How to Start Internet Explorer 8 in InPrivate Browsing Mode by Default

InPrivate Browsing mode in Internet Explorer 8 enables you surf the web without leaving a trace in the computer. The Cache is erased automatically when the "InPrivate Browsing" window is closed. You can launch Internet Explorer in InPrivate mode by default using a shortcut, and here is how.

Shortcut to open IE8 in InPrivate Browsing mode

Right-click on the Desktop, click New, Shortcut

Type the following and click Next

Note: The command-line argument is case-sensitive.

Provide a name for the shortcut, e.g. "Internet Explorer (Private)" and click Finish.

The following indicator is shown when Internet Explorer is running in InPrivate mode.

Fig 1: InPrivate Browsing mode indicator

Internet Explorer Namespace icon - InPrivate mode as default action

Alternately you can change the default double-click action for Internet Explorer namespace icon to launch Internet Explorer in InPrivate Browsing mode. Use the following Registry fix to set the "Start in InPrivate mode" option as the default context menu option for Internet Explorer (Namespace) Desktop icon.

Note: The above REG file adds a subkey under the Internet Explorer Namespace registry key. The GUID for IE Namespace is {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}

Registry Fix

Download ie8-inpriv-context.zip and save to Desktop. Unzip and extract the contents of the file to a folder. Double-click the file inprivate-context.reg to run it. To undo the change, run the file undo.reg included in the Zip file.

Fig 2: Start in InPrivate mode as the default action.

Double-clicking Internet Explorer namespace icon will start Internet Explorer in InPrivate mode.

Copyright © 2008 Ramesh Srinivasan. All rights reserved.