How to Disable Incognito Mode in Chrome on Windows 10

To disable Incognito mode in Chrome on Windows 10, set Chrome’s IncognitoModeAvailability policy to 1. On a home PC, the shortest route is to open Registry Editor, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome, create a DWORD value named IncognitoModeAvailability, set it to 1, and restart Chrome. Chrome has no switch for this in its own Settings page.

Applies to: Google Chrome on Windows 10 (the same policy works on Windows 11). Checked against Google Chrome Enterprise Help and Microsoft Support on October 7, 2026.

Before you start

• You need an administrator account. The setting is stored in a part of the Windows registry that applies to the whole computer, so Windows asks for an administrator password or confirmation.
• It is a Chrome policy, not a Chrome setting. Google built it for organizations that manage Chrome. The policy has three values: 0 leaves Incognito mode available, 1 disables it, and 2 forces every page to open in Incognito mode.
• Chrome will say it is managed. Once any policy is set, the Chrome menu shows Managed by your organization. That is expected on a home PC after this change, and it goes away when you remove the policy.
• Don’t change a work or school computer yourself. If the PC belongs to an employer or school, ask the administrator to set the policy through their management system.
• Be careful in the registry. Microsoft warns that serious problems can occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Follow the steps exactly and change only the value described here.

Disable Incognito mode with Registry Editor

This method works on any edition of Windows 10 and needs no downloads.

1. Close Chrome. Save anything you are working on in open tabs first.
2. Press the Windows logo key + R, type regedit, and press Enter. Approve the prompt for an administrator password or confirmation. Registry Editor opens.
3. In the left pane, expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, then SOFTWARE, then Policies.
4. Look for a Google key under Policies, and a Chrome key inside it. If either is missing, select the parent key, open the Edit menu, point to New, choose Key, and type the name. You should end up at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome.
5. Optional but sensible: with the Policies key selected, choose File > Export and save a backup copy before you add anything.
6. Select the Chrome key. Open Edit > New and choose the DWORD value option. A DWORD is a 32-bit number, which is the type Chrome expects for this policy.
7. Name the new value IncognitoModeAvailability, with that exact spelling and no spaces.
8. Open the value to modify it, type 1 in Value data, and confirm.
9. Close Registry Editor and open Chrome again. Incognito windows can no longer be opened.

Disable Incognito mode with one command

If you would rather not click through the registry, the reg add command creates the same key and value in one step.

1. Close Chrome.
2. Open Command Prompt with administrator rights.
3. Type or paste this command on one line and press Enter:
   reg add HKLM\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome /v IncognitoModeAvailability /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
4. When the command finishes, open Chrome.

In that command, /v names the registry entry, /t sets its data type, /d sets the data, and /f adds the entry without asking for confirmation. HKLM is the short form of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

Disable Incognito mode with Group Policy

Group Policy is the method Google documents for managed Windows computers. It needs the Local Group Policy Editor and Google’s Chrome policy templates, so it is more work on a single PC. If gpedit.msc does not open on your edition of Windows 10, use one of the registry methods above; they set the same policy.

1. Download the Chrome policy templates from Google’s Set Chrome browser policies on managed PCs page and unzip them.
2. Press the Windows logo key + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
3. Go to Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates.
4. Right-click Administrative Templates, select Add/Remove Templates, and add the chrome.adm file from the download. A Google > Google Chrome folder appears. On Windows 10 it may sit under Classic Administrative Templates.
5. Open Google > Google Chrome and find Incognito mode availability.
6. Enable the policy and choose Incognito mode disabled. Apply the change.
7. Close every Chrome window and open Chrome again.

If you use the newer ADMX templates instead, copy chrome.admx and a language folder such as en-US into %SystemRoot%\PolicyDefinitions, then open the editor. The Google Chrome folder then appears without the Add/Remove Templates step.

How to confirm Incognito mode is off

1. In Chrome’s address bar, type chrome://policy and press Enter.
2. Select Reload policies.
3. Find IncognitoModeAvailability in the list. It should show the value 1 with a status of OK.
4. Press Ctrl + Shift + N, the shortcut that normally opens an Incognito window. An Incognito window should not open.
5. Select More (the three dots at the top right). New Incognito window should no longer be usable, and the menu shows Managed by your organization. Google explains that message in its guide to checking whether Chrome is managed.

How to turn Incognito mode back on

Undo the change the same way you made it, then restart Chrome.

• Registry Editor: return to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome and either delete the IncognitoModeAvailability value or change its data to 0.
• Command Prompt (administrator): run reg delete HKLM\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome /v IncognitoModeAvailability /f. The /v part matters: it deletes only that one entry, not the whole key.
• Group Policy: open Incognito mode availability again and choose Incognito mode available, or set the policy back to not configured.

If this was the only Chrome policy on the PC, the Managed by your organization message should be gone after the restart.

What disabling Incognito mode does not do

Turning off Incognito mode is one piece of supervision, not a complete parental control. Know the gaps before you rely on it.

• Guest mode is separate. Chrome’s guest profiles behave like Incognito windows and are controlled by a different policy, BrowserGuestModeEnabled (shown in Group Policy as Enable guest mode in browser). Disable that policy as well if you want to close this route.
• History can still be deleted. The policy stops private windows; it does not stop someone from clearing the normal browsing history.
• Other browsers are unaffected. Microsoft Edge, Firefox and any other browser on the PC have their own private modes. Our article on whether you can see Incognito or InPrivate history on Windows 10 explains what those modes do and don’t save.
• Past sessions stay private. Disabling Incognito mode now does not reveal anything that was browsed in Incognito windows earlier.
• Another administrator can undo it. Anyone who can sign in to Windows with an administrator account can remove the registry value. For a child, use a standard Windows account. You can combine this with Microsoft’s family features; see how to set up parental controls on Windows 10.

If the goal is to supervise a child, Google’s Family Link is another option: Google states that Incognito mode is turned off when a child is signed in to Chrome with an account managed by Family Link. On Windows, though, Google also notes that a child can sign out of Chrome or switch profiles, where those Family Link settings no longer apply. The policy on this page applies to Chrome on the PC regardless of who is signed in to the browser, so the two work well together. Details are in Google’s Family Link help for Chrome.

Troubleshooting

Incognito windows still open after the change

• Close every Chrome window and open Chrome again. This policy is read when Chrome starts.
• Open chrome://policy, select Reload policies, and turn on Show policies with no value set. If IncognitoModeAvailability appears with no value, Chrome is not finding your entry.
• Check the spelling of the value name and that it sits in Policies\Google\Chrome, not directly under Policies or under Google.
• Check that the value is a DWORD (REG_DWORD) with data 1, not a text (string) value.

The command fails

Writing to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE needs administrator rights. If the command does not complete, close the window, open Command Prompt again as an administrator, and rerun it. Also check that the command is on a single line.

chrome://policy shows a different value than the one you set

Another policy source is taking priority. Chrome can receive policies from the computer (platform policies such as Group Policy and the registry) and from cloud management, and platform policies win by default. On a work or school PC, the organization’s setting is the one that counts, and a local registry edit will not reliably override it. Ask the administrator.

Incognito still works on a few specific sites

Google documents a second policy, IncognitoModeUrlAllowlist, that takes precedence and can re-enable Incognito mode for listed addresses. If it is set on the PC, it shows up in chrome://policy.

There is no Google folder in the Group Policy editor

The Chrome templates have not been added. Repeat the template step in the Group Policy method, or skip Group Policy and use the registry.

Frequently asked questions

Can I disable Incognito mode from Chrome’s Settings page?

No. Chrome’s settings have no option for it. On Windows 10 the supported way is the IncognitoModeAvailability policy, set through the registry or Group Policy, or through the Google Admin console in an organization.

Do I need an extension to block Incognito mode?

No. The policy is built into Chrome, so nothing needs to be installed. Be wary of extensions or downloadable registry scripts that promise to do this for you; the single value on this page is all that is required.

Will this affect bookmarks, passwords or normal browsing?

No. The policy only controls whether Incognito windows can be opened. Regular windows, bookmarks, saved passwords and extensions work as before.

Why does Chrome say “Managed by your organization” on my home PC?

Chrome shows that message whenever a policy is applied, including one you set yourself. Go to chrome://policy to see exactly which policies are active. If IncognitoModeAvailability is the only one, the message is from your own change.

Does this work for every Windows user account on the PC?

Yes, when the value is under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, which covers the whole computer. Chrome also reads the same Software\Policies\Google\Chrome path under HKEY_CURRENT_USER, which covers only the account that is signed in to Windows.

Does disabling Incognito mode stop websites or my internet provider from seeing activity?

It has nothing to do with that. Even when Incognito mode is available, Google says websites, employers, schools and internet service providers may still be able to see activity. Incognito only limits what Chrome saves on the device.

Can I force Chrome to always use Incognito mode instead?

Yes. Set the same policy to 2 (in Group Policy, Incognito mode forced). Pages then open only in Incognito mode.

Once the policy shows OK in chrome://policy, decide whether to disable guest mode too, and keep a note of the change so you can reverse it later. Google’s private browsing policy guide lists every related policy and its values.

Related: set up parental controls on Windows 11.