Browse Privately

Tired of having your every move on the web tracked, filed, classified and algorithmically regurgitated as shopping suggestions?
It's almost impossible to be truly anonymous online, but most of today's web browsers will let you go incognito whenever you wish, thanks to something called "private browsing."
In these private-browsing modes, now available in all major browsers, your web browser will reject cookies, stop keeping a surfing history and throw away any cached files. As a result, anyone else using your PC wouldn't have a clue what you'd been up to on the web.
Of course, it's important to realize there are plenty of ways your movements are still being tracked. While your browser might be cover your tracks, it often doesn't cover all of them. Download a file in private-browsing mode, and it's still there on your machine.
Then there's your ISP, which still sees the traffic moving through its network, and it knows that traffic came from you.
However, if you're shopping for a present -- or, ahem, doing anything else you don't want other family members to know about (like porn) private-browsing mode will most likely suffice in covering your tracks.
Here's how you can enable it in today's web browsers.
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Contents 1 Google Chrome 2 Firefox 3 Internet Explorer 4 Safari 5 Opera 6 What to do in older browsers and mobile devices 6.1 Mobile Safari 6.2 Android 6.3 Older Browsers 7 Conclusion

Google Chrome

Google Chrome gives you a special blue-shaded browser skin to indicate you're in Incognito mode (Click for larger).

Chrome's private-browsing mode is called "Incognito." On Windows, it can be found under the Tools menu (the wrench), or in the File menu on Macs. Just select "New incognito window."
The resulting window will be a darker shade of blue and has a helpful warning screen about scenarios where Incognito may be insufficient for covering your tracks.

Firefox

Firefox opens a new window showing a purple masquerade mask in the location bar when you're in Private Browsing mode (Click for larger).

Firefox refers to its private setting as "Private Browsing," which can be found under the Tools menu (can also be activated by pressing the Control+Shift+P shortcut).
Unlike other browsers, enabling Firefox's private browsing will hide all of your currently open tabs and windows and present you with a new, blank window.
Once you're done with your private-browsing session, the tabs and windows you opened before you started private browsing will be restored.

Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer 8 shows an "InPrivate" badge in the location bar when you're browsing privately (Click for larger).

Microsoft introduced "InPrivate Mode" in Internet Explorer 8. To enable it, just head to the InPrivate Browsing item in IE8's Safety menu. You'll then be presented with a new window. To exit InPrivate browsing mode, just close that window.

Safari

Unlike other browsers, Safari doesn't give you a clear visual indicator that you're browsing privately. Look for the check next to "Private Browsing" in the menu (Click for larger).

Apple's web browser also uses the term "Private Browsing", which you'll find under the Safari menu. Select that option, and Safari will warn you that none of your history will be stored, searches won't be saved, and so on. Just click OK and you'll be in tv shows private-browsing mode. To turn private browsing off, just select the menu item again.
Tip: Some versions of Safari for Mac OS X keep a record of pages you visit in the Directory Services cache -- even when you're in private-browsing mode. Here are some clearly written instructions on clearing that data from your Mac. Also, to keep plug-ins from storing information about what you're up to, disable them.

Opera

Opera lets you open a private-browsing session inside a tab or a window (Click for larger).

Opera offers a private tab within a nonprivate window or, less confusingly, a brand new private-browsing window. Both options can be found under the new Opera menu item under the Tabs and Windows options.

What to do in older browsers and mobile devices

What if you're using IE7? Or Mobile Safari? Or an Android-based web browser? You can still cover your tracks, but it may take a little more effort.

Mobile Safari

There's really no way to hide what you're doing on the iPhone until after its already done. But since that's better than nothing, here's how you do it.
Click on the Settings icon on the iPhone's home screen and scroll down to Safari. Near the bottom of the Safari page you'll see three options to delete your history, cookies and cache. Touch all three and you'll have gotten rid of most of the evidence.

Android

Android ships with its own web browser that has a lot in common with Chrome, but it sadly lacks the same Incognito mode found in its desktop cousin. However, as with the iPhone, you can cover your tracks after the fact.
Head to your phone's Preferences, then delete history, cookies and caches.

 

Older Browsers

While it's obviously not as simple as a dedicated menu item, most older browsers allow you to selectively delete cookies, browsing history and caches.
For IE 7 and below, head to Internet Options, and start deleting everything you see there. Be aware this will delete all cookies, so you'll need to log in to sites like Gmail and Facebook all over again.

 

Conclusion

The various private browsing modes won't grant you total anonymity on the web, but they do make it easy to do a bit of birthday shopping on a shared, family PC without unwittingly exposing your surprises.