What is Chrome Incognito Shortcut & How to Use it

You can easily access it with a single keyboard shortcut

Browsers » Chrome

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by Milan Stanojevic 

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chrome incognito shortcut

Did you know that you can open Chrome Incognito mode with a keyboard shortcut? That’s right, and in this guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about it.

What is the Incognito shortcut for Chrome?

To open Incognito mode on Chrome, you can use Ctrl + Shift + N on Windows, or Control + Shift + N on Mac.

How do I go to Incognito mode in Chrome?

  1. Click the Menu icon in the top right corner.
     menu icon chrome
  2. Choose New Incognito window.
    new incognito window
  3. A new browser window will now appear.

Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut for quick access.

How to open Chrome always incognito?

  1. Locate the Chrome shortcut on your PC.
  2. Right-click it and choose Properties.
    properties context menu
  3. Go to the Shortcut tab.
  4. Next, in the Target field, add -incognito after the quote symbol.
    incognito target field
  5. Click Apply and OK.

After that, you can always start Chrome in Incognito by using this shortcut.

How do I get Chrome incognito on my taskbar?

  1. Create a Chrome Incognito shortcut as shown above.
  2. Right-click the shortcut and choose Pin to Taskbar.
    pin to taskbar context menu
  3. The icon will now appear on your Taskbar.

How do I open the current tab in incognito mode in Chrome?

This isn’t possible natively. However, you can achieve this with an Open incognito tab extension. If you don’t want to use extensions, you can copy and paste the URL to the Incognito window instead.

You can choose to open a specific URL to a new tab simply by right-clicking it and choosing Open link in incognito window.

open link in incognito window

Why can’t I turn on Incognito mode?

This can happen due to extensions or if you’re a member of an organization. We covered this subject in detail in our Incognito mode not working in Chrome, so check it out.

Can anyone see my Chrome Incognito history?

Chrome Incognito history isn’t available to other users who share the same PC. However, your browsing history will be available to your ISP even if you use Incognito mode.

As you can see, it’s pretty simple to access Chrome Incognito with a keyboard shortcut. Other browsers have this feature as well and we wrote how to open Incognito in Firefox with shortcut. We also have an article on how to use Opera Incognito shortcut, so don’t miss it.

More about the topics: Chrome Guides, Incognito mode

Milan Stanojevic

Milan Stanojevic Shield

Windows Toubleshooting Expert

Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He's a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology. Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he's one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.

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