What a private window keeps, and what it does not

5 min · Private browsing in Minda

A private window is for browsing that should leave nothing behind on your computer. Open one with Ctrl+Shift+N, from the ⋮ menu with New private window, or from the Private window tool on the New Tab page.

What a private window does

Cookies and site data live in memory only. They are gone when you close the window.
No history is kept, and passwords are never saved.
No extensions run, and no skill scripts run.
No search suggestions: what you type in the address bar goes nowhere until you press Enter.
The AI chat is temporary, so nothing is saved to your chat history.
The AI agent keeps no activity-log lines for it, and automations never run for it.
Sync can't be turned on, run or changed from a private window, and a private window gets no team data.

Closing the window drops all of it.

What it does not do

A private window keeps your browsing private from your computer. It does not hide it from everyone else.

The sites you open still see an ordinary visit from your network address.
Your network, such as your employer's or your internet provider's, sees what any network sees.
Anything you choose to keep stays kept. A note, highlight or bookmark you save from a private window is stored like any other, and it syncs like any other. That is by design, because you asked to keep it.
The AI agent still works in a private window. It just leaves no log lines, no saved chat and no schedule.

Pair it with Hide my IP

Hide my IP changes the address sites see, and it applies to private windows as well as normal ones. Lesson 3 explains it and its limits.

When to use one

Use a private window to check something on a shared computer, to look at a site without your sign-ins, to see how a page looks when you are signed out, or to shop for a gift.

For separate accounts that you use every day, workspaces are the better tool. That is the next lesson.

Quick habits

Close the window when you are done. Nothing is saved to bring back.
Don't treat it as a way to hide from your network or from the sites you visit.
If you need something from a private session later, save it on purpose, as a note or a bookmark.