Activate In Private Browsing Mode in Internet Explorer 10
As more of our daily activities — such as socializing
with friends or paying bills — gravitate towards the online space, so does the
need for added privacy and security. Sensitive data, such as banking
information and email account passwords can cause havoc when it ends up in the
wrong hands. Even seemingly harmless personal tidbits could be exploited by an
unscrupulous web surfer.
Private Browsing in Internet Explorer
While enabled, InPrivate Browsing ensures that no cookies
or Temporary Internet Files (also known as cache) are left behind on your hard
drive. In addition to your browsing history, form data and saved passwords are
also not stored at the end of your browsing session.
- Open your IE10 browser.
- Select the Gear icon, also known as the Action or Tools menu, located in the upper right-hand corner of your browser window.
- Select the option labeled InPrivate Browsing. You can also, utilize the following keyboard shortcut in lieu of selecting this menu item: CTRL+SHIFT+P.
InPrivate Browsing mode is now activated, and a new
browser tab or window should be open. The InPrivate indicator, located in
IE10's address bar, confirms that you are indeed surfing the web privately. The
following conditions will apply to any actions taken within the confines of
this InPrivate Browsing window.
Windows 8 Mode (Formerly Known as Metro Mode)
If you are running IE10 in Windows 8 Mode, as opposed to
Desktop Mode, first select the Tab Tools button (signified by three horizontal
dots and displayed by right-clicking anywhere within your main browser window).
When the drop-down menu appears, select New InPrivate Tab.
Cookies
Many websites will place a small text file on your hard
drive used to store user-specific settings and other information unique to you.
This file, or cookie, is then utilized by that site to provide a customized
experience or to retrieve data such as your login credentials. With InPrivate
Browsing enabled, these cookies are deleted from your hard drive as soon as the
current window or tab is closed. This includes Document Object Model storage,
or DOM, which is sometimes referred to as a supercookie and is also removed.
Temporary Internet Files
Also known as cache, these are images, multimedia files, and
even full web pages that are stored locally with the purpose of speeding up
load times. These files are immediately deleted when the InPrivate Browsing tab
or the window is closed.
Browsing History
IE10 typically stores a record of URLs, or addresses,
which you have visited. While in InPrivate Browsing Mode, this browsing history
is never recorded.
Form Data
Information that you enter into a web form, such as your
name and address, is normally stored by IE10 for future use. With InPrivate
Browsing enabled, however, no form of data whatsoever is recorded locally.
AutoComplete
IE10 will use both your previous browsing and search
history for its AutoComplete feature, taking an educated guess each time you
begin to type a URL or search keywords. This data is not stored while surfing
in the InPrivate Browsing mode.
Crash Restoration
IE10 stores session data in the event of a crash, so that
automatic recovery is possible upon relaunch. This is also true if multiple
InPrivate tabs are open concurrently and one of them happens to crash. However,
if the entire InPrivate Browsing window crashes, all session data is
automatically wiped out and restoration is not a possibility.
RSS Feeds
RSS Feeds added to IE10 while InPrivate Browsing Mode is
enabled are not deleted when the current tab or window is closed. Each
individual feed must be manually removed if you so desire.
Favorites
Any Favorites, also known as Bookmarks, created during an
InPrivate Browsing session is not removed once the session is complete.
Therefore, they can be viewed in standard browsing mode and must be deleted
manually if you wish to remove them.
IE10 Settings
Any modifications made to IE10's settings during an
InPrivate Browsing session will remain intact at the close of that session.
To turn off InPrivate Browsing at any time, simply close
the existing tab(s) or window and return to your standard browsing session.