How to Keep Your Browsing History Hidden?
There could be numerous reasons to surf the internet anonymously. Growing concern for online privacy is one of the foremost reasons many people keep their browsing history hidden. Besides, there are many other important reasons. At times, people prefer keeping their browsing history hidden if they share their laptop or computer with someone or use public internet connections. Moreover, hiding your browsing history is similar to deleting your Netflix history, where the first one resets your Netflix library to its default, opening up additional series and movies, and the latter saves you from the annoyance of targeted ads. Whatever be the reason, it’s better to keep your browsing history hidden than to get caught up in any unlikely circumstances.
From using a VPN to browse anonymously to activating your browser’s privacy mode, here are some of the most useful ways to keep your browsing history hidden.
Why do you need to keep your browsing history hidden?
Eight Ways to Keep Your Browsing History Hidden
There are plenty of ways in which you can hide your browsing history. Some of the most effective ones are:
- Using a VPN: Besides helping you establish a secure connection over a less secure public connection, a VPN is also used to browse anonymously and keep your IP address hidden. You can use a free or a paid VPN service provider to provide your online activity from getting traced. A VPN proves highly effective in lending you extra security and privacy when it comes to your online safety. Hence, it is a useful way to remain anonymous on the Internet.
- Using a Proxy Server: A proxy server helps mask or hide your real IP address with a random IP address belonging to a proxy server. Your IP address is the reason behind the detection of your location, browsing history, and online behavior or activity. Therefore, you don’t have to worry if your real IP address is masked. Moreover, you can also gain anonymity with the help of proxy servers. Try considering a proxy server if you are planning to keep your browsing history hidden.
- Activating Your Browser’s Privacy Mode: Some browsers are on privacy mode by default. However, you are required to activate the privacy mode for some of the browsers. In some browsers such as Google Chrome, “private browsing” is termed “incognito mode.” Starting your browser’s privacy mode or making it your default setting can help you browse anonymously. As a result, you can surf the internet without any tension of online privacy or data leak.
Moreover, some unique browsers are made exclusively for private browsing. They have in-built plugins, extensions, and privacy settings to keep your browsing history hidden. You can also try them if you wish to switch to an altogether new browser.
- Changing Your DNS Settings: Using a secure DNS is also useful in safe browsing. With Google DNS, Cloudflare, and Quad9 DNS providers, you can secure your DNS to encrypt your browsing history
- Browsing Using TOR: You can also try the TOR browser for the deepest level of anonymity. The TOR browser distributes your internet traffic through a network of Tor servers, also known as nodes. As a result, the websites you surf or browse can only track the existing node’s IP address. For extra security, you can also use the TOR browser with a VPN. However, one of the drawbacks of using TOR is that it slows down your internet speed. Nonetheless, you can overcome it by using proxies.
- Blocking Cookies: You must have seen the pop-up to “Accept Cookies” on some of the websites. These cookies are used by websites to store users’ information to design customized web pages, and for many other reasons. However, by blocking or deleting third-party cookies, you can save your browsing history from getting tracked. You can block cookies by changing your browser’s privacy settings. For advanced security, you can also clean or delete cookies yourself, here’s a quick guide for deleting cookies on any browser.
- Controlling your Browser: Your internet browsers are AI-supported these days. They are made to make our life more comfortable, and in this endeavor, most of them are configured to store your location and transfer it to the websites you are using. While the motto of this is to provide you with a better-personalized experience, but it puts us at risk. This data can also be tracked by the websites you visit and can spam you with advertisements.
To avoid this happening to you, all you need to do is deactivate this option by visiting various browsers’ settings. We have listed the steps to deactivate this setting for most of the commonly used browsers to make your job easier.
- Chrome – Preference – Settings – Advanced – Content Settings. Once you have done it, all you need to do is click on disallow.
- Safari – Preferences – Privacy. Once you have done it, the next step is to click on Disable Location Services.
- Firefox – First of all, you need to type ‘about:config’ in the address bar. After that, you need to type ‘geo.enabled’. On the next page, you need to click on the disable button.
- Microsoft Edge – Go to the main computer settings and go-to privacy. After this, you click on the choose location option. Once you do this, you need to click on turn off.
While we understand that these settings prove highly useful in customizing your browsing experience, it also puts you at risk of hacking and data leak.
Conclusion
Online privacy is a significant concern for everyone nowadays. Gone are the days when people were unaware of the shortcomings of the internet. Now people are aware more than ever before. As a result, different technologies and ways have ensured internet users’ privacy and safety. Tracking of your online activity can lead to many cybercrimes. Moreover, your online behavior is tracked by Google and other companies for their promotion and marketing. For all these reasons, many online users prefer keeping their browsing history hidden. Therefore, in this article, we have discussed some of the best ways to help keep your browsing history hidden, such as using a VPN, activating your browser’s privacy mode, and many others. We hope that the tips given in this article will aid you in browsing anonymously.
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