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How to use private browsing on your iPhone, and turn it off when you're done browsing

Using iPhone
It's easy to find and use private browsing on your iPhone. Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

  • To turn off private browsing on your iPhone, or turn it on, you just need to press a single button in Safari.
  • The iPhone's private browsing feature is a convenient feature for those who don't want their online activity listed in their browsing history. 
  • Private browsing prevents your iPhone from creating any browsing history for the sites you visit, but will also log you out of most sites.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
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Private browsing prevents people who have access to your iPhone from seeing your internet history, because it stops the browser from recording your search and site visit history at all. 

It also prevents your iPhone from storing most cookies for websites, however, which means that you'll be logged out of most sites you visit.

The private browsing feature is exceedingly easy to turn on and off at will, and you won't lose any tabs in the process — your regular tabs stay put when you open private mode, and likewise, your private tabs will stay until you close them.

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How to use private browsing on your iPhone in Safari

1. Open Safari.

2. Tap the icon in the bottom right corner that looks like two boxes stacked on top of each other. This will open your tabs.

3. Tap the "Private" button in the bottom left corner to turn on private browsing mode.

private browsing iphone
Tap the "Private" button at the bottom of the screen. Melanie Weir/Business Insider

4. Tap the + button at the bottom of the screen to open a private tab.

private browsing iphone 2
Private mode works almost exactly the same as regular browsing mode — just with more privacy. Melanie Weir/Business Insider

5. When you're done browsing and want to go back to regular browsing mode, first close any tabs you don't want to be there the next time you open private browsing mode.

6. Tap the same tabs button you pressed before.

7. Tap the word "Private" again to turn off private browsing mode.

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