Who can still see me in incognito mode?

Liz is shopping for a surprise: a ukulele, on the family laptop. She's opened an incognito window, just to be safe.

“Nobody can see this, right?” she asks.

“Nobody else on this laptop, anyway,” says Dan.

What incognito forgets

Incognito is Chrome's name for it. Safari and Firefox call it Private Browsing, and Edge calls it InPrivate. They all do the same basic job: keep your browsing off the device you're using.

While the private window is open, sites work normally. You can fill a cart, sign in and click around. Then, when you close it, the browser throws away:

• The list of sites you visited. Nothing shows up in History.
• Cookies and site data, the little notes sites leave in your browser to remember you.
• What you typed into forms, like a search box or an address.

One catch: in Chrome, the session only ends when you close every incognito window. Leave one open in the background, and it still remembers.

So the next person who opens the laptop finds no ukulele in the history and no hints in the search box. That's what incognito is for.

What stays

“No history, no clues,” says Dan. “Bookmarks and downloads still stay.”

Private windows forget where you went, not what you deliberately kept:

• Bookmarks you save in a private window go into your normal bookmarks.
• Downloads stay on the computer. Safari leaves them out of its downloads list, but the files are still there, so a downloaded receipt sits in the Downloads folder for anyone to find.
• Passwords you choose to save, and settings you change, usually stay too.

Who can still see you

“So I'm invisible?” asks Liz.

“Only on this laptop,” says Dan.

Incognito changes what your device remembers. It doesn't change what happens out on the internet. Chrome's own help page says it plainly: incognito “doesn't make you invisible.”

• The websites you visit. The music shop sees your visit and your order, the same as always.
• Any site you're signed in to. If you sign in, that site knows it's you, private window or not. Chrome won't sign you in by itself in incognito, but if you do, the site can add what you do to your account.
• Whoever runs your network. On school or work Wi-Fi, the school or employer can see your activity. At home, your internet provider can. Chrome's help page names all three.

This was also at the heart of a big lawsuit. In 2024, Google settled a case brought by users who said it was collecting data from incognito browsing. As part of the deal, Chrome's incognito screen now says the mode won't change how data is collected by websites you visit and the services they use, including Google. Google also agreed to keep blocking third-party cookies in incognito by default for five years. Those are the ones companies use to follow you from site to site.

How a surprise can still slip out at home

Incognito protects you from the next person on the laptop. A few other things in a family home can still give the game away:

• A shared shop account. If the whole family uses one account on the shop, your order shows up in its order history, private window or not.
• The confirmation email. It lands in your inbox. If that inbox is shared, or open on the family tablet, the surprise is out.
• The home router. Whoever manages your home Wi-Fi may be able to see which sites each device visited. They won't see the ukulele, but “music shop” is a pretty big hint.
• A work or school laptop. If someone else manages the device, they may be able to see much more than a browser's history.

What about ads?

Will ukulele ads follow everyone around the house afterwards? Not from the private window itself. Its cookies are gone when you close it, and Chrome blocks third-party cookies in incognito by default. But if you sign in to the shop or another account while you browse, that site knows it was you, and what it does next (emails, recommendations, ads) is up to it.

The surprise stays a surprise

“Fine,” says Liz. “The shop can know. Just not whoever uses this laptop next.”

“That's exactly what incognito is for,” says Dan.

Her sum-up: incognito keeps her shopping off this laptop. Websites and networks can still see her.

What you can do

• Use a private window for surprises on a shared device, and close every private window when you're done.
• Don't bookmark or download anything you want to keep secret. Those stay.
• Think before you sign in in a private window: that site will know it's you.
• Check where the confirmation email goes before you place a surprise order.
• Don't count on incognito to hide you from websites, your school or work, or your internet provider. It was never built to.