Open Chrome in incognito mode

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Incognito mode on Windows 7

This article assumes you are on Windows 7.

Easiest way to open Chrome in incognito:

When in Chrome, press CTRL+SHIFT+N

Click an icon to open chrome in incognito mode:

  • Click Start and type chrome. One or more entries for Google chrome should show up
  • Then, right click the first Google chrome entry and click properties
  • In the Target textbox your entry may look something similar to this:
    “C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe”
    It is okay if your entry looks slightly different than this
  • After chrome.exe”, type –incognito. The path will look like this after you’ve added –incognito
    “C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” –incognito
  • Press OK
  • Thereafter, click Start and type chrome. Apply changes to other entries of Google chrome
  • If you have icons on the desktop or pinned to the Taskbar, right click them and apply the same changes

Open chrome in incognito mode from other applications, such as by clicking a link in Outlook:

  • Click Start and type cmd
  • Then, click cmd.exe
  • Then, type regedit and click OK
  • Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ChromeHTML\shell\open\command
  • There should be an entry called (Default). Double click this entry
  • The entry will look something like this:
    “C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” — “%1”
    It is okay if your entry looks slightly different than this
  • Add –incognito before — “%1”. Leave a space between –incognito and — “%1”. The entry, after adding –incognito, will look like this:
    “C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” –incognito — “%1”
  • Finally, close regedit

Now clicking a link in applications will bring open up Chrome in incognito mode. Close Chrome and click a link in Outlook to open the link in Chrome incognito.

On Ubuntu 14.04 LTS:

  • Edit /etc/chromium-browser/default
  • Ensure that CHROMIUM_FLAGS=”-incognito”