How to access Proton Mail in Private Browsing (Incognito) mode

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Category: Browsers and cookies

By default, browsers store a great deal of information about your browsing history in order to make the experience of browsing the internet as user-friendly as possible. This includes:

Websites visited
Passwords used
Information entered into forms
Permissions you have given websites
Cookies and other site data (such as files stored in your browser’s web storage(new window). This includes the index file used by our upcoming Encrypted Search feature.)

This information is stored locally by the browser, meaning it is not a privacy concern if only you or people you trust have access to the device.

However, if you share or otherwise use a device that non-trusted parties have access to, then your data may be at risk. You can help protect your data against this risk by encrypting your device.

Private Browsing mode

To address this concern, all modern browsers offer a Private Browsing mode (called Incognito Mode in Google Chrome and Private Browsing in Firefox). When using a private mode, none of the information listed above is stored by your browser. Some data is stored in your device’s temporary memory (RAM), but this is deleted when you close the private browsing tab or window.

Private Browsing/Incognito mode also stops bookmarks, tabs, and browsing history from being synced across browsers that are signed in to the same Google, Firefox, or other browser account.

We strongly recommends using Private Browsing mode when you sign in to your Proton Mail account on an untrusted device.

What Private Browsing mode does not do

Your browser’s Private Browsing mode protects your sensitive data from others who have physical access to your device (or devices signed in to the same browser syncing account).

It does not prevent your internet service provider (ISP) from seeing what you do online or prevent websites from knowing your device’s unique internet protocol (IP) address.

To protect your privacy online, you should use a virtual private network (VPN) such as Proton VPN(new window).

Learn more about how a VPN protects your privacy online(new window)