch Bartlett

  17. Michael says

    March 26, 2019 at 8:05 am

    This was the only thing that worked for me, thank you! I use windows and this did exactly what I needed!

  18. James says

    March 16, 2019 at 9:28 pm

    Thanks, worked perfect!

    One thing to note, in order to create the folders for Google and Chrome, you should right click on Policies and select New Key. Wasn’t obvious to me that that was how you create a new folder.

  19. Ken Robertson says

    March 2, 2019 at 10:33 am

    I want to block my child’s ability to access Google Crome’s Settings. Is there a way to Block Settings ?

  20. betty says

    February 27, 2019 at 10:52 pm

    using your clear instructions i was able to remove the incognito window from my computer, but now there is a “new incognito window” . i used the same instructions as for the “incognito window” removal, but it is not going away.
    what is the difference between these 2 windows?
    how do i get rid of the new window?
    is this a permanent deletion, unless it is turned back on?
    i appreciate you help.

  21. Halvor (Raknes) says

    February 15, 2019 at 1:03 pm

    How do I turn it off in Linux?

  22. Carol Crevier says

    February 10, 2019 at 6:37 pm

    I need help finding my utilities. Having the same problem with homework/distraction

  23. Selina says

    February 4, 2019 at 3:47 pm

    Can anyone tell me how incognito mode got on my Mac when I’m the only one who uses it and have never requested or changed any settings? Could my laptop be hacked?

  24. Diane Smith says

    January 30, 2019 at 10:48 pm

    Why can’t I just use this page and check off my intent? Disable, Restore, New program requested etc.?????? Why must I involve myself in making a new page etc etc. etc. where I am destined to fail and mess up other programs?????

  25. Diane Smith says

    January 30, 2019 at 10:43 pm

    DID THIS HELP? NO! I don’t want to open new accts, I want to DELETE this program, which was put on my page without telling me or Asking IF I wanted it! A simple page should be available with the questions delineated which would allow selection of one’s purpose incldg Erase, Change , restore, delete program.

  26. jerry says

    January 24, 2019 at 9:10 am

    Thanks, this was great!

  27. Trina says

    January 17, 2019 at 11:40 pm

    This worked for me the second time I tried it on the Mac — I followed the instructions exactly. And I agree with the parents who are mad at the browser creators. When our teenagers have to be able to use the computer at all times to do homework, it is impossible to ban the computer and really hard to control what they are doing when they use incognito on the sly!

    I so appreciate your help, Mitch! I have been searching for a solution for months.

  28. Joseph says

    January 8, 2019 at 10:52 am

    Thank you so much for this tip. It does take a village!! Now I am trying to find a way to block HTTPS sites on my router. I cannot believe there isn’t a movement addressing the lack of electronic controls on software for parents. We would never allow this in our schools.

  29. Leo Ninmak says

    January 3, 2019 at 3:03 pm

    Holy crud! 12 year old brother did this for me by himself in just SECONDS. Super easy to follow within just seconds. Thanks man!

  30. Robin Pinkham says

    January 3, 2019 at 9:39 am

    It worked great!! Thank you!!

  31. Luanne Friesen says

    December 13, 2018 at 12:47 am

    This is far too complicated for me. Too many steps to follow! Why so difficult. I am a non technical senior.

  32. Alexis says

    November 24, 2018 at 1:20 am

    I got this to work but still need to remove it from my Microsoft Edge

  33. Garth says

    November 17, 2018 at 8:58 am

    Follow the first comment notes, this does work.

    Anyone know a good similar way to stop this in Firefox?

  34. Cristian says

    November 11, 2018 at 8:41 am

    Ops! It works now. Thank you.

    You need to create the Google and Chrome inside of the Policies folder. Right click > new > Key

  35. Brendan M. says

    October 13, 2018 at 10:26 pm

    It worked, Thank You!

  36. Thomas Wessel says

    August 20, 2018 at 10:48 pm

    Thanks so much for the valuable information! Is there a way to do this on my kid’s Android phone?

  37. Luma Bonfante says

    August 15, 2018 at 10:38 am

    This worked out perfectly. Do you know how to that on Safari on an iPhone?

  38. jacob says

    July 17, 2018 at 10:09 pm

    i did this but i am still able to open up the incognito tab…any ideas as to why?

  39. Allyson says

    July 5, 2018 at 10:26 am

    How do I create the Google and Chrome folders? Thanks.

  40. Sue says

    June 19, 2018 at 5:46 pm

    It works, thanks a lot.

  41. Andrew says

    June 17, 2018 at 11:49 am

    I’d like to disable this mode on an android mobile phone. How do I go about doing that?

  42. Ishan Bhasin says

    June 11, 2018 at 12:29 pm

    Thank you kind sir. Thank you

  43. Martin says

    May 12, 2018 at 6:11 am

    Thanks! I was looking for this for a while, but this is the first solution that worked for me! Really thankful :)

  44. Lee says

    May 1, 2018 at 9:06 am

    Thank you so much! This worked very well.

  45. Venkat says

    April 22, 2018 at 7:09 am

    Thanks man! This tip really helped me disable Incognito mode from the Chrome browser on my Macbook. Please do suggest if there’s such a thing for other browsers too i.e Private mode in Safari & Firefox.

  46. --- says

    April 15, 2018 at 3:03 pm

    When I navigate to Google, then Chrome, then new, then DWORD 32-bit value, I just get a pop-up that says “Cannot create value: Error writing to the registry.” How do I fix this? Thanks!

  47. Joe says

    April 11, 2018 at 9:12 pm

    How do I disable incognito on a chromebook?

  48. Brady Smith says

    March 14, 2018 at 12:12 pm

    This worked for me disabling the option when I right click on the chrome icon. However, I can still ctrl+shift+n to get a new incognito window. I’m trying to disable this at my workplace. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

  49. Tim Tripp says

    March 13, 2018 at 12:23 pm

    Worked on Mac OS 10.13.3 (High Sierra) I just had to reboot the computer – I thought restarting Chrome would work but it didn’t. At first I thought it didn’t work but then when I rebooted the “New Incognito Window” menu option is grayed out.

  50. Maxwell Bean says

    February 21, 2018 at 11:45 am

    This is such a beautiful solution! I have been wondering how to do this and the coding behind this is great! Thanks for the help

  51. Ken says

    February 7, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    I have windows 8.1 standard version and don’t have access to regedit.msc. Whatever the download was above, “Alternatively, you can download this registry import file and run it to set the changes for you.” worked! All I did was download it, open it and it ran itself. Then I closed Chrome and reopened and ingoc was gone!

  52. Roxanne says

    January 6, 2018 at 11:03 am

    Did not work for me either. I used my common sense instead and uninstalled and reinstalled Google Chrome, and it worked! LOL! I’m not sure what those things you do with ‘run’ in the windows button really do. Are those for programming and stuff?!

  53. Gabe Newell says

    January 4, 2018 at 4:49 pm

    Just clearing some stuff up after the OP.

    To create a new folder, right click on where you want to create it to on the left of the registry. This should open up a menu, from here select “create new” then “Key” and type the names exactly as written, with capital letters and no spaces (note that the Google folder is inside the Policies folder and the Chrome folder is inside the Google folder).

    To change the value either double-click (where you click twice fast) or right click and select modify from the menu. Change the value to 1 and just click ok, then exit. Try not to mess around as the script could stop working.

    *note; only use register/regedit if you know what you are doing or are following a guide. It has the potential to break your computer beyond fixing.

  54. J. Hicks says

    January 1, 2018 at 11:46 am

    Thank You!

  55. Linda Copestick says

    December 20, 2017 at 9:59 am

    How do I create these folders?

    (“Note: You may have to create the “Google” and “Chrome” folders.”)

    Thank you

  56. Julia says

    October 10, 2017 at 1:39 am

    Worked perfectly fine for me!

    Tip for users: simply copy and paste the phrase instead of typing it (it will reduce error)

  57. angry mom says

    September 29, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    Michael Mays – I 100% agree with you! I cannot stand how Google (not sure about other browsers) allows and makes a default, PRIVATE BROWSING.

    As you said, it’s the “hide the porn” option for innocent children. Welp, innocent at least until they figure this unfortunate Google secret themselves!

    THANKS GOOGLE FOR NOT THINKING OF THE CHILDREN…..😡

    P.S. the above go around WORKED on my mac.

  58. Krysta says

    September 27, 2017 at 11:35 am

    Thank you! Worked great for me!

  59. Alvaro says

    September 18, 2017 at 5:33 am

    Worked perfectly on an iMac running macOS Sierra 10.12.6 and Chrome 61.0.3163.91. Thanks.

  60. Michael May says

    September 7, 2017 at 11:11 pm

    After some research, it appears that while Google does not allow a way disable Incognito mode, there is a way through Windows Policy editor, which is essentially what I think this post was trying in the registry settings. HOWEVER, policy editor does not work if you are using Windows Home Version. That is probably why some people report that this works and for some it doesn’t. Unfortunately for me, I have Windows 10 Home, so I am stuck with a “hide the porn” option for my kids. Thanks Google and Windows for helping porn be so easily available to kids…

  61. gdot says

    September 7, 2017 at 4:08 pm

    Trying to turn this off on my son’s computer and it did not work. *For those of you unsure where to set the data value to 1, double click “IncognitoModeAvailability” and a box will pop up. You set it there.

  62. May says

    June 3, 2017 at 9:09 am

    It did not work!

  63. DonJuan says

    April 13, 2017 at 1:11 am

    Doesn’t work. Followed instructions as specified and even ran the script. Incognito still runs.

  64. Hope says

    April 7, 2017 at 11:52 pm

    I am not quite sure how to set the value data to “1”. I’ve tried to edit the binary field. Every combination that I’ve put in that it accepts has not given me the right result (incognito mode is still available). All the other options give me the error that the value is incorrect. How do i set this right to prevent incognito. I tried the registry import file but it is an incognito enabler!!!! The opposite of what i need!

  65. matt says

    April 3, 2017 at 10:58 pm

    Just did this and it works. Thanks so much

  66. John Smith says

    March 22, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    Hi,

    I am using a work desktop and I believe our IT admin disabled the incognito mode so I tried to enable the Incognito mode by following the recommended procedures, however, it won’t let me modify anything or change the value from 1 to 0. It always says …

    “Cannot edit IncognitoModeAvailability: Error writing the value’s new contents.”

    How will I be able to get the incognito mode back to the chrome browser?

  67. Emily says

    February 22, 2017 at 4:24 pm

    How can you disable incognito in an iPhone 6 chrome browser?

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