How to Turn Off Private Browsing on iPhone or iPad

Private Browsing on iPhone is an incredible way to surf the internet without leaving traces of your online activity in the browser’s history, protecting your privacy from prying eyes. However, there may come an instance where you want to switch to regular browsing mode, maybe to monitor your internet usage or manage your child’s online activity.

While turning off Private Browsing on a Mac is pretty straightforward, the same isn’t true for an iPhone. Here’s how to turn off Private Browsing on an iPhone for Safari and other browsers.

Private Browsing Basics: What It Does and What Changes

Understand how Private Browsing mode functions and what changes occur when it’s not in use.

How Private Browsing Works

Enabling Private Browsing in Safari starts a separate, temporary session isolated from your regular tabs on iPhone or iPad. The Private tab group displays a darker toolbar with a small lock icon next to the address field, providing a clear cue that you are in that space. During this session, Safari skips saving history, cookies, and search terms once you close those tabs. Clean slate. Files you download and bookmarks you add remain, and private tabs can lock with Face ID when you leave Safari. I mostly use it for quick checks.

FaceTime Like a Pro:

Get our exclusive Ultimate FaceTime Guide 📚 — absolutely FREE when you sign up for our newsletter below.

What Changes When It’s Off

When you switch back to normal browsing, Safari returns to its usual behavior. History is recorded again, cookies keep you signed in, and open tabs and Tab Groups can sync through iCloud, so the same pages appear on other Apple devices. Everything sticks again. That makes jumping to favorite sites fast across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with Handoff picking up the current page and AutoFill ready for the following form.

How to Exit Private Browsing in Safari on iPhone or iPad

Turning off Private Browsing in Safari on an iPhone is much different than disabling Private Browsing in Safari on a Mac. On an iPhone, you stay in Private Browsing mode even if you close all the open tabs, unlike on a Mac.

1. Open the Safari browser on your iPhone.
2. Tap on the tabs icon (a square overlapping another) in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
3. Next, swipe left on the Private tab or tap the tab you want to access.
   

While turning off Private Browsing mode is fairly easy, it also erases any important work you were doing on it. So, instead of turning off private mode to safeguard your online activity from your kids or spouse, you can just lock your private tabs in Safari on both iPhone and Mac.

What if My Private Tabs are Locked with Face ID/Touch ID?

If biometric protection is on for Private tabs, unlock them first. Look at the screen for Face ID, or place a finger on the Touch ID sensor to proceed. You may see a “Private Browsing is Locked” screen until verification is complete, after which your private tabs will appear. Once authenticated, switching between tab groups works the same as usual.

If you prefer not to authenticate every time, you can turn that requirement off:

1. Open the Settings app on your device.
2. Scroll down, tap Apps, then scroll again to find Safari.
3. Tap Safari, then scroll to Privacy & Security.
4. Toggle off ‘Require Face ID to Unlock Private Browsing’ or ‘Require Touch ID’ on devices that support it.
   

How to Permanently Disable the Private Browsing Option (Using Screen Time)

Turning off Private Browsing on your child’s iPhone manually isn’t feasible if they know how to access it in the first place. So, if you want to monitor your child’s online activity, you can use the Screen time settings on the iPhone to disable the Private Browsing mode for good.

1. Open the Settings and head to Screen Time.
2. Here, tap on Content & Privacy Restrictions and toggle on Content & Privacy Restrictions on the following screen.
   
3. Tap on App Store, Media, Web & Games.
4. Finally tap Web Content and then select Limit Adult Websites.
   

Now, if you head to the Safari browser, you’ll notice that the Private Browsing option is no longer available.

How to Close or Clear Multiple Private Tabs in Safari

Closing every private tab in one sweep ends the current private session and can reduce memory usage on your device. It is the fastest way to wipe that session and move on.

The Steps:

1. While viewing your Private Tab Group in Safari, tap the Three Dots (…) icon in the top-left corner.
2. From the menu that appears, tap Select Tabs.
3. Select all the Tabs you want to close at once by tapping on them.
4. Tap Close in the top-left corner to close all selected tabs simultaneously.
   

How to Turn Off Private/Incognito in Chrome on iPhone or iPad

While Safari is the go-to choice for most Apple users, many still prefer using Chrome on their iPhones. And now that one can set Chrome as the default browser on an iPhone, the number of users switching to Chrome is rising.

However, Chrome doesn’t have a Private Browsing mode; instead, it has an Incognito Mode. So, turning off the private browsing mode in Chrome on an iPhone is a bit different from Safari but very similar to how you do it in Safari on a Mac. Here’s how:

1. Open the Chrome browser on your iPhone.
2. Hit the tabs (square) icon in the bottom toolbar and tap the incognito icon at the top to view all your incognito tabs. You’ll have to authenticate yourself if you’ve locked your incognito tabs.
3. Next, tap the Edit button, then select Close All Tabs if you want to close all Incognito tabs at once.
   
4. Alternatively, tap X in the top-right corner of the individual incognito tab.
5. Once done, swipe right to exit the Incognito Mode.

Troubleshooting: Why Can’t I Turn Off Private Browsing?

• “Private” Button is Missing: If the “Private” option is absent in Tab Groups, Screen Time likely turned it off. Open Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy Restrictions, Content Restrictions, Web Content, then choose Unrestricted Access. If Content & Privacy Restrictions is off, turn it on, adjust the Web Content settings, and then return to Safari.
• It’s a Managed Device: If the iPhone or iPad is managed by a school, employer, or organization, a Mobile Device Management profile may block Private Browsing. Check Settings > General > VPN & Device Management for a profile. If present, the restriction is enforced by your administrator. Contact IT to change it.
• App is Frozen or Unresponsive: If Safari is unresponsive, force quit and relaunch. On Face ID models, swipe up and hold to open the app switcher, then swipe Safari away. On Home button models, double-click the Home button, then swipe the app away. If issues persist, perform a force restart: on recent iPhones, press the volume up button, then press the volume down button, and finally hold the side button until the Apple logo appears. For iPads and older iPhones, use the force restart steps for your model.

Privacy Implications and Limitations

• After You Switch: After you exit Private Browsing and return to normal mode, Safari resumes saving your history and creating cookies. Websites behave as they usually do, with logins remembered and preferences stored. If iCloud syncing for Safari is on, new history can sync to your other Apple devices.
• Not Anonymous: Private Browsing hides activity from other users of your device, not from the network. It does not hide your IP address from websites or your internet service provider, and a school or work administrator can still see which sites you access. It is not the same as iCloud Private Relay or a VPN, which are separate tools.
• Downloads and Bookmarks: Files downloaded during a private session are saved to the Files app, typically in the Downloads folder, unless you choose a different location. Bookmarks and Reading List entries you add are also kept, and they remain visible after you leave Private Browsing. Private mode only affects history, cookies, and cached data, not permanent saves.

Signing off…

Knowing how to exit Private Browsing is a fundamental part of using Safari effectively on iPhone and iPad. Whether you are simply toggling between your private and regular tabs or using Screen Time to turn off the feature entirely for parental control, these settings give you flexible control. After you exit, your history and cookies are restored, AutoFill works as usual, and iCloud sync can pick up your tabs across devices with Handoff enabled.

Do you have questions or encounter any issues while managing Private Browsing? Drop a comment below. We are here to help!

Read more on Safari and Chrome:

• How to request a desktop site on an iPhone
• How to restore closed Safari tabs on iPhone and iPad
• How to remove frequently visited sites in Safari on iPhone, iPad