As most of the people who browse the internet must be knowing by now, most of the web browser software prominently provides an “incognito mode” option. What is an incognito mode and what does an incognito mode do? There are more than a few reasons to use Incognito Mode. To understand why you would want to use private windows for browsing, it is better to first understand how a private browsing mode works.
When you open a browser window in an incognito mode or you browse in a private browsing mode then, the browser stops storing all the stuff that is generally stored in sites. Typically, this stored stuff can include different things like the web site’s URL, text you may have typed into the website’s forms, and cookies from websites. And, when you are not using a private browsing mode, the browser logs websites that you visited in the “history” log, along with the time and date of your visit.
What is Incognito Mode and What Does an Incognito Mode Do?
Private browsing mode or popularly known as Incognito mode is a feature built-in almost all the modern Internet browsers. What happens when you use Incognito? Essentially, it allows users to browse the web anonymously. Unfortunately, the incognito mode does not hide your interest activity from your online service provider or by any other snooping eyes.
So, what does Incognito mode do? Incognito mode will wipe out your browsing and search history when you stop browsing in incognito session. Moreover, it will wipe out any tracking cookies you chose while using the Internet. While your Internet Service Provider may be able to see things that you do, others who are peeping around your device will not. Naturally, Incognito Mode provides itself to possibly embarrassing browsing sessions. Incognito mode can prove to be helpful in other situations where you want to hide your tracks.
However, the incognito mode does not provide complete privacy. Your Internet Service provider still has the information about the websites you visit and when you have browsed, so while Incognito mode can hide your searches from your loved ones, it cannot actually hide those from the police and their subordinates. If someone like your organization is monitoring all its network activities from the main location, then they will come to know where you have browsed.
However, for personal day-to-day purposes, the incognito mode is important. Let us find out some of the common reasons to use Incognito Mode.
Reasons to Use Incognito Mode
Signing into a different email account at once
You could set up various browser “profiles” to switch between different email accounts within a single browser, but incognito mode if one of the easiest and fastest ways of doing this. The best thing about using an Incognito mode is it does not require any setup.
Using public computers
One of the common reasons to use Incognito mode is when you need to log into your email or your banking account from someone else’s account. Just open the Incognito mode to offer a protection layer against your user information or passwords being saved on that computer.
Student presentations
When students use a computer to show their work it can most of the time be cumbersome to log in and out of Google or other different tools. Open an Incognito window in Google Chrome for each student to login to their Google account or the other digital tools they require to access to show their work to the class. Once they are completed, close the window, and their login credentials are erased! There is no need to log out and remove the extra accounts.
Check the links
Incognito mode is one of the best ways to verify the public version of links. For example, if you have created a Google site for sharing it with parents, you want to ensure they can see all things without the need to log into your account. The only thing that you need to do is copy and paste your link in an Incognito mode and see how it looks when you are not logged in. It works great for the speedy checks!
Travel details
One of the important reasons to use Incognito Mode is to hide information about travel deals. Have you ever thought about how Google knows the moment you start to plan a trip to Disney? The moment you go online you start seeing ads about the place where you are planning to go. That is because Google is tracking you and your browsing history. If you want to hide your activities from Google, then browsing in Incognito mode is the best way.
Buying gifts
Big data has no reservations about spoiling any surprise. Or “spoiling” a surprise that is not about to happen, as it were.
Sharing your computer
There are times when a colleague or a friend of yours needs to exchange your device or laptop. Instead of allowing them to log in to their Facebook account in a regular Google Chrome window, open an Incognito Window. This way, when they are done doing what they want to do, you must close the window, and their information will be deleted! You do not want to use somebody else’s Facebook account even accidentally.
Research about anything in private
One of the popular reasons to use Incognito mode is when one does not want some specific searches to be a part of their browsing history. This does not mean that they are up to no good, but maybe they prefer more privacy. For example, while researching a medical condition or if you are searching for a new job, browsing things using private windows is the best choice.
Unbiased searching
Google’s search algorithm will most often include recommendations from your networks and other different information from your account to try to bring you the best results that you want. If you are looking for “unbiased” and “pure” search results, try to search using an Incognito Mode.
For some serious business
Every time the internet is not about fun things. People searching for information about medical conditions, divorce, and psychological conditions etc. may want all the privacy they can achieve.
Watch
Do you know “What is an Incognito Mode on YouTube? Everyone knows that YouTube tracks all the activities that are done on this platform. This helps YouTube to offer users with recommended content because of their watching habits. While this is useful for YouTube, as it makes sure that you spend more time on their channels. It is also great for the end-users. You will be compared with other content creators that you might not have exposed. It is a win-win situation for everyone.
One of the biggest issues with YouTube’s recommendation and tracking algorithm is it can spam your home page with several suggested videos. For instance, let us say that you get attracted while watching a conspiracy video. That single watch could result in different videos about UFO’s, QAnon, and Bigfoot overflowing your YouTube Account. To avoid this from happening, you must visit YouTube Incognito. It will not allow you to log in to YouTube, so the videos that you watch will not be displayed in your account.
These are some of the top reasons to use Incognito Mode. Browsing in an Incognito mode will help you to browse anything without any worries.