Private browsing allows iPad users to search the web without saving their browsing history, cookies or site data. While this can help protect privacy, there are times when turning private browsing off is preferred.
As an entrepreneur who often works on sensitive business matters remotely, I‘ll share an in-depth guide on fully disabling private browsing on your iPad.
What is Private Browsing?
Private browsing, also known as incognito mode on other browsers, enables you to browse the internet without saving any traces of your activity on your device.
When enabled, private browsing:
- Does not record your browsing history.
- Does not store cookies, site data or cached files.
- Prevents auto-fill of information in forms.
- Does not add visited pages to Top Sites or Siri Suggestions.
Key Benefits
- Increased privacy when using shared or public devices.
- Avoid accidentally saving passwords or logins on public computers.
- Ability to keep personal and work browsing separate.
Limitations to Note
- Does not provide true anonymity online – ISPs can still view your traffic.
- Cannot easily return to pages viewed with no browsing history saved.
- Some sites may not function properly without cookies or site data.
As you can see, private browsing provides useful privacy protections but has some drawbacks too. Now let‘s look at how to fully disable it when needed.
Step-by-Step Guide to Turning Off Private Browsing
You can turn private browsing off in just a couple easy steps – closing any open private tabs, and flipping the toggle switch to disable it.
Close All Private Tabs
To start, close any private browsing tabs currently open:
- Open the Safari app on your iPad.
- Tap the Tabs icon in the top right corner (appears as two stacked squares).
- Look for tabs with a black address bar – these indicate private tabs.
- Swipe left on private tabs and tap the X icon to close each one.
Private tabs are indicated by a black address bar
Turn Private Browsing Setting Off
Once all private tabs are closed:
- Touch and hold the Tabs icon again to bring up tab view.
- Tap "New Private Tab" to open a new private tab.
- Tap the "Private" button in the bottom left so it is deselected.
- Private browsing is now disabled.
With the private browsing toggle off, your browsing activity will once again be saved to your history and sites visited.
Managing Your Saved Browsing Data
With private browsing disabled, let‘s look at how to manage the browsing data that will now be saved on your iPad.
View and Clear Browsing History
To view your recent browsing history and clear it:
- Open Safari and tap the book icon at the bottom.
- Select the History tab to see your recent sites.
- Tap "Clear" to delete history from the past hour up to all time.
Clearing history removes your visited sites list, but leaves other data like bookmarks intact.
Control Saved Search History
Safari does not offer a direct way to view or clear search history. Clearing overall history will also erase searches.
In Chrome:
- Tap the 3 dots in the bottom right corner.
- Go to Settings > Privacy > Clear Browsing Data.
- Select search history to remove it.
Manage Autofill Information
To configure autofill of personal information like contacts and credit cards:
- Go to Settings > Safari > Autofill
- Toggle options on or off as desired.
Only enable autofill on trusted sites to protect your sensitive data.
Privacy Beyond Private Browsing
Although private browsing provides privacy on your device, other parties can still view your browsing activity – especially your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Even with private browsing enabled, ISPs can log the sites you visit, traffic data, timestamps and more. They can basically see all unencrypted traffic.
To better protect your privacy:
- Use a trusted VPN to encrypt traffic end-to-end.
- Try the Tor browser to route traffic through volunteer nodes anonymously.
- Switch to privacy-focused DNS providers like Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or Google Public DNS.
As an entrepreneur, I also recommend:
- Using encrypted collaboration tools when working remotely with teams.
- Setting up secure guest WiFi networks at your office for customers.
- Securing your home WiFi network with strong passwords and WPA2 encryption.
With good security habits, you can browse safely and minimize tracking whether private browsing is on or off.
Organize Tabs with Safari Tab Groups
Safari also offers Tab Groups to neatly organize your browsing tabs into separate workspaces.
To create, name and manage tab groups:
- Tap the Tabs icon.
- Tap the + next to Tabs to create a new group.
- Name the group then drag tabs into it.
- Easily switch between groups right from the tabs view.
Tab Groups help me keep personal, work, and other activities organized for greater productivity.
Conclusion
I hope this guide gave you a comprehensive overview of how to fully turn off private browsing on your iPad. While private browsing has benefits, sometimes returning to normal browsing mode is preferred.
Let me know if you have any other questions! As an entrepreneur and iPad user myself, I‘m happy to help explain anything in more detail.
