How to Browse Internet Websites Without Your Parents Knowing

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Use these easy methods to keep your browsing history private
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Do you want to look at a website but don't want your parents to know? This article will help you.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Incognito Browser Method

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  1. How.com.vn English: Step 1 Find a website your parents will allow you to use.
    Visit that website and keep the page open.
  2. How.com.vn English: Step 2 Find the website you want to use and open it up in a new window or tab.
    Make sure to watch and listen for parents or anybody else that may tell on you. If someone comes, quickly switch windows or tabs to the other website.
    • In Windows, you can quickly close the tab or window by pressing Ctrl+W.
    • In Linux, you can switch workspaces quickly using the mouse wheel. Open your System Settings and click on Windows Manager Tweaks. Then select Workspaces tab and check the Use the mouse wheel on the desktop to switch workspaces.
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  3. How.com.vn English: Step 3 Clear your history.
    When you're finished, delete all the history on your computer that leads to any websites your parents don't want you on.
    • In Firefox, there is actually an option you can select which will automatically clear your browsing history when you exit the browser. This article will guide you in setting that up.
  4. How.com.vn English: Step 4 Using incognito mode!
    This is a special window in the browser which, when used, does not record any internet data, history, or cache. Most popular browser have such an option.
    • In Internet Explorer, you can press Ctrl+ Shift+P to enter Private browsing. To exit incognito mode, simply close the window with incognito enabled.
    • In Firefox, you can press Ctrl+ Shift+P. To exit this window in Firefox, press the same buttons.
    • In Google Chrome, you can press Ctrl+ Shift+N to enter Incognito Mode. To exit incognito mode, simply close the window with incognito enabled.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Alternate Browser Method

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  1. How.com.vn English: Step 1 Download another internet browser such as Firefox or Safari.
  2. How.com.vn English: Step 2 Do not make this browser your default browser.
    When you install it make sure to not set as your default browser.
  3. How.com.vn English: Step 3 Clear all evidence of the installation.
    If you are using Windows, delete the quick launch shortcut and move it to some safe location.
  4. How.com.vn English: Step 4 Use this browser to surf the internet privately.
    Now, you can use the other browser for stuff you don't want your parents to know about. The favourites, history, cache, and cookies will be separate from your normal browser. Your parents will continue to use the other browser normally, and even if they check the history they won't find anything, but make sure they don't notice the other browser.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Portable Firefox Method

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  1. How.com.vn English: Step 1 Select a device to host your portable applications.
    Any cell phone, MP3 player, camera, USB flash drive, or portable hard drive which comes up as a removable device in Windows will work.
  2. How.com.vn English: Step 2 Download the Portable Firefox.
    You can search it on Google.
  3. How.com.vn English: Step 3 Install their launcher menu and then portable Firefox on your device.
  4. How.com.vn English: Step 4 Restart your device.
    You can do this by unplugging your device and plunging it back in, or you can turn it off, then turn it back on.
  5. How.com.vn English: Step 5 Unblock Windows Firewall.
    Windows will ask you what you want to do; let it start PortableAppz.blogspot.com; this will open the menu. Red, looks like the Start menu, comes up on the right.
  6. How.com.vn English: Step 6 Click the Firefox icon/name on the menu.
    • Portable Firefox will keep all of your bookmarks, history, and settings on your device; it won't leave anything behind on the host computer.
    • You can take it to a friend's house, hook it up, and all of your stuff is there.
    • 4GB and 8GB flash drives can be bought for very cheap now online and in some stores. Corsair drives tend to have the fastest speeds.
  7. How.com.vn English: Step 7 Be sure to exit the menu (grey circle with white arrow) when you're done using it.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    We have Frontier Internet, and my parents recently told me that they can go on the account, look up any device that is or has been connected to the internet, and also see the history, including texts. What can I do?
    How.com.vn English: Nicholas Deckman
    Nicholas Deckman
    Community Answer
    Using a VPN can potentially solve your problem, while using a VPN nobody, including your ISP can see what sites you visit.
  • Question
    If my parents can see my history through their computer accounts, can they see my searches while I'm on incognito?
    How.com.vn English: Community Answer
    Community Answer
    It depends on the browser. If you are using Chrome's Incognito Mode, then no. Only your ISP can see what you are searching, but your parents cannot access that data. If you are using Edge, possibly. Microsoft includes family services linked across multiple accounts, so they can see what you have been searching, even in InPrivate Mode.
  • Question
    If I have family sharing on windows and happened to open my Outlook account and then closed it, will my parents still see my history?
    How.com.vn English: Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Yes, unless you delete it from your history (generally, you can use Ctrl + H to view your history, and delete whatever you want from there). You can also use an Incognito window in Google Chrome, which prevents the sites you visit from being recorded in your history. Note that your parents probably won't be able to log into your Outlook account and see your actual emails, they could just see that you used that website.
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      VPN

      For a VPN is the newer way to hide data online, the Incognito tab, cannot hide data from your router, but a VPN such as Tor can. They are also connected to the dark web sites, so are made to be anonymous.

      Tips

      • It's best to be alone when searching something you don't want your parents seeing.
      • Use your instinct - it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to things like this.
      • On Internet Explorer, delete your history by clicking tools, then click "delete browsing history" and click delete all. On Firefox, click tools, then click "clear private data" and click "clear private data" now.
      Show More Tips
      Submit a Tip
      All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
      Thanks for submitting a tip for review!
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      Warnings

      • If your parents find out, you may lose computer privileges or have parental controls turned on and block the sites they don't want you on.
      • Your parents do everything for your own good. It is better to obey them and not to disobey. They are much more experienced and probably won't allow anything which could harm their children.
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      About This Article

      Tested by:
      How.com.vn Technology Team
      How.com.vn is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 46 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 345,379 times.
      How helpful is this?
      Co-authors: 46
      Updated: August 18, 2022
      Views: 345,379
      Categories: Internet
      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 345,379 times.

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