How to Browse Anonymously on Internet Explorer

Most modern browsers have a private browsing mode inspired by Google Chrome's 'Incognito Mode'. On Internet Explorer, private browsing mode is often called 'InPrivate Browsing'. Any web surfing operations in this mode will not be recorded on the computer. You can use InPrivate Browsing on both the Desktop and Metro interfaces of Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer (Desktop)

If you're using a Surface or Windows tablet, see the next section.

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Open Internet Explorer. To use InPrivate Browsing (Incognito), you need Internet Explorer 8 or later.

If you are using Windows 7 or later, your version is sufficient.

To see the current version, click the gear button or the Help menu and select "About Internet Explorer." Click here to see more about updating your browser.

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Click the gear button or the Tools menu and select "InPrivate Browsing." If you don't see it, press the Alt button and then click on the displayed Tools menu. A new InPrivate window will appear.

You can also press Ctrl + Shift + P.

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Browse privately in a new window. InPrivate windows will not record browsing history or website data. All new tabs created in this window will also be made private. This does not protect you from your boss or anyone who might be able to monitor your web activity online.

Previous browsing sessions in a regular window are still recorded.

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Set Internet Explorer to always open in InPrivate Browsing mode. If you regularly use InPrivate Browsing, you can set the browser to always start in this mode for more convenience.

Right-click the Internet Explorer shortcut and select "Properties".

Find the "Target" field in the Shortcut tab.

Add -privateto the end of the Target line. Make sure you don't miss a space at the end of the target line and the -.

Click Apply to save the changes. Internet Explorer will start in InPrivate Browsing mode every time you use that shortcut.

Internet Explorer (Metro)

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Open Internet Explorer. This method is for the Metro version of Internet Explorer 11 included with Windows 8.

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Tap the "Tabs" button at the bottom of the screen, to the right of the address bar. The Tabs pane will open.

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Click the "." button at the top of the Tabs pane and select "New InPrivate Tab". A new incognito tab will open in the browser.

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Use the Tabs pane to switch between InPrivate tabs and regular tabs. The InPrivate tab will be highlighted in the Tabs frame so you can easily distinguish it.

InPrivate Browsing cannot prevent your supervisor or network administrator from seeing the pages you have visited.