How to Browse as a Guest in Chrome and on a Chromebook

Guest mode for Google Chrome and on Chromebooks is perfect if you need to lend your computer to a friend without giving them complete access to all your personal information stored inside your browser. Here’s how to browse as a Guest.

What’s the Difference Between Guest Mode and Incognito Mode?

While neither Guest mode nor Incognito mode saves any information while browsing, there are a few differences that separate the two and might have you choosing Guest mode the next time you need to lend out your computer.

RELATED: How Private Browsing Works, and Why It Doesn’t Offer Complete Privacy

Guest Mode

Guest mode is a separate, temporary account in Chrome and on Chromebooks that clears up your digital trail for you after you log out or exit. It’s ideal for when someone wants to borrow your computer to access the internet or if you’re using a public computer, like one in a library or school. Anything you do while browsing as a guest won’t be saved. This includes cookies, passwords, history, and access to extensions. Also, guests can’t see or modify the computer owner’s Chrome profile.

While using Guest mode, guests aren’t able to access any of your personal information stored in your browser; this includes all your bookmarks, existing browsing history, saved passwords, autofill data, and other Chrome settings.

Incognito Mode

Incognito mode is best used for browsing privately on your own computer—not just for browsing inappropriate sites without leaving a trace—and just like Guest mode, Incognito doesn’t save anything you’ve done while browsing. Also, Incognito disables extensions that you’ve installed to Chrome unless you grant the extensions access.

RELATED: How to Enable Extensions in Chrome’s Incognito Mode

While using Incognito mode—and the main reason this should be reserved for use on your own computer—you still have access to all your bookmarks, existing browsing history, saved passwords, Autofill data, and other Chrome settings. Those are things that you don’t want other people who are using your computer to get their hands on.

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