How to Completely Disable ‘InPrivate’ Browsing (Incognito Mode) in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge’s “InPrivate” browsing mode (similar to Chrome’s Incognito mode) is designed to prevent the browser from saving your browsing history, cookies, site data, and form inputs after you close the window. While this is useful for privacy on a shared computer, there are scenarios where you might want to strictly enforce web history logging. For example, if you are a parent trying to monitor your child’s online activity, or an IT administrator ensuring compliance on corporate devices, InPrivate browsing represents a significant loophole.

This guide explains how to completely disable the InPrivate browsing feature in Microsoft Edge using a straightforward Registry edit, preventing users from opening InPrivate windows entirely.

Disable InPrivate Browsing via Registry Editor

To permanently remove the ability to launch InPrivate windows, you must create a specific policy key in the Windows Registry. This method requires Administrator privileges and works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11.

1. Press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialogue box.
2. Type regedit and press Enter to open the Registry Editor. Click Yes if prompted by User Account Control (UAC).
3. Navigate to the following directory path:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft

4. Right-click on the Microsoft folder, select New > Key, and name it Edge. (If the “Edge” key already exists, simply click to select it).
5. With the Edge key selected, right-click in the empty space on the right-hand side of the window and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
6. Name this new DWORD exactly: InPrivateModeAvailability.
7. Double-click the newly created InPrivateModeAvailability value.
8. In the “Value data” field, enter the number 1. (Setting it to 1 strictly disables InPrivate mode. Setting it to 0 enables it, and 2 forces all browsing to be InPrivate).
9. Click OK and close the Registry Editor.

Verify the Policy Application

For the new policy to take effect, you must completely restart Microsoft Edge. Ensure you close all open windows and kill any background Edge processes running in your system tray.

Once you reopen Microsoft Edge, click the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner. You will immediately notice that the “New InPrivate window” option is either completely missing or greyed out with a small briefcase icon indicating it is “Managed by your organisation.” Furthermore, pressing the standard Ctrl+Shift+N keyboard shortcut will simply do nothing, ensuring all web traffic on that user account is logged in the standard browsing history.