Is Incognito mode safe?

Not fully. Incognito mode doesn’t protect you from dangerous sites or snoopers. All it does is stop cookies from being saved and make your browsing history slightly harder to track down. It’s useful if you’re using a device that other people can access, but it’s only the start when it comes to truly burying your private data. Contrary to popular belief, private browsing modes don’t do much to protect your data from being harvested. You’ll still leave digital traces of your activity. Websites (including Google), your ISP, and anyone who checks your DNS cache can see the websites you’ve visited. The best way to keep your internet history completely safe from prying eyes is to use a good VPN. These tools hide your IP address and encrypt your data so that not even your ISP can see what you’re doing.

A DNS cache saves the addresses of each website you visit. Even if you use incognito mode, your browsing history is still visible in this cache . Whenever you visit a new website, its address gets stored in your DNS cache, similar to writing down an address in an address book. This helps speed up future visits to those sites because your device doesn’t have to look up the IP address again. While this makes browsing faster, it also means there’s a record of your browsing history. You’d expect private browsing modes would prevent this information from being logged, but they don’t. Until you close your incognito tabs or manually clear your DNS cache , there will still be a visible record of what you’ve been “anonymously” searching.

Which VPNs are best for making incognito mode more secure?

Using a VPN alongside a private browsing mode is the best way to keep your history private . A VPN will make it so data that’s normally viewable while using incognito mode is invisible to anyone who attempts to collect it. But some VPNs are better than others. The most privacy-friendly options use military-grade encryption and offer leak protection, all while operating under a no-logs policy and using RAM-only servers to ensure user data is not retained. ExpressVPN does all of that, and also comes with useful features like split-tunneling.

Articles by Tyler Cross

Tyler Cross

Tyler is a writer at SafetyDetectives with a passion for researching all things tech and cybersecurity. Prior to joining the SafetyDetectives team, he worked with cybersecurity products hands-on for more than five years, including password managers, antiviruses, and VPNs and learned everything about their use cases and function. When he isn't working as a "SafetyDetective", he enjoys studying history, researching investment opportunities, writing novels, and playing Dungeons and Dragons with friends.