Google Chrome is one of the most popular web browsers available right now. It has earned this popularity thanks to its increased focus on security and speed. Speaking of security, Google Chrome also offers an incognito mode, which is a private browser window where no cookies and cache data are stored on your device, and no data is sent to the various ad agencies, which use your browsing session to show you targeted ads.
Some Windows 10 users have reported in some forums that they found Chrome incognito missing on their devices. Here I shall discuss How to enable incognito mode if it is missing from Google Chrome on Windows 10.
How To Resolve Google Chrome Incognito Missing?
Usually, incognito mode is available by default when you install Google Chrome on your device. However, some recent settings change, or a new application that you installed may have changed the way Chrome works, and you see incognito mode gone.
However, bringing back incognito mode should be fairly easy, as you can do so from the registry editor.
Solution 1: Make Certain Registry Changes
The Registry Editor holds all the configuration files for the applications and the settings installed on your device. Many tweaks that you make to your Windows device are done through the registry editor, as this is the place that the configuration files for the same are stored, and can be easily accessed from.
This is a risky place to make changes, so make sure that you back up your Registry before making any changes to it.
The primary reason why is Chrome incognito missing is a corrupt Registry key. If incognito mode is disabled from the registry, you might see incognito mode missing from your browser.
- Open a Run dialog by pressing Win + R.
- Type regedit and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor. Click on Yes in the user account control prompt.
- Navigate to the following path by pasting the location in the address bar of the Registry Editor:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies - Here, locate the subkey Google. Expand it.
- You will see another subkey named Chrome. Click to select it.
Note: if you do not see Google > Chrome under Policies, create new keys from the right-click context menu. - Right-click the DWORD 32 bit value labeled IncognitoModeAvailability from the right pane, and then select Modify.
If you do not see the mentioned label, create it from the right-click context menu. - Change the value data within the key from 1 to 0 and click OK.
- Exit the Registry Editor.
- Restart your browser.
You should now see that the Chrome incognito missing error is resolved, and you can open Chrome incognito mode using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + N.
Solution 2: Disable Extensions
If you started witnessing the Chrome incognito missing error after you installed an extension, it is possible that some broken extension is causing the error you are facing.
- Disable all the extensions that are installed on your browser.
- Restart your browser. Now you should be able to see Chrome incognito mode in the Settings menu.
- Start by enabling the extensions one by one and check if the error persists.
Solution 3: Reinstall Google Chrome
As a last resort, if all other fixes fail, you can try performing a clean reinstall of the Google Chrome browser. This will also help you in case you have a corrupt Chrome installation. A fresh install will reset all the broken files and settings, and form the data libraries again.
- Uninstall the Chrome application from the Control panel. Then remove the residual files as well. To remove the residual files, you can use a third-party junk file cleaner like CCleaner.
- Then download a fresh copy of the Chrome installer from the Google website and run the installer.
- Wait for the installer to finish.
Wrapping Up
So there you have it. Now you know how to solve the Chrome incognito missing error on your Windows 10 device using the solutions provided above. Tell us in the comments if you found this useful, and tell us how you solved the error on your device.