Turn Private Browsing on or off on your iPhone

With Private Browsing, Safari won’t remember the pages you visit, your search history or your AutoFill information. Private Browsing also blocks known trackers, removes tracking used to identify individual users from URLs and adds protections against advanced fingerprinting techniques.

How to turn on Private Browsing

While Private Browsing is turned on, the Safari address bar will appear black or dark, instead of white or grey.

1. Open Safari on your iPhone.

2. Tap the More button.

3. Tap New Private Tab.

   

In iOS 17 and earlier, open Safari, then tap the Tabs button. Swipe to the Private tab group button, then tap the tab you want to open.

For additional privacy, you can choose to lock Private Browsing when you’re not using it. When you lock your device, your private tabs in Safari will also lock. Then, when you unlock your device again, just unlock Private Browsing with Touch ID, Face ID or your device passcode.

Find out more about locking Private Browsing tabs

How to turn off Private Browsing

While Private Browsing is off, the Safari address bar appears white or grey.

1. Open Safari on your iPhone.

2. Tap the More button.

3. Choose New Tab.

   

In iOS 17 and earlier, open Safari on your iPhone, then tap the Tabs button. Swipe to the [number] Tabs tab group button, then tap the tab you want to open.

Learn more

Find out how to use Private Browsing on your iPad.