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

"%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore" -private

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.

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14 Comments

  1. Drake
    said this on Sunday, May 31st 2009 1:52 am

    Works great. Thanks!

  2. Adam
    said this on Saturday, May 30th 2009 1:10 am

    Hi Ramesh, my IE8 version is:

    8.0.6001.18702

    Sorry for the slow response, I just now noticed your reply.

  3. ComputerKing
    said this on Thursday, May 28th 2009 8:34 pm

    That was easy, and I figured it out without having to read on it. All yo really need to do is right click on the internet explorer icon and select properties, and then at the spot where it reads target, at the end of the target simply type “-private”

  4. said this on Friday, May 22nd 2009 2:35 pm

    Which version of IE do you use, Adam?

  5. Adam
    said this on Friday, May 22nd 2009 10:31 am

    This isn’t working with the current ver.

    “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” –private

    That’s pasted straight from my modified shortcut. It opens IE in a normal session with the following in the address bar:

    http://xn--private-t16c/

    and the following in the content:

    “Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage

    What you can try:
    Diagnose Connection Problems

    More information

    I have the home page set to ‘use blank’.

    Any ideas?

  6. Robin
    said this on Saturday, May 16th 2009 2:23 am

    I right clicked on my desktop and clicked Shortcut, and then proceeded to do what is explained above, but it did not work. I have InPrivate when I right click on Internet Explorer and click InPrivate. The above on how to make a Default InPrivate Internet Explorer did not work out, or I am not understanding something.

  7. SDreamer
    said this on Friday, March 27th 2009 10:07 pm

    Is it possible to just add In-Private to the context menu of IE8. In other words, instead of double clicking to open up IE8 then initiating In-Private, you would just right click IE8′s icon (not a url or a url shortcut), and just select In-Private like you have in your screenshot, just not as the default double click value. Also, I tried the registry key, it added successfully, but after I restarted, it still isn’t showing up in the context menu. Not sure if it’s because I’m using IE8 RTM, or if it’s cause I’m on Vista x64. Thanks.

  8. Dave
    said this on Tuesday, March 3rd 2009 9:05 am

    After adding -private to your IE8 shortcut add the address of the home page you want to open by default. For example to set MSN.com as your home page your IE8 shortcut would look like:

    “C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” -private //www.msn.com

  9. alan charity
    said this on Wednesday, October 1st 2008 12:57 am

    hi

    this is not as easy as it looks i have now tryed it five time and no luck

    can some tell me how to do this please
    thanks
    alan charity

  10. Kindovic
    said this on Sunday, September 21st 2008 7:33 am

    Is there anyway to make the “Open Home page” the default action?
    Thanks

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