How to Disable Incognito mode in Chrome

What is Incognito mode?

Incognito mode in chrome is Google's Implementation of private browsing. User can activate this mode and surf the internet without any cookies,usernames, passwords, or history. This can be a concern for parents because it could allow children to view inappropriate material without leaving behind any traces. Incognito mode in chrome is similar to Private Browsing in firebox and Inprivate browsing in Internet Explorer. 

But it can be disabled in Google Chrome in windows by editing the registry. In can be disabled in Mac Os by editing the chrome property list file.   

Here are the steps to disable Incognito mode in Windows.

1. Open the start menu. 

2. In the search box, type "regedit."

3. A program called regedit.exe will apper, click on this.

4. If a warning comes up click on yes.
Next, navigate to Policies key.

1. Start by double clicking on "Computer" 
2 .Then, double click on "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE"
3 .Next, double click on "SOFTWARE"
4. Finally, double click on "Policies"

Next, create a new entry called IncognitoModeAvailability

1. Right-click on "Policies" and select New >> Key

2. Enter "Google" (without the quotes) as the name of the key

3. Right-click on "Google" and select New >> Key

4. Enter "Chrome" (without the quotes) as the name of the key

5. Right-click on "Chrome" and select New >> DWORD (32-bit) Value

6. Enter "IncognitoModeAvailability" (without the quotes) as the name

7.  Right-click on "IncognitoModeAvailability" and select "Modify..."

8.  Type a 1 in the "Value Data" text box

9. Click OK and exit the Registry Editor program

Now restart the Google Chrome and now if you open the setting menu, the incognito mode will be disabled. 

How to Disable Incognito mode in Mac Os

The file that needs to be edited is located at "/Users/<username>/Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome.plist". Normally the contents of the user's Library folder are kept hidden to prevent accidental changes.

To open the folder:  

1. Switch to the finder application. You will know you have selected the finder application when the bold word next to the Apple logo at the top-left of the screen says "Finder"

You can either click anywhere on the desktop, or select the left-most icon in the Dock, to switch to the finder.

2. From the top menu, click "Go", then "Go to folder."

3. Paste in the following press Go: "~/Library/Preferences" (without quotes)

The file to edit is called "com.google.Chrome.plist". You will need to download a text editor program to make changes to this file; TextEdit, a program that comes with Mac OS X, will not work. An easy-to-use and free program that will work is TextWrangler.

Once you have a text editor program installed, open the file:

1. Rightclick on the file named "com.google.Chrome.plist" and select "Open with" then "Other" at the bottom.
2. Locate and select your text editor program.

3. The file will open within your program.

 

The last two lines of the file should currently be :

      </dict>
      </plist>

You will need to insert the following lines before these.

  

    <key>IncognitoModeAvailability</key>
     <integer>1</integer>

After the change, the last four lines should look like this:

     <key>IncognitoModeAvailability</key>
     <integer>1</integer>

     </dict>
      </plist>

Explanation: the IncognitoModeAvailability policy has three possible settings.

· 0 = Incognito mode available
· 1 = Incognito mode disabled
· 2 = Incognito mode forced

Make sure Chrome is quit before saving. Even if all Chrome windows are closed, Chrome can still be running in the background. You will know if Chrome is quit if there is no glowing dot beneath Chrome's logo in the Dock, or if Chrome's logo is not in the Dock.

Once you save the file, you can re-open Chrome.  You will notice that if you click "File" in the top menu bar, the "New Incognito Window" option will be disabled.

Post comments if you have any problems :)