How to Enable or Disable Private Browsing on iOS 15

ByJim Miller

Private browsing, also known as Incognito mode, allows you to browse the internet privately. It prevents your browsing history from being saved, websites from being shared across devices, and Safari from remembering Autofill information. If you're using iOS 15 or iPadOS 15 and want to know how to enable or disable private browsing on Safari, you've come to the right place. Let's get started.

How to Turn on Private Browsing in iOS 15

There are three ways to enable private browsing on Safari:

1. Directly From Home Screen

Long-press the Safari app icon on your iPhone's home screen or in the App Library. A menu will appear, and you can select “New Private Tab” to enter private browsing mode. Once you're in private browsing, you can open websites and create additional tabs by tapping the two square icons at the bottom-right corner and pressing the “+” icon.

2. From Tab Overview

Open the Safari browser and tap the two square icons at the bottom to access the tab overview screen. From there, tap “X Tabs” or “Start Page” and select “Private” to enter private browsing mode. You can create new private tabs by pressing the “+” icon. You can also long-press the tab overview icon and select “New private tab” to open a private tab.

3. Open Private Tab Quickly

Long-press the tab switcher icon in Safari to open a menu with options related to private browsing. Tap “New private tab” to open an incognito tab directly, or tap “Private” to enter private browsing mode and access existing incognito tabs or create new ones. You can switch between private tabs quickly by swiping right or left on the address bar at the bottom.

How to Disable Private Browsing on iPhone

To disable private browsing on iOS 15, you can use the following methods:

1. Using Tab Overview Button

Tap the tab overview button to access the tab overview screen. Then, tap “Private” and select “X Tabs” from the menu to exit private browsing mode. Alternatively, you can long-press the tab overview icon and select “X Tabs” from the menu to switch back to regular browsing mode.

2. Close Private Browsing Completely

The methods mentioned above will not automatically close any open private tabs. To completely disable private browsing, you need to manually close all open private pages. Long-press the tab overview button and select “Close X tabs” to close them. After closing all open tabs, tap “Private” and select “X tabs” to exit private browsing mode.

How to Enable Private Browsing on iPadOS 15

To enable private browsing on iPadOS 15, you can use the following methods:

Method 1

In the Safari browser, long-press the “Tabs” button at the top and select “New Private tab” from the menu. Alternatively, tap the “Tabs” button to access the tab overview screen, tap “X Tabs” at the top, and select “Private” from the menu.

Method 2

Open the Safari's side drawer by tapping the Navigation icon at the top-left corner. Then, choose “Private” from the menu.

How to Disable Private Browsing on iPad

To disable private browsing on iPadOS 15, follow these steps:

  1. Press the “Tabs” button at the top in Safari.
  2. On the tab overview screen, tap “Private” and select “X tabs” from the menu. This will switch you back to regular browsing mode. Alternatively, you can open the Safari sidebar and tap “X tabs” to exit private browsing.

To remove all private tabs, long-press the “Tabs” button and select “Close X tabs”. Then, follow the above steps to exit private browsing mode and remove any evidence of websites visited in private browsing.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

  1. How to Fix Safari Private Browsing Not Available?

If you don't see the Private tab or Private browsing option in Safari, it may be due to content restrictions set in Screen Time settings. To fix this, go to iPhone Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions and enable the toggle for Content & Privacy restrictions. Scroll down and tap on Content Restrictions, then go to Web content and choose Unrestricted access instead of Limit adult websites and Allowed websites only.

  1. How to Fix Can't Disable Private Browsing Issue?

If you're unable to turn off private browsing on your iPhone or iPad, try restarting the device and then using the methods mentioned above. If that doesn't help, you can try resetting settings by going to iPhone Settings > General > Transfer or Reset > Reset > Reset all settings. Please note that resetting settings will not delete any personal data or files, only reset your device's settings.

Understand iOS 15

Enabling or disabling private browsing on iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 is straightforward. Explore other privacy-related settings in iOS 15 and learn about the best features of iOS 15 that you should know.