We used to say that history is written by the victors, but times have changed. Now the history is written by your browser. But it doesn’t have to be. You can prevent Chrome from saving history on Windows and Mac.
While keeping a record of your past visited sites can be helpful, you may not want your browser to flag every step you take online. Fortunately, you have the ability to decide when to leave history books — or records — blank.
Let’s discuss how to prevent Google Chrome from recording history in Windows 11 and macOS.
Use Chrome’s Incognito Mode to prevent browser history from being saved
Here’s how to enable incognito mode in Chrome in Windows and Mac browsers:
- Turn on Google Chrome
- tap on Menu button (three dots) and choose New incognito window
This is. Stopping Chrome from saving your browsing history couldn’t be easier. Furthermore, incognito mode prevents the app from storing cookies, form information, and other website data.
Lock Chrome history file to prevent information being saved
If incognito isn’t your style and you’d prefer a more stable solution, you can deny Chrome access to the log file. The related item is in slightly different places in Windows and macOS.
How to Lock Chrome History File in Windows
Here’s how to lock Chrome’s history file in Windows:
- launch File Explorer and enter C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default in the search box. Replace [User Name] With an existing user account

- Right click The Date file and select properties

- put a mark just reads and click Progressing

Once the item is locked, Chrome will not be able to write information to this file, which means that it will not record any history.
How to Lock Chrome History on Mac
Here’s how to lock Chrome’s history file in macOS:
- launch discoverer and click Go > Go to folder

- Enters ~ / Library / Application Support / Google / Chrome / Default and press Returns

- Control-click The Date file and select Get information

- put a mark locked

You can of course unlock the file at any time to continue writing the history.
Use a Chrome extension to prevent browser history from being saved
If you prefer to have an extension to do the heavy lifting, no log is the answer. The add-on automatically prevents Chrome from saving browsing information outside of incognito mode, but you have to set it up first.
Here’s how to install the Chrome No History extension:
- Go to the No Record Extension page and click add to chrome

- click Continue and install And add attachment Upon request

You can turn No History on or off at any time by clicking Extension button (panorama) And choose the appropriate item in the list.
From here, you will see the options for stop recording And Clear your current history.
Bonus: Use the Registry Editor to stop Chrome from saving history in Windows
While we’ve discussed some simpler solutions, we understand that some people like to do things the hard way. Therefore, we will also cover the more complex Registry Editor method.
Here’s how to use Registry Editor to stop saving Chrome history in Windows 11:
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research Registry Editor from start menu And start the application
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go to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies
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Right click The Policies folder, select New > Keyand enter The Google as main name
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Then, Right click The The Google folder and create another new key called Chrom
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Right click The Chrom folder, select New Value > DWORD (32-bit)and enter SavingBrowserHistoryDisabled as a noun
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Double click New entry, enter 1 In the value data square, and click yes
If you want Chrome to start saving history again, all you have to do is change the value again 0.
Chrome does not need to save browsing history
While browsing history has been a standard feature since the early days of the internet, it’s not strictly necessary.
Sure, keeping a record of past activity is useful, especially when you need to locate forgotten information, but you don’t need to link to every page you visit in the history books.
Knowing where we have been matters, perhaps we should pay more attention to where we are and where we are going next.
Do you have any thoughts on this? Let us know below in the comments or move the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.
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