How to disable “In Private” browsing in IE 8
Microsoft got lots of praise from privacy advocates for including the “In Private” mode in Internet Explorer 8, which lets you surf without storing cookies, saving history or cache information or otherwise leaving tracks of what sites you’ve visited. This is good when using public computers – but some parents have written to say they don’t want their kids to be able to so easily erase the traces of where they’ve been on the family computer. Well, if you’re one of those, you’ll be happy to know that it’s pretty easy to disable “In Private” browsing. Here’s how to do it in Vista Business, Enterprise or Ultimate or in the Windows 7 RC:
1. Click Start and in the Search box, type gpedit.msc to open the local Group Policy management console.
2. In the left pane, navigate to Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Internet Explorer | InPrivate
3. In the right pane, double click the setting “Turn off InPrivate browsing”
4. Select Enabled and click OK to prevent the use of the In Private feature.
*Thanks to Deb Shinder for this one!
Hello, thanks for the tip. I tried to search for the gpedit.msc to open the local group policy management console, but it was nowhere to be found. I have windows vistas. Please let me know how to disable the “inprivate”. Thank you.
Hi mk,
If “gpedit.msc” doesn’t appear when you run a search, try opening “My Computer” and navigate to “C:\Windows\System32\”…you should see “gpedit.msc” in that folder. If you still cannot find it, you can also disable in-private browsing by editing the registry. Here are some simple instructions:
To disable the setting, it’s as simple as making a change to the registry key located at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Privacy\EnableInPrivateMode.
When enabled (the default), the dword value is set to 00000001. To disable InPrivate mode, just change that last “1” to a “0” as in 00000000.
On some systems that key may not exist, so you’ll need to first create it. To do so, follow these instructions http://grandstreamdreams.blogspot.com/2009/03/blocking-ie-8-mode-updated.html (courtesy of Grand Stream Dreams):
1. Logon to your machine with an account that has administrative rights.
2. Right-click on your desktop and select “New”…”Text Document”.
3. Rename it to something like “IE8SafeMode.reg” (Note: change the file extension from .txt to .reg)
4. Save the change and tell Windows you know you changed the file extension name.
5. Right-click on the file you just made and select “Edit”. It should open in notepad.
6. Copy the following text (all three lines) and paste it into that Notepad file:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Privacy]
“EnableInPrivateBrowsing”=dword:00000000
7. Save the file and then close it.
8. When you double-click the file it will ask you if you want to add those changes into the Registry. Select Yes.
9. Then reopen IE8 and you should now have InPrivate mode disabled.
Hope this helps!
Thanks, cstonaha, I opened my computer, but couldn’t find gpedit.msc under sysmtem32. There is a gpedit.dll, but i don’t know how to open that. I don’t want to mess with the registry and make irrepairable mistakes. I really wan to diable the inprivate mode on my IE8 windows vista. I would appreciate any more tips from you. Thanks for your time and attention.
I have tried all the directions but with no such luck. When I create the new file on my desktop I cannot change it from a .txt file to a .reg file. It is not an option at all (only options are .txt or All Files). I found my registry editor and do not have the file to manually change. What can I do now to successfully disable InPrivate? I am running Vista Home if that makes a difference.
When changing a file extension, you actually need to manually delete the old extension and type the new one. For example, when you make the new text document on your desktop, it will be called “New Text Document.txt” by default. When you right click on it and select rename, highlight the “.txt” portion of the name and change it to “.reg”.
Your computer will automatically recognize the new extension and treat it accordingly. If you try to change the type by using the “Save as type:” option in the “Save As:” dialog box, you will not see .reg as an option.
Hope that helps!
Thank you for the response. When I create the new text document I do no have the ability to see the file extension unless I am in the save as screen. From my desktop when I click on Rename I only see the words New Text Document, no file extention to highlight anywhere. Am I missing something?
I am sorry about this I am about us un-computer savvy as they come!
Hi Kim,
I apologize for the delay in responding to your request. One possible reason you are not able to see the file extension is because you have your extensions hidden. Try this:
– Click on the Windows botton in the bottom left corner of your screen
– Click on “Control Panel”
– At the top left of the “Control Panel”, select “Classic View”
– Double click on the icon for “Folder Options”
– In the “Folder Options” box that appears, click on the “View” tab at the top
– Find the checkbox called “Hide extensions for known file types” and clear the checkbox
– Click “OK”
Now try following the instructions above and see if everything goes better.
I tried this for Windows 7 and it worked. Kudos to Deb Shinder!
It worked…thanks!!
Thanks, cstonaha. I changed my settings by adding a registry key. I noticed that they dword name needs to be “EnableInPrivateBrowsing” instead of “EnableInPrivateMode”. With that minor change, it worked great!
I am struggling to block inprivate browsing form my windows 7 IE8 Home premiium laptop, I need so help please
What exactly have you tried so far and where are you getting hung up?
Thanks so much for the advice! Worked Great!!
I have windows home premium, I have tried to all the advice you give here and to no avail I can’t disable it. When I make a new text document I don’t know how to save it and when I try to manually change the file type, I go to control panel, but I don’t have the classic view option. What should I do?
Just to clarify, are you running Windows Vista or Windows 7?