Incognito mode starts a separate Chrome browsing session and limits what the browser retains after that session ends. It does not make your activity invisible to websites, your internet provider, or an organization managing the network.
The boundary is your device
Google’s description distinguishes local history from online visibility. When all Incognito windows close, Chrome removes that session’s cookies and site data and does not retain its browsing history. Files you downloaded and bookmarks you created remain.
A useful question is: “Private from whom?” Wanting the next person using your computer not to see a visit in local history is different from wanting a website not to know you signed in. The second goal is not accomplished simply by opening a dark browser window.
A separate session still has a session
Chrome temporarily keeps information while Incognito is open so sites can work. Closing just one window does not finish the session if another Incognito window remains. Google says websites and network administrators may still observe activity.
The underlying cookie mechanism helps explain why: a site can use an identifier to connect requests within a session. A temporary browsing context does not mean every page request is unrelated to every other one.
A practical way to choose the right tool
Before opening a private window, finish this sentence: “I want to avoid leaving ___ for ___.” Be specific. “A local history entry for the next person using this computer” is a clearer goal than “being private.”
Then check the boundary of the feature against that goal. Keep downloaded files and saved bookmarks in mind when you finish. If you sign into an account, do not interpret the private-window icon as a promise that the service cannot associate your actions with that account.
This is a way to reason about privacy, not a test of any particular website. Start with the browser’s own explanation rather than assumptions about the word “private.”
Read next: what cookies remember and what the browser cache stores.
